2921 Sayre Road, Fairfax, Virginia 22031
(703) 867-7437 Montessori school of Vienna
(703) 867-7437 Montessori school of Vienna
“Education is a natural process carried out by the child, is not acquired by listening to words but by experiences in the environment.” – Dr. Maria Montessori
Practical Life
Through exercises of practical life that include care of the person, one another, and the environment, the children expand motor skills, refine coordination, extend concentration, and express their love and respect for their community and classroom.
Sensorial
The sensorial materials support children to make thoughtful differentiations among the sensorial properties of the environment. The Montessori teacher presents activities with materials isolating a particular sensorial property. The children match, grade, order, or explore by tasting, smelling, touching, listening, or seeing. Through repeating these exercises at will, the children clarify their impressions and improve their senses. Individual parts of materials are related to the classroom at large and discreet sensorial elements are identified in the environment through games.
Language
The fullest array of exercises, materials, and activities in language make it possible for the children to learn to write and then to read what they have written, so that often they cannot even remember when or how they learned these skills. Every aspect of the Montessori classroom draws forth language development, and specific materials and exercises refine and extend vocabulary, exhibit grammatical principles and properties, enrich vocabulary, and tune the ear to the beauty, rhythm, and song of the language.
Cultural
The introduction to cultural subjects is made as extensions of the sensorial materials and language activities. Art, music, geography, history, botany, zoology, and science are integrated to prepare students to meet the challenges of living and learning in our human family. Through nature, story, music, art, and food the Montessori teacher fosters in the children a reverence and love for all of creation.
Mathematics
Extensive concrete mathematics materials allow the children to explore concepts and operations to uncover for themselves the underlying principles of traditional of basic mathematics. The children’s repeated manipulation of these esthetically and carefully designed materials builds a firm foundation of concrete experience on which later abstractions can rest.