Programs
Overview
Dr Montessori suggested we "follow the child" - that is, observe each individual child - to find out how to best help that child reach his innate human potential. Acorn Montessori School's classes and courses of study are based upon this profound view.
It is important to realize that learning begins from birth and that the fundamental process of how children learn is laid down very early in life.
The understanding of child development as based on three-year cycles, 0-3, 3-6, 6-9 and so on, is a cornerstone of
Montessori education and has been borne out of recent psychological research. One clear distinction between
Montessori schools and our counterparts is that our classes have a two- or three-year age span, comprised of
children 18 months to 3 years or 3 to 6 years old. We believe students learn not only with but also from
one another. The language and behavior of younger children is stimulated by older role models, and the self-esteem
of older children grows when they teach and nurture younger ones. All children learn how to deal appropriately with
other children of different ages. Each class is a stable community in which the oldest third of the class moves on to the
next level each year, and children in the same class for two or three years develop a strong sense of community.
A typical class at Acorn Montessori School is made up of up to 24 children with at least one trained Montessori (head) Teacher and one or two assistant teachers.
The classes are organized into several areas of curricula. A Montessori education has always emphasized a total language approach to teaching language arts, where aspects of this important subject touch all other subject areas. Language arts study includes prereading, reading, literature, grammar and writing.
Other curricular areas are mathematics, everyday living skills, sensory awareness, geography, cultural studies, science, art, music, movement and social graces. In all areas, there is an emphasis on the sensory aspect of each experience. In mathematics for example, the thousand-bead cube is a thousand times as heavy and a thousand times as big as the tiny single bead. Likewise, whole concepts are taught before individual parts. In geography for example, children are taught that Earth is made up of land, water and air. The land is gathered together into continents, and the continents are divided into countries.
Because Acorn "follows the child", a student's progress through the curriculum depends on his own development and not on an arbitrary benchmark.