Welcome to AMIGA Montessori

Each classroom is divided into 5 main areas: Practical Life, Sensorial, Language, Mathematics and Cultural Enrichment, all of which are designed to facilitate maximum independent learning and exploration by the child.

Young children respond to practical life materials and exercises which allows them to:

• develop physical coordination (pouring, scooping and sorting activities);
• develop care for themselves (personal hygiene, dressing activities, grace and courtesy);
• develop care for the environment (looking after the classroom, looking after the garden); and
• learn the skills of washing a table and food preparation to develop hand-eye coordination.

The Montessori sensorial materials provide a range of activities and exercises for children to experience the natural order of the physical environment, including such attributes as size, color, shape and dimension. Examples of these materials are:

• the pink tower (series of ten sequential cubes, varying in volume);
• knobbed cylinders (wooden blocks with 10 depressions to fit variable sized cylinders);
• broad stairs (ten wooden blocks, sequentially varying in two dimensions); and
• color tablets (colored objects for matching pairs or grading shapes of color).

In the Montessori Mathematics Area, the materials experienced by the children demonstrate such basic concepts as numeration, place value, addition, subtraction, division and multiplication. For numeration, there is a set of ten rods, with segments colored red and blue and “spindle boxes”, which consist of placing sets of objects in groups, 1–10, into separate compartments. For learning the numeral symbols, there is a set of sandpaper numerals, 1–9. For learning addition, subtraction, and place value, materials provide decimal representation of 1, 10, 100, etc., in various shapes made of beads, plastic, or wood. Beyond the basic maths materials, there are materials to show the concept of fractions, geometrical relationships and algebra, such as the binomial and trinomial theorems.

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Montessori language materials provide experiences to develop use of a writing instrument and the basic skills of reading a written language. For writing skill development, the metal pencil insets provide essential exercises to guide the child’s hand in following different outline shapes while using a pencil. For reading, a set of individual letters, commonly known as sandpaper letters, provide the basic means for associating the individual letter symbols with their corresponding phonetic sounds. When the child is proficient with the majority of the sounds, he or she can create words using moveable letters from the “moveable alphabet”. When the childs’ hand is strong enough from using the metal pencil insets and other materials, he or she may write words with a pencil using the shapes he or she learned from the sandpaper letters. Following writing with the movable alphabet, the child begins to read words. Montessori language materials have also been developed to help children learn grammar, including parts of speech such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, articles, prepositions, adverbs, conjunctions and pronouns.

The Montessori classroom may also include cultural subject materials and resources which allows the child to learn subjects such as:

• geography (map puzzles, globes, cultural suitcases containing country-specific materials);
• science, such as biology, which includes the naming and organizing of plants and animals; and
• music and art.

The items found on the shelves in the classroom are referred to “materials” rather than “toys.” The children “work with the materials” rather than “play with the toys.” This allows the children to gain the most benefit from the environment by giving them a sense of worth. In the Montessori classroom, learning materials are arranged invitingly on low, open shelves. Children may choose whatever materials they would like to use and may work for as long as the material holds his or her interest. When they are finished with each material, they return it to the shelf from which it came. The materials are also self-correcting. When a piece does not fit or is left over, the child easily perceives the error. There is no need for adult “correction”, resulting in the child being able to solve problems independently, building self-confidence, analytical thinking and the satisfaction that comes from accomplishment.