First Step Montessori

Language

In the first plane of development (0–6), the Montessori language materials provide experiences to develop use of a writing instrument and the basic skills of reading a written language.

In this area, materials are provided to show such basic concepts as numeration, place value, addition, subtraction, division and multiplication. For numeration, there is a set of ten rods, with segments colored red and blue and “spindle boxes”, which consist of placing sets of objects in groups, 1–10, into separate compartments.

Sensorial

The sensorial materials provide a range of activities and exercises for children to experience the natural order of the physical environment, including such attributes as size, color, shape and dimension.

Practical life

Practical life materials and exercises respond to the young child's natural interests to develop physical coordination, care of self and care of the environment.

Cultural subjects

The Montessori classroom may also include other materials and resources to learn cultural subjects, such as geography (map puzzles, globes, cultural suitcases containing country-specific materials), and science, such as biology in naming and organizing plants and animals. Music and art are also commonly involved with children in various ways

A journey of a thousand miles begins with FIRST STEP

The philosophy of the Montessori Method has remained somewhat obscure and confused because Dr. Montessori’s 1907 discovery of her method’s effect on children was entirely accidental. Throughout her life, Dr. Montessori never described the method that evolved from her discovery in great detail speaking and writing instead more about the effects of the method on children, rather than the method itself.