Montessori Preschool Curriculum

Preschool students at Hilltop Montessori study practical life skills, sensorial skills, language skills, math, science, and history. After lunch, students are regrouped by age. While many three and four year olds go home at 12 or 1, kindergarten students remain for additional studies.

Specific Objectives for Preschool Language

1.00 Pre-Reading Skill
     1.10 Matching
          1.10.1 Object to object
          1.10.2 Object to picture
          1.10.3 Picture to picture
          1.10.4 Phonetic objects to letter sounds
          1.10.5 Advanced: picture to word
          1.10.6 Advanced : word to word
     1.20 Letter and sound recognition and recall
          1.20.1 Trace sandpaper letters
          1.20.2 Name letter sounds
          1.20.3 Recognize beginning consonants
          1.20.4 Reads short vowel words
          1.20.5 Recognizes middle vowel sounds:
                    short a, e, i, o, u, and long a, e, i,o,u
          1.20.6 Reads consonant vowel words
          1.20.7 Reads words that begin or end with blends
          1.20.8 Moveable alphabet
     1.30 Applies sounds in combination
           1.30.1 Reads words in combination
          1.30.2 Word build with moveable alphabet
          1.30.3 Spells short and long vowel words
          1.30.4 Uses moveable alphabet for simple sentences
          1.30.5 Reads words with diagraphs
          1.30.6 Reads phonograms with
                    silent e/ai/ay/a-e/ee/ea/y/ee/ie/igh/ i-e/o/oa/ow/o-e/ue
          1.30.7 Rhyming words
     1.40 Recalls relationships for time
          1.40.1 Knows days of the week
          1.40.2 Knows months of the year
          1.40.3 Knows the seasons
          1.40.4 Differentiates past, present, and future

2.00 Speaking Skills
     2.10 Participates in group discussions
     2.20 Understands ideas expressed by others
     2.30 Expresses self logically

3.00 Listening Skills
     3.10 Follows oral instructions:1-2 commands;3-5 commands
     3.20 Listens purposefully and responds appropriately
     3.30 Answers questions about information or story presented orally
          3.30.1 Name main character
          3.30.2 Can identify a character’s feeling
          3.30.3 Summarize plot
          3.30.4 Identify chronological order of events
          3.30.5 Identify the problem a character faces
          3.30.6 Identify problem resolution or moral of story
          3.30.7 Can make predictions about future events in a story
     3.40 Can identify speakers in a dialogue
     3.50 Can identify to whom a pronoun is referring

4.00 Handwriting Skills
     4.10 Develop fine motor control
          4.10.1 Metal inserts
          4.10.2 Tracing
     4.20 Can print lower case letters
     4.30 Can print upper case letters
     4.40 Spaces letters within a word appropriately
     4.50 Combines reading and writing skills
          4.50.1 Increasing complexity: words-sentences-stories-reports-journals
          4.50.2 Writes name, address, telephone number

5.00 Reading Skills
     5.10 Increases in complexity: reads sentences phonetic readers
             to non-phonetic readers
     5.20 Reads with increasing comprehension
     5.30 Summarizes key elements of a story: plot, characters, events, behaviors
     5.40 Follows written directions
     5.50 Reads for enjoyment, appreciation*

6.00 Introduction to Grammar, Rules of writing
     6.10 Recognizes noun, verb, article, and adjective
     6.20 Spelling
     6.30 Applies rules for capitalization

7.00 Literature
     7.10 Introduction to literature
     7.20 Poetry
     7.30 Famous authors
     7.40 Caldecott selections

8.00 Guided Research

9.00 Spanish

* Series books that are used at this level: BOB Books; Modern Curriculum Press; Caldecott Books; Beginning Chapter Books (such as Magic Tree House)