Nursery Curriculum

Curriculum objectives

Gulf Montessori Nurseries have a special child-centered approach which will feed children’s developing skill and interests at the right times, and help them to become confident, capable and in control of their world.

Activities of Everyday Living 

This area of our curriculum establishes a link between the home and nursery. The various activities carried out by the children teach them how to care for their environment and to contribute towards the cultural and social life of the classroom. Everyday living activities aid the children's intellectual growth and develop their co-ordination in movement, balance and grace.

The activities of everyday living offer the child the opportunity to perfect skills needed for everyday life, for example, pouring drinks, tying laces and laying the table. Many of these activities may also be done at home. As well as helping the child develop his/her physical co-ordination and fine motor movement in preparation for reading or writing, there is the added advantage that the child learns to focus attention for the entirety of an activity thus developing concentration skills.

Literacy

The Montessori classroom emphasises and encourages spoken language as the foundation for linguistic expression. The children hear, learn and use specific vocabulary in all activities in their immediate environment. Writing is introduced thereafter, by starting with the physical preparation of the hand/muscles. The skills in writing and reading are developed through the use of sandpaper letters, alphabet games, and various presentations allowing children to link sounds and letter symbols, and to express individual thoughts, thus developing clear and articulate expression.

The mixed-age group environment - a unique characteristic of Montessori pedagogy – helps in better adjusting and expressing one-self in a social setup. This also leads to higher confidence levels and better teamwork. In the Montessori Nursery, we try to instill a real love of books and reading for pleasure. Sharing a story with a child at any time of the day is a parent's special gift. A powerful message can be given about the value of reading, if one makes time to read their own book alongside the children or child from time to time.

Education of the senses

Children’s first learning experiences are achieved through their senses. The sensorial materials provide opportunities to use these senses. They develop the children's levels of observation and discrimination. In the sensorial area of the Montessori classroom, children develop and internalize concepts of quantity, similarity, mass, color, shape and sound.

The didactic materials are specially designed to strengthen the child’s ability to recognize patterns. This provides a natural progression to language, mathematics and music.

Numeracy & Arithmetic

The Montessori mathematics materials are aesthetically appealing, precise, and simple. Through active hands-on manipulation, children explore numbers, develop problem solving skills, and grasp complex mathematical concepts. Within each Montessori prepared environment, the children are introduced to pre-maths concepts such as sorting, matching and counting.

Parents should avoid passing on their own dislike of mathematics at school, because the children will not have the same difficulties at a Montessori Nursery, as the method is fun and interesting for the children.

Creativity

Drawing is important for helping the children strengthen their "pencil grip" in preparation for writing skills as well as for developing "free expression". Plenty of accessible paper, crayons, paint and pencils should be provided and children should be encouraged to draw freely, without any interference from the adult as this could stifle their creativity. The children are also encouraged to share their thoughts, ideas and feelings through a variety of activities in art, music, movement, dance, sports, and role play.

Knowledge and understanding of the world

This area of development offers opportunities for the children to explore a wide range of topics through activities and materials based on real-life experiences. They are able to make sense of their physical world and their community by further exploration and investigation during our many educational trips and visitors with special skills. Children’s natural curiosity about their world is fully unleashed as they experiment with magnets, simple machines and properties of matter and explore the seasons, plant and animal life and how things work. Children are also introduced to the wide diversity of geography and national customs that make up our world, as well as the history of the universe through the use of puzzle maps and countless articrafts and models.

The Outdoor Environment

The doors of the garden are kept open for the majority of the morning, allowing the children to move freely between the indoor and outdoor environments. The outdoor environment invites the children to connect with the world of nature and to practice their developing gross motor skills.

Concepts explored with classroom materials are applied to the wider outdoor environment. Nature and its fascination for the young child are brought into the classroom from outside. A range of exciting outdoor play equipment fosters physical activity.