Primary School Program

Primary

The Montessori primary classroom has the coziness and warmth of a "living room" and the academic materials to build lifelong skills. Children choose their work from among self-correcting materials that are displayed on open shelves in specific work areas. Over a period of time, the children develop tremendous ability to focus with high concentration and with few interruptions. This takes place within the context of a warm and supportive community.

Normalization

Normalization is the process whereby a child moves from being undisciplined to self-disciplined, from disordered to ordered, from distracted to focused all through work done in the classroom environment. The process occurs through repeated work with meaningful materials that captivate the child's attention. For some children this inner change may take place quite suddenly, leading to that deep concentration. In the Montessori primary community, academic competency is a means to an end, and the manipulatives are viewed as "materials for development.”

Our Approach

In our primary program, six distinct areas constitute our prepared environment:

• Practical Life

  This area enhances the development of task organization and cognitive order. Through care of self, care of the environment, exercises of grace and courtesy, and coordination of physical movement, each child grows at their own pace.

• The Sensorial Area

  This work area enables the child to order, classify, and describe sensory impressions in relation to length, width, temperature, mass, color, pitch, etc.

• Mathematics

  This area makes use of manipulative materials to enable the child to internalize concepts of number, symbol, sequence, operations, and memorization of basic facts.

• Language Arts

  This area includes oral language development, written expression, reading, the study of grammar, creative dramatics, and children's literature. Basic skills in writing and reading are developed through the use of sandpaper letters, movable alphabet, and various presentations. These all allow each child to link sounds and letter symbols effortlessly and to express their thoughts through writing.

• Cultural

  Our activities expose the child to basics in geography, history, life sciences, music, art, and movement education.

• Judaics and Hebrew Language

  This area includes Hebrew oral language development, written expression, and reading. Students also begin foundational work in translating Biblical Hebrew into English. Throughout the year, the students study the various Jewish holidays through play, art, song, cooking, and experience. Students learn the history of the Jewish holidays as well as the timeline of Jewish History.

Why Enroll?

Enrolling your child in Miami Jewish Montessori's Primary Program has many benefits. Here are just a few for you to consider:

• An early and well laid general foundation. A positive attitude towards learning, inner security and a sense of order

• Pride in the physical environment abiding curiosity

• A habit of concentration

• Habits of initiative and persistence

• The ability to make decisions

• Self-discipline

• A sense of responsibility to other members of the class, school, and community