Our Montessori reading curriculum has these essential components: A strong foundation in phonics, comprehension based on visualisation, and learning to read for meaning. 

To begin the preparation for reading, the children will learn the sounds of the alphabet and trace their symbols with the sandpaper letters. Simultaneously, they learn to hold a pencil and control its use with the insets for design.

When children have learned the phonetic sounds, they are ready to begin word building with the moveable alphabet. They begin by building to two or three letter phonetic words (those in which all the letters make their most common sound, like dog, pig, ram, bat, etc.). 

After the child has mastered two and three letter word building, he or she can begin matching reading cards with the objects and later pictures, and also begin working on building four or more letter phonetic words, read phonetic phrases and sentences.

The key to comprehension is visualisation, and in the Montessori approach to reading, children have lots of practice developing this skill. Visualisation is an essential component of the grammar activities where an understanding of the function of words is developed through the use of manipulative activities. Working with these activities gives children further practice in reading and comprehension through visualisation.

It is only after children have mastered the phonetic sounds of letters, that they are introduced to the phonograms, sounds represented by combinations of letters like “sh” and “ph”, long vowel sounds, and other less common pronunciations of letters. Once the teacher has introduced a new sound, the children can work independently to master the sound in words.

After mastering the phonograms, children’s interest will lead them to read any book they wish.

Mandarin lessons are focused on preparing the child for reading and writing through daily activities with our qualified native teachers. Through conversational and fun activities which include music and movement, children build an interest in learning the language.

A child who reads will be an adult who thinks – Proverb
 
Your child takes home a book every week!

Reading is important to a child’s growth and development.

Children who develop strong reading skills perform better in school and have a healthier self-image. They become lifelong learners and sought-after employees. Reading aloud to children at an early age is the most effective way to help them expand their vocabulary and recognize written words. Reading can widen a child’s vocabulary and comprehension ability. Through reading, children develop their empathy, build confidence, and expand their imagination.

If there is one way to describe the Montessori approach to mathematics, it is that the only way to truly understand abstract concepts is by first developing a concrete appreciation. In a phrase, the only way to achieve the abstract, is through the concrete. Which is to say, before we move on to the abstract, we need to make sure that the children have a solid, tangible grasp of the concepts that they’re working on. As adults, we take for granted that children understand concepts, but concepts can be extremely difficult to teach. With our Montessori mathematics materials, children understand maths easier.

In our Montessori environment, our lessons introduce Geography to the children through continents and country maps. History topics are taught through festivals such as Chinese New Year, Hari Raya, Deepavali, Christmas, etc. Children are taught science through conducting simple experiments. 

Practical life in a Montessori classroom is a purposeful activity which helps develops coordination and motor control. The exercises develop concentration, independence and a sense of responsibility. The exercises found in practical life cover two main areas of development: care of self, and care of the environment. 

Care of Self: These activities provide the means for children to become physically independent and determined to try new things. Activities in this area may include learning to wash one’s hands, learning how to use a pair of chopsticks, and learning to put on one’s clothing.

Care of the Environment: Keeping a clean, orderly classroom is important in a Montessori environment. The practical life activities teach children how to take care of the space around them—from physically cleaning to, on a deeper level, appreciating one’s environment. These activities may include how to set the table, how to clean dishes, or how to water and care for plants.
 
In doing practical life activities, the child can develop a high level of concentration, develop a sense of order, take pride in completing a job, increase independence, develop respect for his or her community and surroundings, and improve fine motor skills—both in general and with an eye to the particular skills that a child will need for more cognitively demanding work such as reading, writing, and mathematics.

The Sensorial area is divided into 8 groups — Visual, Tactile, Baric, Thermic, Auditory, Olfactory and Gustatory & Stereognostic.
The Visual group allows for the child to learn to visually discriminate the differences between similar and differing objects. Lessons in this group include the Pink Tower and Broad Stairs, as well as Knobbed and Knobless cylinders and Red Rods.

Tactile lessons teach the child to learn through their sense of touch. Children mainly will use their fingertips while handling materials in these lessons to allow them to feel objects through a small, concentrated part of their body, limiting distractions.  The materials in these groups include mystery bags and touch boards.

In Baric lessons children learn to feel the difference in pressure or weight of different objects.  Baric Tablets are among the materials found in these lessons.

Thermic materials work to refine a child’s sense of temperature. We do this by introducing the Thermic Bottles and Tablets.

Auditory lessons show children how to discriminate between different sounds by using the Sound Boxes.

Olfactory and Gustatory lessons are simply lessons designed to develop the sense of smell and taste. We introduce Smelling and Tasting jars in this area.  

Finally, we have Stereognostic, this group of lessons allows children to feel objects and make recognitions based on what they feel, also known as muscle memory.

Our cookery lessons involve learning about safe kitchen practices and food hygiene. An important lesson for Practical Life, in our Montessori classroom the students can then transfer these lessons to their day-to-day lives. By preparing a meal and clearing up afterwards, the children can gain valuable life skills that will help them become more confident and responsible. Cooking also helps them learn and practise some basic maths concepts and build language skills.

Art and craft in a Montessori Classroom is a way for children to express their thoughts and creativity. Art and craft is pretty much incorporated into the Cultural and Practical Life areas of the classroom. Here, the children learn to cut, paste and be creative. Children get to express their feelings, the way they see things visually and their views of it. In a Montessori classroom the children have the opportunity to do free art. There are always crayons, markers, paint and an environment available for the children to be creative.

Objectives for the children’s learning of music & movement include participation within a group, development of social skills by playing co-operative musical games, improvement of balance and co-ordination, recognition of music rhythm, beats and sounds.

Physical activities can help children build up the strength of their bones and muscles. Our outdoor and playground sessions allow the children to go outside and engage in active and positive play.

Water Play gives many opportunities for children to develop their fine and gross motor skills. Their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination through actions like pouring, squirting, scrubbing, stirring and squeezing are refined through the water play activities. Water play allows children to explore a substance and make discoveries about it and also encourages role play and crucial social skills like cooperation and sharing.

JHS Montessori’s Sports Day is an annual event when we get together with all the children and their families. Through an event like our sports day, the children get the chance to show leadership, teamwork and communication skills as they interact with their peers. Together with family members, the event offers many benefits, including creating a stronger emotional bond between family members as well as providing an opportunity to make memories built on fun, laughter and togetherness.

Our sports day promotes gross motor skills to help a child gain strength and confidence in his/her body. It also helps them get exercise and physical activity which is important for a healthy lifestyle. Developing these skills helps a child to do more complex skills in future activities, such as playing soccer with a team. Motor Development is important for children’s overall development. It is a crucial way in which children learn and develop physically and cognitively by aiding in self-confidence, hand-eye coordination, balance, and giving a child a sense of their own abilities.

At our English speech & drama classes, our lessons help to develop and foster children’s self-confidence, clarity in speech, imagination and creativity. Children will learn speech and drama skills through a variety of creative and fun activities. These skills will enable them to express themselves articulately and confidently.

Our mandarin speech & drama classes nurture the students’ love for learning, confidence and social skills through fun dialogue, role play and storytelling. The stories read are an important medium to impart vocabulary and grammar skills about how the language should be used. More importantly, these stories also teach the children about life, where they learn empathy, humour, problem-solving and moral values.

Science education activities provide children with opportunities to develop and practice many different skills and attributes. Our science service provider from Magic of Science bring to the classroom lessons that are fun and interactive. https://www.magicofsciencekids.com/