Active Minds Montessori Academy in Calgary daycare openings, reviews and ratings

Daycare description / philosophy

The Montessori Preschool Program is designed to create independence and build confidence in our children. Children absorb large amounts of information through their senses until the age of 6. The class has a mixed age group ranging from 2.5 years old to 6 years old. The older children help to set an example for the younger children and take part in demonstrating grace and courtesy lessons. The classes consist of working with practical life activities, sensorial activities, language, math, science and culture. The activities have an underlying purpose of preparing the child for writing and reading and building math concepts. We will also be going on daily outside adventures around the community.

Practice life activities include unrolling and rolling a mat, moving a chair, carrying a tray, wiping up a spill, pouring beans using two identical glasses, poring water from a pitcher, washing hands, sweeping, caring for a plant, blowing one's nose, etc. Sensorial activities include working with cylinder blocks, building the pink tower, working with the red rods, working with colour tablets, working with the geometric cabinet, working with the sound cylinders, working with the smelling bottles, etc. Math activities include counting with the number rods, working with sandpaper numbers, matching number rods and number cards, matching quantities and numbers, adding, subtracting, division, multiplication, etc. Language activities include working with the sandpaper letters, working with the large moveable alphabet, sight words, primary phonics, etc. Science and culture activities include working with puzzle maps, working with nomenclature cards, exploring the seasons, understanding living and non-living things, learning external parts of different animals, exploring botany, etc.

Each morning I will greet the children as they enter the classroom and shake their hand, welcoming them into the class. We will exchange greetings and talk about something positive they will work on that day. Circle time will follow where we will sing songs, talk about something from our monthly theme, weather, learning the calendar, etc. After circle time, the children will head to the work shelf and choose the work they would like to work on and take it to the table or to a work mat (depending on which activity they choose). Children go through sensitive periods where they will repeatedly work with the same materials that interest them until they master that skill they are needing to learn. This is one of the great advantages of the Montessori philosophy as it enables the child to embrace their sensitive periods. Part of our daily routine will be going outside on adventures exploring the community.

My role is to be a guide, observe the children and help them make good choices. I interrupt the children as little as possible while they are working and observe when they are ready to be challenged by an extension to the material they are working on or presenting them with new materials they can work with. This program is designed to allow the child to set the pace for their own learning and they will not be held back from the level of learning they are ready for.