Program

Montessori philosophy & approach to learning

• Education is a release from within, not a pouring in.

• The purpose of education is to release the potential of a child for the betterment of humanity.

• The child constructs himself from the prepared environment.

• The prepared environment is materials driven, child initiated and teacher responsive.

• The Montessori guide is the dynamic link between the child and the prepared environment.

• The role of the teacher is to remove all obstacles in order to free the child to reach its greatest potential.

• Teachers must have the spiritual skill more than the mechanical skill.

• The teacher/guide must be sensitive to each stage of development of the child.

• Love is the key to self-transformation.

• Children have come to make the world better. To help them we must transform ourselves to their needs.

More information on each program below
Co-curricular information available on the Co-Curriculum page

Pre-CASA

18 months to 2.5 years

Pre-Toddler and Toddlers are advanced into the 5 major areas of Montessori Learning

1. Practical Life - Dramatic Play

2. Sensorial – Geometry, Algebra and Time

3. Language – Bilingual – English and French arts and literacy

4. Arithmetic – Numbers, addition, multiplication, division, subtraction, fractions

5. Culture – Science, Geography, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Botany and Zoology

All the 5 major areas are taught in age appropriate materials and process of how learning happens. Play based is given importance. Child directed program for bringing out the best in every unique child. Strong English and French program showing results in progression of child development. The progress report in the end of the year is a reflection of your child’s year.

MVW director approval for mixed age groupings for our Toddler program. This allows for 3 teachers’ children if the class is full at 15. The teachers work very closely with parents to ensure the children are happy and comfortable in their new surroundings. The Toddler Rooms are well resourced with a variety of toys, puzzles, creative activities and physical play equipment, which encourage learning through play, following the "18months to 2.5 years" framework and early Montessori principles. Equipment is hygienically maintained and the materials are designed so even the youngest child experiences success in their activity. The activities also help stabilize gross motor skills and develop independence. Group activities such as art, music, dancing, stories and games help the children to develop an awareness of others and learn early social skills as well as having a lot of fun. The indoor and outdoor outside play area is used as often as possible and provides the pre-toddlers and Toddlers with a safe and secure environment for play and learning.

We offer multiple choices of programs for the Montessori Pre-Toddler program.

CASA & CASA 1

2.5 months to 4 years

Pre-School and Pre-Junior Kinder garden are advanced into the 5 major areas of Montessori Learning

1. Practical Life - Dramatic Play

2. Sensorial – Geometry, Algebra and Time

3. Language – Bilingual – English and French arts and literacy

4. Arithmetic – Numbers, addition, multiplication, division, subtraction, fractions

5. Culture – Science, Geography, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Botany and Zoology

All the 5 major areas are taught in age appropriate materials and process of how learning happens. Play based is given importance. Child directed program for bringing out the best in every unique child. Strong English and French program showing results in progression of child development. The progress report in the end of the year is a reflection of your child’s year. 

MVW – CASA and CASA 1 program offers your child a combination of Day Care and Montessori activities for the 2.5years to 4+ year old child until fully toilet trained. Children are more involved with to the Montessori activities of our Program with fun activities that include activities that encourage independent learning, use of materials for the discrimination of size, shape and colour; and games that develop your child's hand co-ordination, making it easier for him/her when he/she starts to read and write. Other activities are planned to stimulate curiosity and creativity, manipulation of art materials, self-esteem, social and communication skills, and gross motor skills. We prepare your child for the CASA 1 by encouraging calm and gradual transition.

CASA 1 & CASA 2

4 years to 6+ Years

Pre-school, Junior and Senior Kinder garden levels are advanced into the 5 major areas of Montessori Learning

1. Practical Life - Dramatic Play

2. Sensorial – Geometry, Algebra and Time

3. Language – Bilingual – English and French arts and literacy

4. Arithmetic – Numbers, addition, multiplication, division, subtraction, fractions

5. Culture – Science, Geography, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Botany and Zoology

All the 5 major areas are taught in age appropriate materials and process of how learning happens. Play based is given importance. Child directed program for bringing out the best in every unique child. Strong English and French program showing results in progression of child development. The progress report in the end of the year is a reflection of your child’s year.

Children are placed in two age groups and the full curriculum is designed to be completed over a 3-4 year period.

1. Practical Life - Dramatic Play

Children have an innate desire to become independent and take care of their own personal needs. The Montessori curriculum supports this inner drive by providing an environment and the necessary materials to support the path to independence. Exercises in personal hygiene, dressing and care. These are an integral part of the early childhood Montessori classroom. Activities to support the many skills young children need to accomplish on the way towards independence are all taught as specific lessons, with their own set of materials, To work independently in a mixed age group, children are taught the rules of the classroom and how to move and work successfully.

These skills are all taught as separate exercises which are designed to give children the freedom and confidence they need in order to work at their own individual pace in the classroom.

Through the social interaction involved in carrying out these exercises, the children develop the ability to work harmoniously in a carefully prepared environment. Exercises for the development of fine and gross motor skills are carefully developed as part of the Practical Life curriculum. Rolling mats, Threading, Spooning, Carrying chairs, Carrying large materials to a work space, Pouring liquids, Cutting,Sweeping,Walking.

These activities and many others develop dexterity and coordination, and are closely linked to other areas of the curriculum. The Practical Life component of a Montessori early childhood curriculum is the underlying foundation for success in the other four areas of the curriculum. Each task allows the child to gain independence and to develop a sense of order, concentration, responsibility and coordination of movement. Children gain enormous freedom and confidence to work successfully, both independently and cooperatively.

2. Sensorial – Geometry, Algebra and Time

The Montessori Sensorial curriculum allows the child to discriminate and order the impressions that have entered through each of his senses. Scientifically designed materials that isolate each sense, facilitate in the development of the intellect through hands-on exploration.
The child learns to separate and classify forms, colours, textures, tastes and smells.

Exercises in this area refine the senses and develop skills in thinking, judging, concentrating, comparing and sequencing. The materials offer unlimited opportunities for the development of vocabulary and the essential development of dexterity that will lead to writing and reading.

The Sensorial consists of Visual, Tactile, Auditory, Smell, Taste and more. Children learn to discriminate by size, length, dimension, colour, similarity and difference. Children learn to discriminate by touch. They match sandpaper and fabrics of varying textures according to their similarities. They order material from rough to smooth and learn to contrast and compare. Children continue the process of matching, ordering, contrasting and comparing, this time using various sounds and instruments. In addition, the school has a Music-of-the-Month program where a different classical composer is studied each month. The program is also available to the Casa children as an extra-curricular activity. Complex Senses (Weight, Heat, Shape, Smell, Taste) Children explore all of the above qualities by using carefully designed materials and exercises which sharpen their senses at a time when they have a particular, developmental interest (sensitive period) in this work. The Sensorial exercises are designed to prepare the child for more complex learning in Language, Math and Cultural Studies.

3. Language – Bilingual – English and French arts and literacy

Language in the Montessori early childhood curriculum focuses on the following areas in Oral Language and written:

• Listening

• Speaking

• Reading

• Writing

Language curriculum is designed to meet the young child’s innate need to acquire language. Emphasis is placed on vocabulary and oral competency. Using Montessori materials, children acquire a rich vocabulary for labeling, describing, comparing and contrasting their environment and the people in it. Precise terminology is used. The following is a brief description of the general for reading.

After the children’s speech becomes acute and they have been introduced to and understand the preliminary activities, the children begin what we call the “sandpaper letters”. The sand paper letters are in cursive and they are shown to the children in a multi-sensorial fashion. The children will hear, feel and say the sound. When the children are able to recognize approximately 75% of their sandpaper letters they are shown the moveable alphabet. The children will make 3, 4 and higher phonetic sounds, and do many other activities with this and similar material. When they are able to read back the sounds they have made they are introduced to formal reading. They are shown 3, 4 and higher phonetic words which are shown in various progressions that eventually lead to books. The children are introduced to phonetics.

Written language is introduced to children at about 4 years of age. Skills are taught by careful use of materials. The children start with the metal insets. This activity helps with their pincer grip, creativity and design and also introduces them to the 10 basic geometric shapes. When presented in sequence, they lead the child to competence in reading and writing skills. Literacy skills develop rapidly as the child’s own inner drive to learn is supported by a carefully prepared program designed to meet this natural stage of awareness.

4. Arithmetic – Numbers, addition, multiplication, division, subtraction, fractions

Math program is based on learning through practice. Wide variety of carefully constructed materials lead them to an understanding of the value and sequence of the numbers 1 to 10, 100, 1000’s. From there they are introduced to larger amounts and learn the concept of making groups of tens, hundreds and thousands (the decimal system). Number notation and place value are taught as the child develops an understanding of number concepts. Four and five year olds are introduced to the basic operations: addition, multiplication, subtraction and division, at a concrete level so that they experience what these activities really mean.

Child advances towards an abstract understanding of the concepts. They will begin with the number rods and work with various activities which will help internalize the numbers from 1 – 10. Once this has been achieved the children are introduced to higher numbers up to 9,000. They exercise concrete concepts to the numbers and begin adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing larger numbers (4 digits) with the use of the materials. Geometry is introduced in the Early Childhood program. They learns to discriminate, classify and name circles, squares, rectangles and polygons, always using materials. Fractions are introduced again in concrete form and an introduction to the concept of equal parts of a whole lay the bases.

5. Culture – Science, Geography, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Botany and Zoology

This program is based on an integrated study of sciences, geography, social studies, biology, chemistry, physics, botany, zoology, history and timelines concepts. Montessori philosophy of education, the children first experience general rules of the Milky Way, earth, solar system and universe. They learn about land and water, then continents/oceans, provinces and territories of Canada. Flags of the world.

Multicultural and Multilingual children are integrated and accepted with cultural differences and similarities that are explored through music, dance, costume and food. Festivals and traditions, e.g. Diwali, Hanukkah, Chinese New Year, Easter, Christmas and St. Patrick’s Day are celebrated through the arts, stories and geography.