“The greatest gifts we can give our children are the roots of responsibility and the wings of independence.” -Maria Montessori
In our Early Childhood program (3-6 year olds) children begin to transition from self-awareness to awareness and care for others. This includes integrating grace and courtesy, the Peace Curriculum, and service learning into a rigorous academic Montessori curriculum. Along with strengthening your child’s social and emotional development, your child will use research based academic materials to develop strong foundations in sensorial, practical life, language, math, culture, and STEAM integrated concepts.
Our preschool program follows a set curriculum that is viewable to parents online and on the family bulletin board. We also communicate the curriculum and each child’s progress throughout the year via parent conferences and progress reporting system. At the preschool level, each child is looked upon differently and is individually presented with her own language and math “work,” based on her developmental needs. For this reason, some of the three- and four-year-old students are fluently reading and performing complex mathematical equations, while others are still working on building the repetition and skills needed for decoding and more advanced mathematics. Each child is given the opportunity to progress at his individual rate, and they are each able to take time away from their academics when needed. Taking “time away” is spent in creating beautiful artwork, maps, puzzles and other outlets for creativity. The classrooms buzz with wonderful, creative energy and learning.
A day in the life of a Global Minds student
- Opening Circle: songs and dance, calendar, mindfulness practice such as yoga and or meditation
- 15-30 lesson
- Independent work time along with one on one guidance/teaching from teacher
- Snack (snack is offered during this time and left out for self serving)
- Circle regroup, music/drama
- 15-30 lesson
- Independent work time along with one on one guidance/teaching from teacher
- Recess
- Lunch
- Nap
- 15-30 lesson
- Independent work time along with one on one guidance/teaching from teacher
- Recess
- Closing Circle: songs, reflection, planning
Daily lessons: Daily lessons consist of brief instruction in a specific skill or concept that are then reinforced and differentiated during independent work time.
Independent work time: Independent work time consists of a specified block of time where students exercise their freedom to choose the learning activities they will engage in. During this time, teachers will offer guidance when necessary and provide one on one instruction to students individually.
During the independent working block, students work on language lessons like phonics, word building, reading and writing. They also work on basic math skills, such as recognizing numbers, counting, addition and more. They work on geography using Montessori materials, such as continent maps, and international flags. Apart from the regular curriculum students also work on engineering, science, and technology projects. They explore, ask questions and learn new concepts every day.
Our students also learn leadership skills and teamwork by providing activities requiring them to work in groups. We encourage them to respectfully disagree with their peers or teachers and work together to build more innovative ideas.