|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
WHAT'S NEW:!
Science News Online
reports Montessori has
significant advantages
More
STRAW Creek Restoration Project
View Photos
ASIA DAY
2006 All Program Celebration
More
2006 room 6
Nepal fundraiser
More
Asia Studies Photos
View Photos
|
Curriculum Overview
|
Please view our Montessori Parent Handbook for a curriculum overview:
The Lagunitas Public Montessori Curriculum is based on the teachings and example of Maria Montessori with adaptations designed to reflect the changing needs of students in today's world and to satisfy the criteria of the California State Standards. The majority of lessons are taught in small groups and a few subjects such as cultural studies lend themselves easily to large group instruction.
|
|
African Dance during the African Day Celebration
|
CURRICULUM FOR HUMAN VALUES
Today's world imposes many pressures on young children and there are numerous influences in our society from which we try to shield our children. More than ever before, schools and families need to support one another in the common goal of helping students reach their full potential not only as learners, but also as self-reliant, caring human beings. Integral to the Montessori curriculum is the understanding that the teachers and families in the program are involved in a partnership in which respect for all people is honored and values of honesty, acceptance, independence and consideration are fostered.
THE CULTURAL SUBJECTS
In Montessori education botany, zoology, history and geography are referred to as the Cultural Subjects and they are the backbone of the curriculum. It is our goal to weave the four subject areas together as much as possible so children understand and appreciate the connections of each area of study on the others. Each autumn, all classes in the program study North America. In the spring, the whole Montessori program studies the same continent in the following yearly cycle: Europe, Africa, Antarctica, South America, Asia/Middle East, and Australia. The studies of the continents also include a deeper look at the area's culture; art, music, literature, dance and theater are integrated and cross-grade activities are included. The physical characteristics of any land greatly influence the development of its culture and students look at the ways in which people all over the world meet their basic needs. In fact, the needs of people are an important concept in Montessori education. Dr. Montessori pointed out that people everywhere have the same material and spiritual needs which they fulfill according to their particular environment and traditions.
LANGUAGE ARTS
The language arts curriculum includes reading, spelling, grammar, handwriting, the writing process and the development of verbal language. Our goal is to give children experience and practice with the skills they will need to be proficient readers and writers. We also strive to enhance their natural love of language.
READING
Reading is, of course, an integral part of all subject areas and it is taught as a subject in it's own right and in context in the cultural subjects and language arts. In the early years, phonics and whole language approaches are used to give the child the decoding tools and the literary appreciation that are essential to the enjoyment of reading.
MATHEMATICS
The Montessori Math Curriculum relies on the manipulative materials invented by Dr. Maria Montessori. They spark the child's interest and bring a sense of concreteness to a subject that can be quite abstract. New concepts are introduced with a presentation of the appropriate material, and children work with the material until they are ready to move to the abstract level. Teachers supplement the math curriculum with California State tests, workbooks and materials from a wide variety of publishers. Story problems and math investigations integrate reading, writing, teamwork and critical thinking skills and are an essential part of the math program.
ENRICHMENT PROGRAMS
The enrichment programs include Art, Music, Band, Physical Science, Spanish (optional), Organic Gardening, Environmental Education, Computer, Emotional Literacy, Wellness and Nutrition. Each program is taught by a specialist in these subjects.
ASSESSMENT
Twice a year, in fall and spring, your child’s teacher will schedule a parent teacher conference to discuss your child’s academic and social progress. In addition to a verbal assessment, you will receive a written progress report evaluating your child’s strengths and challenges. Viewed year to year, these written assessments provide a consistent tool for teachers and parents to monitor a child’s progress from K-5th grades.
|
|
A Montessori student celebrating the
Day of the Dead with a handmade mask. |
Benefits:
Curriculum
- Professionally trained Montessori educators
- Salaried classroom aides
- Specially developed reference materials
- Encourages team building
- Hands-on learning, self-correcting materials
- Enrichment Programs: Art, Music, Gardening, Wilderness Way, and optional Spanish classes
- Integrated subjects and learning based on appropriate stages of development
- Process-focused assessment, skills checklists, mastery benchmarks, written reviews
- Provides the child with the tools to become a learner independent of the adult
- Teaches children to think, collaborate, and discover
- Students progress at individual rate and at appropriate level
- Prepares students for the journey ahead
Environment
- Environment
- Beautiful, enriched environment
- Multi-graded classrooms
- Creative and orderly environment
- Small group work areas
- Individual attention
- Child centered schedule
- Flexibility to choose from a variety of work within blocked time periods.
- Individualized lessons with the teacher, in addition to small and large group lessons.
- Students interact with the teacher and peers with freedom to move between work areas.
Social Well-Being
- Physical, cognitive, spiritual, emotional needs served equally
- Natural, logical consequences
- Fosters curiosity
- Reflects positive reinforcement
- Emphasizes individuality
- Encourages how to resolve conflict
- Instills respect for all living things
Community
-
- Develops sense of social responsibility, Citizen of the World
- Supports school/home ties/parent classroom involvement
- Blends multi-cultural, racial, and economic diversity
- Enhances community integration by the program's location adjacent to the SGV Community Center and the Marin County/School Library
MONTESSORI PROGRAM TRADITIONS
September
- Autumn equinox- All classes give presentations to the program, and then we spend the day at Heart's Desire Beach.
- Hopefully, the parent group organizes a pot luck dinner for all the families as a way for new parents to get acquainted.
October
- Historical Halloween- On the day of the Halloween carnival, students take their place on the historical time line made by the oldest group. Each child is introduced to the audience and takes his/her place on the time line. All parents welcome and encouraged to help with the celebration and carnival events by selling tickets, food, games, cake-walk, etc.
- Day of the Dead: Some years, particularly if we are studying Latin America, we celebrate the Day of the Dead, and students make ofrendas in memory of loved ones who have died.
- Thanksgiving celebrations vary from year to year. Sometimes study buddies get together, Hunger Banquets have been observed by the oldest students, and sometimes single classes or various groupings share some food prepared by the class. Sometimes we have had simple finger food pot luck meals.
December
- Reindeer Races Students race by grade level in the morning. Parents come along to cheer them on and prizes are given to all children
- School read-a-thon – Fundraiser for kids to take home a form and get sponsored. This helps encourage reading.
- Toys for Joys Fundraiser- Scott's 4th - 5th Grade class gathers and sells used toys as a way to earn money for Toys for Joys Charity. Other classes purchase toys.
- Five Days of Giving- A renamed tradition. During the last week before winter break, children give gifts to the community and to the earth. On one day, the children bring a small gift for the classroom such as pencils, paper, etc. and then the next day they bring in toys to give to the Toy For Joys fund. Another day students bring food items to donate to the Food Bank, and projects are planned by the teachers which involve giving something back to the environment and the earth.
- Solstice- Each class prepares a solstice presentation to share with the other classes. This observance takes place on the Thursday before winter break.
- Family Pot Luck- On the Friday just prior to winter break families join us for a pot luck breakfast in the classroom from 8:30-9:30.
- Kindergarten & New Student Info night - (an evening for potential parents to learn more about the Lagunitas School programs)
February
- February Valentines Day - each child brings in Valentines for everyone in the class.
- Parent - Teacher Conferences
- Bingo Night - An important fundraiser for Montessori. All parents encouraged to help out in some way.
March
- Spring Equinox- Each class gives a presentation, and then we all hike to Divide Meadow for the day.
- March Scholastic Book Fair - The multi-purpose room is filled with books and games which the children and look through and purchase. Another great fund raiser for the whole school.
-
May
- Valley Visions, This is THE major fundraiser for the school district and is held at Dickson Ranch Some years students have made class projects which are auctioned off.
- Spring Sing - The whole Montessori Program gathers to hear each Montessori classroom sing and play music for the parents.
-
- Open House is preceded by a pot luck dinner and a music or Art show.
- 4th & 5th Grade Field Trips: Environmental Living Program Field Trip to the Marin Headlands. Headlands/YMCA Overnight- or Malikoff Diggings Living History Field trip.
- Headlands/YMCA Overnight- Every other year the fourth and fifth graders participate in a science field study that lasts for 2-3 days. Parents pay for their children to have this experience.
- Gold Country Trip- Often, as a part of the fourth/fifth grade California study, the older students participate in an overnight trip to Malakoff Diggins where they relive the California Gold Rush days.
June
- Montessori All Program Africa Continent Celebration
- Montessori All program trip to Heart's Desire Beach.
- Fifth Grade Graduation- On graduation day, the fourth graders prepare breakfast for the graduates. Each graduate selects someone to introduce him/her. After the ceremony, the graduates and the fourth graders have cake together. All the classes attend graduation.
- Kindergarten Graduation- There is a short ceremony to acknowledge the completion of the kindergartners' first school year.
Other Traditions
- Study Buddies- Each class is partnered with another, and children are assigned a study buddy. Study buddies get together every week.
Continent Studies-
- Much of our curriculum and many activities revolve around the continent studies which are explained in the Montessori Curriculum Guide.
Back to Top
Enrichment Programs
Art, Music, Physical Science, Spanish, Band, Organic Gardening, Environmental Education, Computer, Photography, Wellness and Nutrition and Journalism. These specialist programs are taught by teachers with special training in these subjects and are funded by the Parcel Tax that is a valuable supplement to the District's operating budget.
Music
The music program offers children the opportunity to learn the elements of music, rhythm, melody, and harmony through singing, movement and playing musical instruments. In the music classroom the students engage in creative movement, singing games, traditional folk dances, choral singing, and playing percussive and melodic instruments. In third grade the students learn to play the recorder, and fourth and fifth graders are eligible to participate in the district band and orchestra. Above all else, the music program offers the children the joy of making music.
Band
The Lagunitas-San Geronimo district band and orchestra program is open to students in fourth through eighth grades. Currently there is an advanced group, an intermediate group, two beginning groups, and a beginning violin group. The district provides instruments free of charge, weekly instruction on their instrument, and an opportunity for the students to play and perform throughout the school year. Instruments that are offered include flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, tuba, violin, cello, bass, and guitar.
Wilderness Way
NATIVE AMERICANS
Wilderness Way is part of the Montessori and Open Classroom enrichment program and provides activities for grade levels K - 8. These are hands on projects that help children understand how Native people lived and what we can learn today from the harmonious way they coexisted with nature. Our plan is to create a village model, similar to those at Kule Loklo and Chawsee and then build a real model village in or near the Larsen Preserve where skills, games, dances, and stories can be taught and enjoyed. Students will be mentors to the students from France teaching them the Native American traditional skills they have learned and joining together in creating a field guide about the Miwoks, native plants, and wildlife.
COHO SALMON & STEELHEAD TROUT
Wilderness Way has activities for every grade level that involves math, science, art, and poetry. WW recently supplemented Native American studies and will provide a Steelhead-in-the-Classroom program in the spring '09. Students will observe, monitor and keep an elementary journal. Middle School will have a similar program at a significantly more advanced science level, including use of a video-flex. They will also create a film documentary beginning with the egg pick-up at the hatchery. We have winter field trips to the Larsen Preserve, San Geronimo Creek, and Taylor Park to observe coho salmon spawning and sometimes sight a stray chum or chinook. We use the San Geronimo Valley watershed model to better understand our interrelationship with our environment.
NATIVE WILDLIFE AND PLANTS
Wilderness Way uses the Marietta Larsen Memorial Preserve as a dynamic out-door lab. We identify and study plants, birds, fish, and animals. We teach children how to use their eyes and ears differently than they do in the classroom. Our outdoor studies become science and frequently art and poetry projects. We teach survival techniques.
MARIETTA LARSEN MEMORIAL PRESERVE
Wilderness Way continues to restore and maintain the Preserve's trails, riparian, and creek habitat and regularly cut back poison oak. We have built a tracking box in a trail which allows the children to make plaster casts and learn to read the story the wildlife tracks tell. WW is creating a Field Guide for the Preserve, collecting work done by teachers and environmental groups, and initiating the studies needed to create a Guide that will include information about native plants and their uses, birds, salmon and steelhead trout and other wildlife.
NATIVE PLANT GARDEN, NURSERY & VERNAL POOL
An educational component of a recent grant will allow WW to work with students to daylight a culvert on Woodacre Creek and restore the creek and riparian habitat providing more spawning habitat. A tool shed, new tools, nursery for native plants, and seed and plant collecting are planned.
Back to Top.
|
Montessori School Office (415) 488-9437
Sir Francis Drake & Meadow Way, P.O. Box 308, San Geronimo, 94963 CA
Lagunitas District Web Site: http://lagunitas.marin.k12.ca.us/
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
