Kawartha Montessori School :: Cultivating a child's natural desire to learn.

A Kawartha Montessori Education

Each day your child will be given the opportunity to develop self-confidence, broaden their perspectives of the world, create beauty in their work and experience a feeling of community.

The KMS learning environment nurtures the innate love of learning present in every child and provides the opportunity for children to become critical thinkers, decision makers and good citizens.

Our staff are committed to the delivery of the complex and detailed curriculum designed by Maria Montessori. In addition to utilizing the framework of a curriculum a KMS Montessori Teacher develops an individual teaching plan for each child based on her observations of that child at work. The KMS teacher recognizes the unique developmental needs of each student and creates the prepared environment to promote optimum success for that child .

We are proud of our program and our staff who believe in the Montessori method and protect this philosophy within the classroom environment.

What can you expect from Kawartha Montessori Teachers?

Our staff are well educated, highly trained and experienced in working with children of all ages. All classroom teachers have at least one university degree in addition to their Montessori training. All Montessori trained teachers have graduated at the top of their class from CCMA, MACTE accredited institutes.
Teachers consciously model kindness and peacefulness.
They treat each child as an individual, and customize lessons to fit their learning style and interests.
The delivery of lessons is unique to Montessori. At KMS each child's education is individualized with one-on-one and small group instruction.
This type of learning environment creates independence and allows children to move through a highly enriched curriculum.

Primary

The Kawartha Montessori Program at the Primary Level is for children ages 2 ½ to 5 years.

The primary division of a Montessori program is called Casa dei Bambini or "Children's House". The prepared environment is designed to reflect the areas of a child's world at this stage of development. It is a "living room" for children where all furniture and materials are scaled to fit their small bodies and to accommodate their activity and movement.

The KMS primary classroom is interactive and interdisciplinary and designed to blend freedom and discipline. The children learn to take responsibility for themselves, each other and their classroom. The classroom becomes a community where mutual respect, dignity and courtesy thrive among children of varying ages and abilities.

At KMS your child's classroom is a calm, orderly space filled with light and colour and is divided into five distinct areas: Practical Life, Sensorial, Mathematics, Language and Cultural Studies. Although these areas represent parts of the curriculum, no subject is taught in isolation.

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Practical Life: The KMS Practical Life educational exercises instill a sense of care for oneself, for others, and for the environment. Exercises for the development of fine and gross motor skills are carefully developed as part of the Practical Life curriculum. The exercises provide child-sized working equipment that allow the child to perform the same activities as adults do like pouring, sweeping, polishing and gardening. These skills are all taught as separate exercise that are designed to give children the freedom and confidence they need in order to work at their own individual pace and in the classroom. Exercises in grace and courtesy are presented daily during circle time and in small informal group lessons. The children learn how to behave in certain situations and acquire the social skills essential for everyday living in society. The children develop a sense of personal dignity, an understanding of their own culture and awareness and respect for people of all ages and traditions. Having appropriate social and language skills enables a child to engage positively in the classroom community and beyond. Early conflict resolutions are taught and attention is given to making good choices.
Sensorial: The Sensorial curriculum allows the child to discriminate and order the impressions that have entered through each of his senses. Scientifically designed materials that isolate each sense facilitate in the development of the intellect through hands-on exploration. The child learns to separate and classify forms, colours, textures, tastes and smells. Exercises in this area refine the senses and develop skills in thinking, judging, concentrating, comparing and sequencing. The materials offer unlimited opportunities for the development of vocabulary and the essential development of dexterity that will lead to writing and reading.
Language: Language in the KMS Primary Classroom focuses on the following areas: Listening, Oral Language, Written Language and Reading. The curriculum is designed to meet the young child's innate need to acquire language. Significant emphasis is placed on building vocabulary and oral competency. Through the use of the Montessori materials, children acquire a rich vocabulary for labeling, describing, comparing and contrasting their environment and the people in it. Listening to stories and reciting poems, singing and conversing with others is encouraged. Small group and circle activities are organized on a daily basis. These are opportunities for children to enjoy a variety of language activities that are carefully designed to enrich their oral expression and strengthen their listening skills. Specialized materials introduce the child to sound and letter recognition beginning at 3 1/2 to 4 years of age. Exercises in letter formation, phonetic blending, word/picture matching and sentence formation lead the child to competence in reading and writing.
Mathematics: Children at the primary level have innately mathematical minds. They are very aware of quantity and love to count. Montessori designed math materials such as beads, cubes, rods and counters that permit children to manipulate the numbers in their hands. They don't just count but they experience the operations or addition, subtraction, multiplication and division so they understand what they really mean. Geometry and fractions are introduced as the children progress from concrete to abstract understanding of math concepts.
Cultural Studies: Cultural Studies is based on an integrated study of science, the social sciences and the arts. Children are exposed to a rich, stimulating variety of activities based on hands on learning. In keeping with Montessori philosophy, children first experience general rules of the universe, e.g. the division of land and water. These are gradually broken down into smaller parts: continents/oceans, provinces and territories of Canada. Stories of animals and children from other lands help the children to understand fundamental need and how these are influenced by climate, environment and lifestyle. Culture differences and similarities are explored through music, dance, costume and food. Festivals and traditions are celebrated through the arts, stories and geography. Work with the cultural materials helps the children to become aware that they are part of the large family of humanity. Simple science experiments that demonstrate the qualities of matter: sink/float; magnetic/non-magnetic; solid/liquid; living/non-living are made by the children as part of the study of their environment. Materials are available to help children to label, compare and classify the parts of plants and animals.

In the KMS Casa program small group French lessons, physical education lessons, and all forms of the Arts are integrated into the daily curriculum.

French
In the KMS Primary program all students receive small group lessons in French. They gain vocabulary and conversation through the use of interactive games and visuals.

Physical Education
Children participate in active physical education classes designed to build physical skills and introduce them to cooperative games and dance. Children work with a variety of equipment and our outdoor playground provides a large space for structured and unstructured games.

The Arts
Art, music, storytelling are all explored through a variety of media and structured programs. Children are encouraged to incorporate an activity from these streams as part of their cultural project work. Music and Drama are also integrated into physical education classes.

Elementary

The KMS Elementary program delivers quality Montessori education to children ages 6 to 12 years, a period of great intellectual growth motivated by a strong imagination and sense of reason. The learning environment is structured for excellence and success at all levels. Students are in age groups of 6-9 (grades 1-3) and 9-12 (grades 4-6).

The Elementary classrooms are encouraging, child-centered environments filled with hands-on activities that develop academic skills, encourage problem solving, and improve concentration.

Your child will be a part of a community of caring citizens who are independent and self-directed learners.

The program consists of an interdisciplinary focus on the following areas:
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Language Arts: Language is in every aspect of the integrated Montessori curriculum. The Montessori student gains an appreciation of literature in all of its forms as they work within a comprehensive program of both reading and writing skills. Beginning in Elementary I emphasis is placed on the development of strong reading, writing and research habits, which translate into success in all areas of study. The conventions of written language are taught as specific lessons and then applied to the child's own work. Creative writing in all its forms is encouraged and valued. Strong research skills are applied to the study of subjects all across the curriculum and the child discovers that knowledge in one area is related to other areas. Their capacity for enrichment is limitless at this age, and is evident in the amount of writing they choose to do during the course of a day. In Elementary II students build on literacy skills and move toward more sophisticated and challenging pursuits. Students undertake detailed analysis of all the genres: poetry, drama, journals, reports, stories, letters, and memos. Creative writing is enriched through the use of sophisticated and precise vocabulary, complex sentence structure, and careful development of plot and character. Students learn to make clear and articulate oral presentations to their classmates, parents and community groups. Students will leave the KMS Elementary program with a heightened degree of language competence.
Mathematics: The lower elementary math curriculum is firmly based on learning through experience. Children use a wide variety of carefully constructed materials to lead them to an understanding of mathematical operations and concepts. They will work with the four operations, estimate measurement, read data in all graph forms, measure time and temperature, and explore the rules for factors and multiples. Gradually the child moves from concrete symbolic math, and eventually she enjoys and understands abstract math at an advanced level. At the upper elementary level there is scope for a wide achievement range. Students begin to internalize the four operations as they relate to whole, fractional and decimal numbers. They study the fundamentals of algebra, measure area, volume, mass and capacity, and they learn the rules for squaring and cubing numbers. Students develop finely tuned problem solving skills and have an excellent grasp of sophisticated mathematical concepts. The math curriculum is designed to meet all academic learning styles and abilities. The child who requires extra time in order to fully understand a concept will have that time; those children who grasp the concept quickly and are ready for challenging work, will have that work. No child is expected to progress at someone else's speed, and emphasis is always placed on achieving one's personal best.
Science, Social and Cultural Studies: The science, social and cultural curriculum forms the backbone of the elementary classroom. The integrated program explores history, geography, science, commerce and anthropology. The students learn through the use of timelines, classification charts, impressionistic lesson and experiments. They are encouraged to research topics of interest or to plan field trips as part of their studies. By planning outings for themselves: choosing and contacting the institutions to be visited and working out their own transportation, the student's sense of independence and social responsibility is enhanced. The curriculum at this level recognizes the child's interest in an ethical value system, social rules and community. There is no limit to subject matter; skills are taught in order to enable research to take place but the curriculum is flexible so as not to hinder the search for knowledge.
French: KMS incorporates a complete French curriculum at both levels of the elementary program. All lessons are delivered in small groups.Emphasis is placed on conversation and the grammatical structure of the language. At the end of the elementary program, students will have developed the ability to read, write and converse in French at an introductory level. Most of our graduates enter into enriched French programs at public or independent schools.
Health, Physical and Outdoor Education: The goal of the curriculum is to promote an understanding of the importance of physical fitness, health and general well-being. KMS encourages regular, vigorous physical activity and teaches the skills necessary to participate in athletic activities and school sports. Students enjoy class outings to skating rinks and taking swimming lessons. Students acquire basic knowledge about a wide variety of health-related topics and learn to make healthy decisions in all areas of life and personal development. Outdoor education is an integral part of this program. Throughout the year students have many experiential learning opportunities out of the classroom; developing knowledge and experience in natural history, environmental science, adventure and leadership. Each year students spend 3 days at the Kawartha Outdoor Education Centre.
The Arts (Music, Visual Art and Movement): At KMS we have a strong commitment to the Arts. Through the study of music, visual arts, drama and dance, students not only develop the ability to think creatively and critically, but also learn to express themselves in both verbal and non-verbal ways. Local artists make a major contribution to this area of the curriculum by visiting the school and hosting specific workshops on the use of various types of media. Our music curriculum is designed to promote a theoretical understanding and love of music. Students are able to discover and hone skills that can prove to be rich sources of pleasure throughout life

The Elementary curriculum is designed to encourage a life-long love of learning and assists children as they progress from concrete to abstract thinking. It nurtures a global perspective, and promotes both independent thinking and cooperative learning.