“Education cannot be effective unless it helps a child open up himself to life”

-Maria Montessori

What Maria Montessori said in the early part of the last century is more relevant today in the 21st Century because academic excellence alone can no longer assure success and happiness in life and career. Holistic development through education from the early stage of a child’s life has become more important today than in the last century.

OBJECTIVES AND GOALS OF PRE-PRIMARY CLASSES

• Whole Child Development pays respect to the fact that there are many aspects of human potential that grades can’t measure. 
• Besides curiosity and intelligence, children may want to develop creativity, passion, resilience, intuition, confidence, generosity, mindfulness, humor, and many, many other important traits. 
• Instead of splitting children into a collection of 4-8 skills, such as social, emotional and so forth, the theory identified four natural urges that drive our growth throughout childhood into adult life: Being Me, Us, the World, and Human Creations. 

Social Development:

• Share toys and take turns
• Begin engaging in pretend play
• Follow simple rules in games
• Sometimes become bossy and defiant
• Show more independence
• Might show attachment to one friend

 Physical Development:

• Babies will begin reaching and grabbing toys and objects, practicing hand eye coordination, as well as    fine and gross motor skills. 
• Encouraging your child to reach and grasp their toys helps them learn to control their motor skills.
• Art and craft activities allow children to practice reaching, moving and placing objects through expressive play, learning about depth and muscle control.
• Molding and manipulating material like playdough allows children to challenge themselves by making new shapes and textures, building fine motor skills.
• Simple tasks, like turning the pages of a board book or pressing buttons encourage hand eye coordination and motor skill control.  

             Intellectual Development:

• Start to organize games and make friends.
• Start to understand concepts like ‘bigger’ and ‘taller’
• Ask lots of questions, especially ‘why’
• Start to develop a sense of humor and delight in jokes and riddles.
• Develop some concept of time.

           Emotional Development:

• Form and sustain positive relationships.
• Experience, manage and express emotions.
• Explore and engage with the environment.

Cultural Development:

• Build young children’s self-confidence and skills
• Increase children’s awareness, appreciation, and inclusion of diverse beliefs and cultures
• Maximize children’s academic achievement and educational success.