Montessori 3 - 6 years Programme
The Montessori 3-6 years is a 3-year programme with entry level at around 3 years and the child graduating to 1st grade at around 6 years of age. For best developmental outcomes, the child needs to attend all the three years of the programme.
During these 3 years, the emphasis is on the development of both physical and psychological independence, decision-making, logical and analytical thinking. The 3-6 environment provides ample opportunities for the development of the child’s socio-emotional, physical (both gross and fine motor), self-regulatory, language and math skills.
Montessori education is about enabling the growing independence and developing the concentration of the child. The child is a natural learner. And the Montessori programme taps into the child’s natural learning instinct and helps the child to engage herself in self-directed learning while the educator takes on the role of providing the ideal environment with age and developmentally appropriate activities.
The Montessori classroom or the prepared environment, is one of the pillars upon which the entire Montessori method rests. The child derives the source for all she requires for her learning and development, from the immediate environment surrounding her. Montessori classrooms have developmentally appropriate, scientifically made and aesthetically pleasing material arranged on low-level shelves to enable easy access for children. This supports natural living, and spontaneous engagement with the environment, by the children.
The other pillar is the specially trained educator, whose primary task is to prepare an enabling environment for the child’s optimal development. The teacher is also a part of this carefully prepared environment – she is a model from whom the child absorbs oral language, appropriate social language and behaviour. The teacher guides the child with firm kindness to stay on the path of her optimal development.
Observation is the third pillar of the Montessori method. The teacher is trained to use observation as a tool of assessment of the child’s developmental needs, interests and progress. The teacher guides each individual child based on her close observations of that child’s trajectory of development.
The five main areas in the Montessori 3 - 6 Years classroom are Practical Life, Sensorial, Language, Mathematics and Culture Studies.