This area is designed to help students develop and care for themselves and their environment, along with developing a sense of order and strengthening their fine and gross motor skills.

Dr. Montessori structured several exercises for the classroom to help the child satisfy this need for meaningful activity. For these exercises familiar objects are used, such as brushes, dishes, pitchers and many other things which the child recognizes from his home experience. Children love to imitate adults; there is something special about taking on these tasks which adults consider ordinary – washing dishes, sweeping or mopping the floor, or preparing the table for meal time. Imitation is one of the child’s strongest urges during his early years. Students learn to prepare and serve food, clean up after themselves, care for plants and animals all while they develop coordination, work habit, self-control, a sense of community and greater independence.

It is so important for the materials to be carefully designed, arranged and demonstrated to help teach skills involved in caring for the environment and of self. It also encourages responsibility and promotes a high level of self-esteem.

Dr. Montessori described the senses as the doorways of the mind and early childhood as a time of special sensitivity for perpetual refinement. Sensory stimulation and manipulation not only aid in the development of maturing sense organs, eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin but serve as a starting point for intellectual growth by helping children to order, compare and classify sensory stimulation. Their intellectual development is assisted and future learning is more meaningful and useful.



When using the sensorial materials, students judge, compare, classify, and draw conclusions. Frequently the learner is called upon to discriminate between very similar objects and order. The mind is exercised, as well as the senses. The child is then better prepared for future learning in math, language, science and making sense of life’s experiences and information.

A child can learn basic concepts of mathematics in two ways, by using concrete material and transitioning to abstract methods. Dr. Montessori demonstrated that if a child has access to mathematical material in his early years; he can easily and joyfully assimilate many facts and skills of arithmetic. Dr. Montessori observed that the child became interested in counting likes to touch or move the items as he enumerates them. She designed concrete materials to represent quantities. In a Montessori environment, a child not only sees the symbol for 1,000 or half, he can also hold each of the corresponding quantities in his hand.

A child in a Montessori classroom never sits down to memorize addition and subtraction facts. She never simply memorizes multiplication tables. Rather she learns these facts by performing the operations with concrete material like the Gold Bead Material.

“It is necessary for the teacher to guide the child without letting him feel her, so that she may be always ready to supply the desired help, but may never be the obstacle between the child and his experience”

- Maria Montessori

Reading is at the heart of all education, because the learning of almost every subject in school, even math, depends on this skill. Dr. Montessori always pointed out that the young child has a natural sensitivity for language development which follows closely on the years when she learns to speak her native language.

The child at three, four and five has a unique fascination for words. This fascination often enables her to begin reading and writing before the age at which it is traditionally taught. Reading instruction can begin on the day when the child wants to know what a word says or when she shows interest in using the sandpaper letters, which are introduced as the first step to reading.

This area of the classroom includes both the studies of the world and various cultures. Children educated in a Montessori School leave a 3-6 classroom not only understanding the concept of a continent, country and state, but also the name of many of the countries, the oceans that divide the continents and flags from around the world. More importantly, our goal is to give an understanding that there are various cultures, and they have a lot to offer us.

Art is an important part of the prepared environment. Art activities help develop many of the same skills as the other areas including concentration, independence, coordination, fine muscle control and sensory discrimination.

They offer learners ways to express their feelings, experiences and ideas. The visual arts and creative movement represent some of the earliest experiences of composition. Through art, students develop their capacities for creative expression. The art area usually includes sequences for drawing, painting, printmaking, collaging and constructing.

Get in touch with us today to learn more about our classroom education methods.