Montessori Kindergarten Program

Preschools in Delta

The Kindergarten year is the final year in the Preschool program, and a year of transition into the Primary years, so in this program, students are provided with the opportunity to work in both the Preschool and Primary classrooms. Kindergarten students spend the morning with their 3-6 year old grouping in the Preschool classroom, continuing their work and practicing leadership and role modelling as the most experienced students in that classroom. At 11:30 am, students join the Primary students in our main building for outdoor playtime, lunch and silent reading. Kindergarten students then spend their afternoon having P.E., Art or French class, or will learn specific Kindergarten curriculum in a focused session with the Kindergarten directress.

Montessori Curriculum Areas

Practical LifePractical Life materials teach the children to learn to care for themselves, for their environment and for others. Through tasks such as polishing, pouring, sorting, buttoning, lacing, wiping up a spill, cleaning a table, or sweeping up a mess, children develop self-confidence, a sense of sequence, develop concentration, independence and good work habits.
IMG_2572Sensorial materials help children to develop and refine their sense of smell, taste, hearing, touch and sight to better discriminate and classify their impressions. For example, through the manipulation of a three-dimensional shape, different lengths of rods or fitting cylinders of different sizes into holes, the children begin to order their perceptions of size and space, and learn the language to describe their experiences.
Language materials develop the areas of reading, grammar and handwriting, while enriching vocabulary and enhancing the children’s ability to express themselves. The child begins by learning the form and sounds of letters, then learns to create words phonetically with a moveable alphabet. They then progress to writing words and sentences, learning non-phonetic words and combining these skills to read and write sentences.
Mathematics materials allow children to concretely explore pattern and number concepts. The materials introduce the concept of quantity and the symbols for the numbers 1 to 10, the hierarchies of the decimal system, and hands-on experiences with the operations of addition, subtraction, and multiplication. Because of the concrete nature of the materials, the young child is able to work with the basic concepts of math operations, and gain impressions of squaring and cubing, fractions and geometry.
Culture subjects include botany, zoology, science, geography and history.  To the ever-curious absorbent mind of the preschool child, these areas are fertile grounds to explore an extremely rich and varied curriculum. Lessons are presented and experienced through real-life experiences, such as planting our garden, and an exciting array of Montessori materials, such as our puzzle maps.
Art is taught by our Artist-in-Residence specialist, Alii Wright, who was awarded Delta’s “Mentor of the Arts” distinction in 2012.  Children develop skills in drawing, paper craft and other media, while increasing their skills in hand-eye coordination, concentration, patience and working towards high quality outcomes.
French is taught by a French-language teacher once per week, from kindergarten through to Year 7.  Students are introduced to the French alphabet and phonetic letter sounds, nouns and pronouns, basic verbs and verb conjugation, sentence formation and grammar, and oral conversation skills.  Games, art, music and drama exercises are incorporated into instructional activities to make learning fun!
Physical Education takes place at various community facilities throughout the school year. Students receive specialized instruction in activities such as gymnastics, ice skating, martial arts, yoga, swimming, and track and field.
Music studies are provided formally once per week, although songs, recordings and rhythm are incorporated into class daily. A music specialist comes to the classroom and teaches songs, movement, musical games, rhythm and musical history.  The entire study body is involved in performing in two concerts every year, just before Winter Break and at the end of the school year.
Special Activities include Peace Day, United Nations Day, Earth Day, school concerts, field trips, the annual spring tea and various other special events. The kindergarten class are involved in all preschool events and many elementary school events, in order to have active experiences that involve children in the real-life of their community.