Our philosophy 2

Montessori always has lessons that go beyond their main objectives. This is in line with building a harmonious world, and is part of her cosmic plan. Not only do we build up the intellect and the physical body, we also have a responsibility for the awareness of humanity.

EXERCISES OF PRACTICAL LIFE
	The Exercises of Practical Life serve the role of encouraging and facilitating the child's needs and development. Through these exercises, the child develops independence, concentration, motor skills and coordination, self-esteem, intelligence, and most of all, self-discipline and order. The child learns about the immediate environment as he practises the skills, and he gets to know the limits and possibilities of the material world.
Exercises like pouring, folding and sweeping are skills taught that will help the child achieve an end; to be able to do these things himself through constant practice gives the child freedom and independence. As the child becomes absorbed in his activity, he starts to develop concentration. The longer he is absorbed, the better the development of his concentration. The Exercises of Practical Life also provide opportunities for the development of both gross and fine motor movements. As the child begins to perfect the exercises, he develops an awareness of his value to the group. Thus, self-esteem develops. The child also realizes that the useful activities he is carrying out benefit the group. He learns cooperation and acceptable behaviour through the development of social skills.

SENSORIAL
Maria Montessori believed that it was through the five senses that the intellect was developed. As a result, knowing how to use the range of sensorial materials she had developed would indeed provide the basic skills needed for the proper development of the whole body. The theory of sensorial education is based on basic principles such as refinement of the senses, moving from simple to complex, building discipline and concentration, and having the child as an active participant in his own education. Thus, the sensorial equipment becomes the springboard to other areas of the curriculum required for a well-rounded and holistic education.
The ingenuity of the material lies in its simplicity, objectivity, and its ability to teach the child. The child who has been shown the use and purpose of the material will derive its utmost value through the freedom of repetition and concentration. One of the main purposes of the materials is to help the child's mind focus on some particular quality. For example, the Pink Tower teaches size and dimension, the Long Rods teach length, and the Baric Tablets teach weight.
Effort and muscle memory are other important purposes of the sensorial materials as the child is required to handle them. He is encouraged to move, feel, perceive and actively participate in the construction of his own self, and develop his own potential to the fullest. His exploration and experimentation with the materials will help to widen his conceptual knowledge of the world.

MATHEMATICS
	The Maths materials are a follow up from the Exercises of Practical Life and Sensorial sections where foundations in Mathematics have been laid. Edouard Seguin, who was a brilliant mathematician and a contemporary of Montessori's, largely influenced the design of the Maths materials. He advocated education through the senses and accordingly developed materials to help the child understand the abstract concept of number. The first basic concepts that will be introduced are one-to-one correspondence and conservation. The materials that teach these concepts leave the deepest impressions on the child because they have concrete manipulation with materials that follow a precise sequence. Each piece of material is designed to achieve a certain end and when used with purposeful movement, contributes more than its objectives.
The materials are beautiful and intricate enough to be easily handled by small hands. Numerous activities can be designed around them, and the four important operations (i.e. addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) are enjoyed with concrete manipulation.

LANGUAGE
The preparation for language in this curriculum comes from the developmental activities in the other curriculum areas of the Practical Life, Sensorial, Mathematics and Cultural sections. In these areas, the child develops motor control, concentration, listening skills, visual memory, muscular kinesthetic sense and visual discrimination. In the areas of Art and Music & Movement, the child is encouraged to express himself and interact with other children to promote communication. The cultural activities help the child by enriching his vocabulary and organizaional skills.
The language materials follow the same basic principles. Moreover, since the child is taught the sounds and letter shapes phonetically, he has the advantage of making the discovery of reading for himself. The child will progress from phonetic words to diagraphs, and he will learn about letter relationships and word combinations. For all this to happen, the child must first get accustomed to the language. He does this through games, songs, rhymes, stories, and other activities which encourage the use of language.

CULTURAL
The Cultural section of the Montessori Curriculum is the integration of all that is important in education. The Cultural section is divided into four main categories: Biology, Geography, History and Science. It is arranged in this way because it brings the child from the concrete to the abstract, the known to the unknown. It entices his imagination and yet grounds his mind firmly in understanding and reason. It teaches him the ways of the world. It shows him the beauty and wonder in each living thing. It tells him glorious stories of the past that will enthrall and excite him. It passes on a legacy of richness, of discovery, and of exploration. It is a medium for the intelligence to take root and grow.
The materials become keys that open more windows of opportunities for discussion, exploration, and discovery. Because the world is constantly changing, the materials likewise do the same, depending on where the interests of the child may lie. Therefore, most of the materials are handmade, to preserve the uniqueness within each experience, and adapted to the child's needs. They arm the child with the vocabulary to express himself and to gain knowledge and understanding of his world. From this, the child learns responsibility through awareness of and sensitivity to others. From this responsibility comes decisions for the future, and this is important due to the fact that he has to perceive beyond himself in order to fulfill his role.