Freedom to Choose within the Prepared Environment

 Freedom to choose activities according to their interests and stage of development 

Children learn most effectively when they are interested and motivated by the activities they are engaged in.

Children are shown how to use each piece of equipment correctly and then are able to choose it independently for as long as they wish.

They are free to move around the prepared environment and to ask staff if they need something that is not readily available.

Prepared Indoor Provision

Practical Life Area - 

This   is where a child is learning control of movement (fine motor skills), concentration, self-confidence, and a love of learning. The activities are made up of familiar objects that a child would naturally see in everyday life. 

Sensorial 

This area of the classroom offers sensorial experiences to children which   helps refine and develop their five senses - touching, seeing, hearing, smelling, and tasting.

This material requires the children to sort, grade, seriate by size and shape in preparation for mathematics. 

Phonics

This area encourages development of early-literacy skills through the use of phonetic sounds with sandpaper letters.

Language activities include learning the shapes and sounds of letters, practicing fine motor skills by writing, vocabulary development, matching words and pictures, reading development with word building and creating sentences and reading. 

Children are taught their phonic sounds 1-2-1 with a teacher and given a phonic keyring which is allowed to go home so that parents can follow up and practice their sounds at home. Each child learns at their own pace without pressure and we make the process of learning phonics fun and inclusive which achieves fabulous results. Many children will leave Acorn as early readers,   setting them up for a positive start in the reception year at their next school.

Writing Area

This area offers opportunities to develop pencil control skills, holding a pencil correctly whilst using the insets for design to create shapes. Different colouring mediums are available in this area such as crayons, chalk, coloured pencils, hole punches, stencilling, wipe board marking etc. 

Numeracy

In the area of ‘Early Maths’ in a Montessori classroom, we spend much time exposing our children to concrete materials and reinforcing numbers and concepts. Children are required to master the activities in ‘Early Maths’ in order to fully grasp Math concepts later on.

Activities include the Large Number Rods and Numerals, Sandpaper Numbers, Spindle Box and Cards and Counters. 

Cultural/Knowledge and Understanding of the World

This area of learning is a vital part of our curriculum and helps broaden children’s understanding of the world and their place within it.

We explore different cultures in a way that introduces children to what people in other parts of the world wear, how they speak, what they eat, what they see and create.

Science Shelves

Within this area of the classroom children explore and experiment with magnetism, magnifying, kaleidoscopes, things that ‘go’, sensory objects and measurement.   

Small World Shelves

Shelves that follow a specific learning topic such as Farms, Antarctica, modes of transport and family groups. This area sparks their imagination and allows them to create their own worlds using the themed objects.

Reading Area 

Bookshelf with books to read at all times of the school day. The books regularly changed to keep interest and also follow the topics of the week. 

Role Play/Home Corner

This area of the classroom that is regularly changing according to class topic   areas and offers opportunities for children to be creative and use their imagination whilst playing socially with one another. 

This area can include dressing up opportunities and role play such as:

Shops, doctors, space theme, bird watching hide, vets, families etc

Favourable Outdoor Provision

Supervised ‘free play’ with use of balls, hoops, bikes, tunnels, slides and balancing equipment along with colouring opportunities, chalking, roleplay, smaller group activities catering for the   individual child’s choices on that particular day.

Different prepared outdoor (or indoor in our large hall on days when the weather doesn’t allow for us to go outdoors) provision daily keeping children inspired and challenged on a daily basis.

Both Gross Motor and Fine motor development exercised during outdoor sessions along with opportunities to reinforce literacy and numeracy and creative skills.

School Garden

Our little piece of school heaven, where children can take part in gardening, digging, planting, eating produce grown, feeding the birds and observing animal habitats. Children also help us maintain this area by weeding and raking the bark. 

Vegetables/plants grown by the children each year in our school garden include: Carrots, peas,   green beans, tomatoes, potatoes, courgettes, cucumbers, sunflowers, flowers.