Montessori School Curriculum
Granite City

PRESCHOOL - KINDERGARTEN

Montessori School has two Primary classrooms with children (2 ½ through 6 years) doing individual work in a number of areas.

Practical Life exercises teach the children how to care for themselves, others, and the environment.  They learn to work at a task from beginning to end and develop their powers of control and concentration.

Sensorial Materials serve as tools for development.  Children build cognitive skills and learn to order and classify impressions by touching, seeing, smelling, tasting, listening, and exploring the physical properties of their environment.

Language Development is an ongoing process in the Montessori setting.  Conversations with peers and teachers, along with story and poetry readings, contribute to a rich oral language environment and help improve reading skills.

Geography, Biology, Botany, Zoology, Art, and Music are presented as extensions of sensorial and language activities.

Mathematic skills are developed using sensorial materials.  The work gives children a solid grounding in mathematical principles, prepares them for later abstract reasoning, and helps them develop problem-solving skills.

Field trips for Extended Day students may include trips to the Apple Farm, Kinder Konzerts at Powell Symphony Hall, Storytelling Festival in St. Louis, St. Louis Zoo and Botanical Gardens.

Elementary

Elementary students (6 through 12 years) work in small groups on a variety of projects.  Their studies include geography, biology, history, language, mathematics in all its branches, science, music, and art.  The Elementary classroom includes the entire community, with students making frequent trips to places like the zoo, the botanical garden, and the symphony.

Field trips include trips to Young People’s Concerts at Powell Symphony Hall, Sheldon Music Hall, Historical Museum, Art Museum, Science Center, Botanical Gardens, St. Louis Zoo, and Foust’s Butterfly House.  Trips to other destinations that relate to a particular area of study are also made throughout the school year.

Upper Elementary students are given the opportunity to participate in the Odyssey of The Mind competition.  Odyssey of the Mind is an international educational program that provides creative problem-solving opportunities for students from kindergarten through college.  Kids apply their creativity to solving problems that range from building mechanical devices to presenting their own interpretation of literary classics.  They then bring their solutions to competition on the local, state, and world level.  Thousands of teams from throughout the U.S. and from about 25 other countries participate in the program.

Twice a year Elementary students spend three days at Camp Dubois near Nashville, IL.  Special nature study programs are designed for each stay.

Upper Elementary students also make an extended educational field trip every other year.  Recent destinations have included Cow Canyon Archeological Center in Colorado and Newfound Harbor Marine Institute in Florida.