Casa (3-6 years)
The Casa program is for children from 3 to 6 years. In this mixed-age environment, children spend three years in the same classroom allowing them to get to know each other and their teachers well which supports a strong classroom community.
In the Casa program, children engage in self-directed learning. Children choose from a variety of activities that include Practical Life, Sensorial, Language, Math and Culture exercises. After 3 years in the Casa program they will have developed a strong foundation in life and academic skills to be successful students in the Elementary program.
Practical Life Exercises
The exercises of Practical Life, which are the foundation of a Montessori environment, provides an ordered and wholesome range of activities which allows the children to develop control and coordination of movement, awareness of their environment, orderly thought patterns, independent work habits, responsibility, and many other human characteristics which can only be attained by spontaneous, purposeful work. Walking on the Line and the Silence Game are part of the daily program where children learn to develop coordinated movement and self regulation. Older students will become role models of the class and will take the initiative to coach and guide the young ones.
The Practical Life exercises are classified under the headings of Care of the Environment, Care of the Self, Grace and Courtesy, and Movement. There are materials for each of these which are adapted to the children’s age, interests and capabilities.
Sensorial Education
The Sensorial materials are designed to refine and delight the child’s sense of sight, touch, taste, smell and hearing. They isolate one quality at a time to draw the child’s attention to a specific quality whether it is shape, size, color, texture, temperature, weight, pitch or volume. In addition, they have a built in control of error so the child is able to learn independently and develop the ability to problem solve.
The Sensorial materials allow for individual work and repetition. This makes possible for the children’s mind to abstract the concept made concrete in each piece of material. The children can then name it, apply it to the environment, and thereby perceive their universe with greaterawareness.
Language Education
Our unique trilingual program provides a language immersion environment for the child. The Montessori materials and lessons provide a hands-on learning experience which facilitates language acquisition through a fun and multi-sensorial way. All areas of the classroom and themes are seamlessly taught in English, Mandarin and Thai.
English Language & Culture
English language and literacy is based on a rich learning environment. Children are exposed to a wide variety of literature and subject matter to build their vocabulary, listening and comprehension skills. They are encouraged to use oral language by sharing their personal experiences, discussing stories they have read or heard, and by interacting with adults and peers during private and group lessons. They freely engage with friends and teachers to exchange thoughts and ideas.
Writing and reading skills are developed through a phonetic approach. Children learn the sounds associated with the alphabet. When the child has mastered a number of sound-symbol pairs they can create words using the Moveable Alphabet. Children also work with Phonetic Objects, Phonograms, Puzzle Words and Reading Classification to build their literacy skills. Writing involves working with the Metal Insets to prepare the hand muscles and with the Sandpaper Alphabet to learn the shapes of the alphabet. A child who has mastered writing and reading simple words will progress to more advanced levels of expression such as creative writing and composing poetry. They will learn the Function of Words to understand the usage of the article, noun, adjective, verb, adverb, conjunction and preposition. They will also learn to appreciate and analyze writing style through Sentence Analysis exercises.
Chinese Language & Culture
In the
Chinese language program the child first learns speaking and listening skills. There is heavy emphasis on vocabulary building, in particular of things the child can relate to in his / her immediate environment or from his / her experience. Stories, books, objects, pictures, dialogues, songs and games are used to engage the child in learning the language. Teachers encourage children to express themselves using Chinese in conversations and with friends. Character reading and writing are gradually introduced. Children will learn to read simple phrases and stories in Chinese. Children will also learn the symbols associated with Hanyu Pinyin.
Thai Language & Culture
Children learn the Thai l
anguage through a Montessori approach which is based on introducing the phonetic sounds of alphabet and vowels, combining them to make words and visually recognize them with specialized materials. Writing and reading skills are presented as children advance.
Mathematics
Young children have a natural love for mathematics as they are developing their “Mathematical Mind.” The Montessori program takes advantage of this natural tendency by presenting concrete math materials that allows children to “play” and learn through a hands-on experience. Children first master the concept of one on one correspondence, they practice counting and learn to match quantities with numbers. Children learn linear counting and corresponding values for teens (eleven, twelve, thirteen…) and tens (ten, twenty, thirty…one hundred). They are introduced to the decimal system (ones, tens, hundreds, thousands) and the operations: addition, multiplication, subtraction and division. As children master these activities they also learn the more symbolic types of calculation by using the Stamp Game. The last group of Montessori Math is called the Passage to Abstraction. This allows the child to use the Small and Large Bead Frame to calculate numbers of more than ten thousand. Children will also be exposed to fractions.
Music & Art
Circle time and music appreciation lessons help the children express themselves with music. Children will be exposed to music, songs and dance from around the world, how to create and replicate rhythm, the use of various instruments and pitch recognition.
Art is an integral part of the classroom where children are encouraged to refine their skill in cutting, pasting, tracing, coloring and painting. In art appreciation classes the children will explore various mediums and styles to create art. Similarly, they will be introduced to various artists in accordance with our monthly cultural themes.
Culture
Children are introduced to the areas of culture which encompasses horticulture, biology, zoology, geography and social studies. Children learn through personal exploration in our beautiful garden and hands on experience planting in the vegetable garden. They also work with parts of the animal and plant puzzles, learn about life cycles of living things, among other activities. Children learn about the seven continents, their location and countries, weather, animals, food, language, music, art and so on. We will plan excursions in accordance with our themes and the children will be encouraged to have projects which involve self-exploration and discovery.