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Cockatoo Montessori School curriculum is holistic and
not easily separated into subject areas. As we attend
to each child's full development, we value social, emotional
and moral learning highly. Experiences supporting this
development are integrated with a strong academic and
physical education to produce well-rounded individuals.
In
all year levels, the health and safety of the children
is our highest priority. We seek to prepare children
for their lives in contemporary society, and leave nothing
to chance in helping them develop the skills they will
need to succeed. For example, children practise hygienic
habits from the beginning as they prepare food, brush
their teeth, or tend to animals. Teachers carefully
demonstrate the safe use of all equipment in the school,
encouraging children to adopt an increasingly responsible
approach to managing risk.
A
special feature of our school is the strength of our
environmental education program. Because ecological
sustainability permeates our polices and procedures,
we have been able to develop leading edge learning experiences.
Children at Cockatoo Montessori School can expect to
become intimately acquainted with our local flora and
fauna, cook and eat healthy vegetarian meals using produce
from our organic garden, and participate in scientific
research at our wetlands. The emphasis is on working
locally to address broader environmental issues. Practical
hands-on activity is combined with classroom-based theoretical
investigation and periods of reflection.
Children
at Cockatoo Montessori School construct their own pathway
through the curriculum according to their own learning
styles, personal interests and pace of learning. For
this reason our classrooms are not bound by a timetable.
Children work on their own, in pairs or small groups
as they choose, and take a break as their needs dictate.
In this way every child can receive a flexible and enriched
experience, rather than being confined to a teacher-directed
program. At the end of Year 6, the children who leave
us will be well-prepared to take on further study at
any secondary school.
Cycle
1 (3-6 years of age)
When
children first arrive in our Cycle 1 classroom, they
find a specially prepared environment with a rich array
of materials and activities from which to choose their
work. Everything is child-sized and accessible, neat
and orderly. Children are quickly attracted to the materials,
often repeating an activity over and over again until
they are satisfied. Some will want to work on their
own, while others will invite friends to join them.
Much
of the work children do in this room is an extension
of the home. Sweeping, washing, sewing, preparing a
snack and gardening are just some of the Practical Life
skills which children enjoy at this stage. As time goes
on, children are supported as they learn how to interact
with each other in a graceful and respectful manner.
Montessori often referred to the Cycle 1 classroom as
the Children's House because it offered children a secure,
warm place where they were able to work and take care
of their belongings with almost no need for adult help.
The
3-6 year old child has a naturally Absorbent Mind which
enables impressions from the environment to be taken
up effortlessly. Children in our Cycle 1 classroom can
develop strong language and mathematical skills without
tiring through the use of structured, self-correcting
and sensorial materials. These beautifully crafted materials
heighten the children's awareness of their surroundings,
but also develop gross and fine motor skills and expose
them to many facets of scientific and cultural knowledge.
After three years in the Cycle 1 classroom, children
will have a strong foundation from which to progress
to more advanced work.
Cycle
2 and 3 (6-12 years of age)
At
about the age of 6 years, the absorbency of the child's
mind begins to fade. Arriving gradually to replace it,
is a reasoning, logical mind, new sensitivities and
the beginning of an interest in morality. Work in our
Cycle 2 and 3 classrooms is accordingly more abstract,
complex and geared to a higher level of intellect. The
classroom alone is now too limiting for students. They
spend much of these six years going out into the community
on excursions and camps to find out for themselves how
the world operates.
This
is a period where children normally enjoy good physical
and mental health. Accordingly, Montessori felt this
was the best time for serious study and developed a
program which would give the necessary skills in literacy
and numeracy, but simultaneously plant in children the
seeds of wonder. She called this Cosmic Education because
it offers the keys to the universe, and because it is
based on the principle of interconnectedness of all
things.
At
our school, the backbone of Cosmic Education is formed
by Montessori's Great Stories. These five stories are
grand, impressionistic and dramatic events, taking children
from the beginning of the universe, through to the creation
of earth, the beginning of life, the arrival of man
and the history of language and mathematics. The stories
inspire children to further research concepts which
have personal appeal. A child may study, for example,
great civilisations, explorations and inventions, the
development and practice of art and music, foreign language
and culture, scientific discovery, technological advances,
or contemporary human society. Whole class activities
involving sport, drama, music, bushwalking or visiting
a nursing home may occur depending on interest.
At
Cockatoo Montessori School the curriculum is boundless,
with each child developing his or her own spiral to
greater understanding. |
