KINDERGARTEN CLASS
Over 5 years old on August 31st
Maria Montessori designed the primary program as a three-year cycle. The third year becomes a pivotal time when all of the experiences of the previous years reach fruition, and the child’s deeper knowledge begins to fall into place. Their time management skills are starting to
develop, and they continue to enhance their ability to concentrate.
Kindergarteners spend time in primary class (Japanese or English) in the morning as leaders in the community. In the afternoon, kindergarteners get together with their peers and the kindergarten English teacher in their kindergarten room.
Their learning sometimes stretches beyond the classroom, including such activities as going for
walks and visiting a fire station.
(Examples of extracurricular activities)
October: Go for a walk to the neighborhood park
November: Visit and interview with the fire department
December: Holiday concert greeting
January: Visit to the library
February: Post office, Valentine's Day tea party
March: Visit to the police station
April: Earth Day Project
May: Graduation Family Field Trip
June: Graduation, Project Share Day
CURRICULUMN EXAMPLES FOR KINDERGARTNERS
PRACTICAL LIFE
Grace and Courtesy, Creative sewing (Embroidery), Carpentry (Hammering)
SENSORIAL
Visual perception and reading (Matching picture and reading cards)
Forming an 18-tablet color wheel and labeling, then drawing and coloring
Discrimination of metric size, geometric objects and names
Perception of three-dimensional shapes/areas with their algebraic foundation (Binomial and Trinomial cubes)
Composing and writing music, notation and singing to tone (Bells, with labels)
MATH
Addition in 4 digits (Addition: one, two, three and four places)
Exchanging (Dynamic addition and changing)
Forming quantities to 99 with beads and matching to numeral (Ten boards, with problems)
Counting 1,000 chain by 10’s and 100’s, with numerals (Chain of 1,000, with markers)
Counting, squaring, and cubing with chains by 5’s, 6’s, 7’s, 8’s and 9’s with bead bars and numerals (Skip counting, square numbers, cube of numbers)
Subtracting quantities from a larger one, up through 18 (Subtraction strip board)
Building a multiplication problem with beads (Multiplication with bead bars)
Dividing a given quantity, up through 81, among skittles (Division board, with problems)
Identifying 3-dimensional fractions, from 1 whole to “a whole in 5 parts” (Fraction skittles, whole to five)
Finding equivalent denominators and adding them (Fraction addition)
WRITING
Practicing writing, both manuscript and cursive, with lightness of touch (Metal inset designs, movable alphabets and writing cards)
Writing name within lines (Free-hand name on prepared paper)
Using loose letters and inventive spelling to create letters and stories (Friendly letter and creative writing)
LANGUAGE
Labeling objects in the environment (Environment matching cards with tracing paper)
Reading and acting out phonetic commands (Phonetic command cards)
Sorting phonogram objects, matching to sandpaper phonogram cards and writing words (Phonogram buckets and sandpaper cards)
Reading and matching phonograms words and pictures (Phonogram puzzle boxes and work pages, reading booklets and picture boxes)
Learning commonly used non-patterned words, simple and difficult (Puzzle words)
Matching and sorting special kinds of words (Synonyms, antonyms, and homonyms)
Placing objects into alphabetical order and sorting words into word associations
Sorting singular and plural objects and matching with words Reading books from phonetic through phonogram (Reading books) Making phrases with grammar objects (Grammar boxes) Identifying parts of speech with symbol stickers
GEOGRAPHY
Sorting land, air, and water objects (Three forms of matter)
Making land shapes from clay
Sorting continents into hemispheres
Forming continents or countries from clay (Making clay maps of countries)
Tracing and making country and continent maps (Map making)
Free form drawing and coloring of flags of nations (Flag making)
Matching objects with continent or country (Using artifact boxes of countries) Researching facts about countries (Fact folders of countries)
Identifying national anthems of world countries
HISTORY
Sorting timing devices for 1, 2, 3 minutes and one hour with labels
Making a paper clock with quarters and a clock booklet
Making a timeline of “my day”
Matching days of week to timeline (Days of week, with writing)
Making calendar of the month (Calendar making)
Sorting and matching pictures with age of person (Personal timelines)
Digging in sand for fossils and naming them (Archeological “dig”)
Laying out earth’s timeline
Matching and sorting picture cards and labels for the needs of humans throughout history (Food, shelter, clothing, transportation, defense, art, music, and religion)
Reading about a composer, and playing his music
Sorting still-life, landscape, and portrait art
SCIENCE
Sorting magnetic/non-magnetic objects, inorganic/organic objects, living/non-living objects
Matching sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks, with labels (Rocks, three types)
Dissecting flowers and plants and naming parts
Making a parts-of-animals’ booklets
Matching plant picture cards to labels (Matching cards) and making a booklet of plants life
Matching skeleton parts cards with labels (Skeleton matching cards)
Sorting animals with or without backbones (Fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals)
Sorting animals into family groups (Male/female/baby sorting)
Sorting objects showing life cycles for frog and butterfly, with labels
Making a volcano
Laying out planet replicas in their order (System of planets)
Making constellations with lights
ART
Leaf pressings and rubbings melt art, Crayoned textiles, Crayon engraving, Mono printing
Sculptures, Paper-Mache, Clay modeling, Charcoal drawing, Stitchery
