In a Montessori education, your child will learn about living and non-living plant-life as well as animal life. There will also be lessons on animals and their groups including their babies and where they live. In the summer, there are opportunities to study fun bugs and insects that do not fit into an orderly curriculum.

Seeing nature close up

This activity will expand your child’s experience with the natural world. They will develop sensory skills, language, practical life skills, the ability to observe quietly, and a respect for living things. Your child will go out to a grassy area with a magnifying glass and look for interesting things. They can look at simple things such as a blade of grass or rock and see the difference looking at it through the magnifying glass. As a model of respecting our earth, your child will be encouraged to look at items where they are and not pick them or take them from where they are found.

Other interesting things are observed such as; tiny plants, dandelions, sticks, and insects. When any of these items are found; your child is encouraged not to disturb their existence and to observe them where they are found. Your child will be allowed to investigate their world at their own pace and are only guided when they seem unsure of what to look at next.

Observing bugs

There are often bugs found inside like spiders or ants that can be caught with little bug catchers. This gives children the perfect chance to observe them close up and then teaches them to respect living things by releasing it back outside. There are then endless ways to introduce your child to a wide variety of fun bugs in our world. Using plastic bugs in pairs they are mixed up and the task is to match them in pairs, with printed cards of different butterfly species the children then match miniature pictures to the larger ones, through plastic versions or printed colorful cards the children will learn what are insects and what are not, and many other fun activities introducing your child to fun world of bugs

Learning in a Montessori environment

The Montessori environment is a child -centered educational approach. The approach values your child’s human spirit and their development as a whole person; social, emotional, cognitive, and physical. In the classroom, your child, the teacher, and the learning environment will create a triangle that encourages independent learning in a fun and individual process. Teachers encourage freedom within limits, provide a sense of order and allow your child to discover information about the world around them with a hands-on experience.

Your child’s education through Montessori will develop their potential and prepare them to understand and appreciate learning and their world. If this sounds like the kind of education you want for your child, you will love the Montessori approach. Contact our Mission Valley Kindergarten to schedule a tour of our school.