Our curriculum is divided into 6 different areas of learning: sensorial, practical life, language and literacy, mathematics, cultural subjects and creative subjects.

The purpose of the Practical Life area is to provide real life experiences for children, through which they develop motor control and coordination, independence, concentration and a sense of responsibility.

This area is divided in 4 main areas:

• Fine motor skills (threading, transferring, pincer grip), which strengthens the child’s hand muscles to prepare her to the action of holding a pencil to write.
• Care of self: dressing frames to introduce skills as buttoning, zipping, tying, etc. Hand washing, baby doll washing, pouring juice.
• Care of environment: Setting and clearing table, sweeping, watering plants, tidy up.
• Grace and courtesy: courteous greeting, interrupting, table manners.

The purpose of the Sensorial activities is to help the child to sort out in an orderly manner the many varied impressions received every day. The specifically designed materials used in this area help the child to develop discrimination, order, and to broaden and refine all senses.

It is one of the most important areas as it allows the child to lose her self in a specific task, by manipulation the materials with her own hand, by consequence helping the child to develop the mental stamina and skill involved in concentrating over time.

From a very young age, language is encouraged by simply allowing children to talk to each other and to the teachers. Teachers always use the correct words for everything in the classroom, therefore increasing the child’s vocabulary. The broader the child’s vocabulary, the easier reading comprehension will be.

Dr. Montessori introduced the concept of kinesthetic memory, i.e. memories that brand themselves deep inside the mind, implanted through muscular movement. Therefore, activities such as tracing sand paper cut out letters, will help the child to absorb their shapes much easier than simply looking at them and trying to copy them. At Little Explorers this method is further enhanced through language games, songs, dialogues and discussions.

• • • BILINGUAL EDUCATION

French is taught to all as a general subject. This is an optional language program where song games and stories are used on a daily basis to fortify the language. Daily phrases and weekly vocabulary words are used constantly in this case to build familiarity with the language. It cannot be guaranteed that all the children at LEMP will speak French as a second language; however a strong familiarity with the language can be established.

This area of study provides children with a first exposure to infinite and inspiring world of diversity, the many wonders of the world, its people, history, culture, music and arts. This section includes Geography, History and Science:

• Geography: here, your child is exposed to different countries, their customs, foods, clothes and habitats. She will learn to view herself as a citizen of the world. Children are taught about the solar system, volcanoes, land forms, etc.
• History: Children find it very easy to understand a new concept when it begins with something that they already recognize. The exploration of the passing of time begins with a child’s own life, talking about his/her birth, accomplishments and daily life, and making time lines with beautiful pictures of growing older. Later this method is used to study the story of our world and its ever-changing physical and cultural attributes.
• Science: this portion of the curriculum involves the exploration of the diversity of the living world as well as the physical one. A stream of experiments discussed in a group is set up. Dr. Montessori constantly emphasized the importance of learning through immediate interaction with the environment. She insisted that Early Learners NEEDED to MOVE and TOUCH in order to truly learn ANYTHING. Here, they certainly get to wonder, discuss hypotheses, set up experiments, and make observations and conclusions like real mini scientists.

When adults are first shown the Montessori math curriculum, the reaction is always the same − they always wish it had been their base for understanding Mathematics.

Learning math begins with concrete examples and it slowly progresses to abstract. Children begin to associate numeral and quantity with number rods and number cards. Pupils master the basics of arithmetic using concrete materials and therefore acquire a grounded understanding of the meaning of arithmetic operations, which will help them for the rest of their lives!