Enrichment
Visual arts, music, foreign language, gardening and physical education are integral components of the discovery process from the early childhood through lower elementary classrooms. Each week, children are exposed to age-appropriate activities that enhance their learning experience in the classroom. Our goal is to create a well-rounded, comprehensive program with a more contemporary approach to a child’s overall development.
Milestones Montessori’s Integrated Arts Program arises from each classroom’s cultural and science curriculum, with lessons intentionally designed and carefully developed to integrate the arts into the students’ work. The Arts Coordinator is responsible for working closely with our teachers to incorporate the weekly theme into her group lessons and provide materials for the work shelves in each classroom. Furthermore, the child may utilize art in such things as geometrical drawings, geographical maps, mathematical graphing, or illustrations for history, botany, zoology, social studies, geology, geography, etc. A variety of techniques are taught, and with multiple media available at their disposal, the child has free artistic expression in a Montessori environment. Collaborative projects and large-scale murals also provide opportunities for children to work and brainstorm together.
The Music Program at MMI gives children the opportunity to experience music every day in the classroom through singing and studies of various composers. Our Music Instructor provides formal group lessons with the children once a week. A different musical instrument is introduced each week alongside music theory and language (notation, rhythm, harmony, musical literature). The engaging class gives children a positive first experience to musical appreciation through song, movement and laughter. The children also share their joy of music in our school-wide winter and spring performances.
Our Music Instructor offers private lessons to interested families. With a piano on campus, the children receive convenient, individual instruction on the piano as young as three. This is an optional program and an additional fee will apply.
The children participate in gardening during all four seasons. The fruit and vegetable gardens provide a rich and rewarding way to learn about environmental science. Children are engaged in the crop cycle from start to finish. They receive hands-on lessons about soil composition, preparation of soil, crop rotation, sowing, transplanting, growing, and harvesting. Harvesting the fruits of their labor encourages the children to try different foods from the garden.
Students are encouraged to participate in physical education as a step towards developing a lifelong appreciation for exercise and physical fitness. A great outlet for their energy, athletics can improve a child’s sense of self through physical achievement. We concentrate on the fundamental movements of jumping, skipping, leaping, galloping, and sliding skills through fun games, relays and activities.