The Montessori curriculum meets the national curriculum requirements and goes much further in many subjects. One part is expressed in space through the materials, which allow the same content as in the traditional school to be given through beauty, the use of hands with three-dimensional objects and movement.
In addition to the areas of Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, Spanish Language and Literature, Mathematics, social and civic values, etc., we offer learning in the following areas:
Spanish and English bilingualism
“The limits of my language are the limits of my world.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Part of the space prepared in Sendas is to create an environment in which two languages coexist, Spanish and English. A new language is not just other words to name things, but new perspectives on those things, different structures to portray reality, which account for different cultures and idiosyncrasies.
At Sendas we understand bilingualism as another way of educating for peace. We want to offer each person the relaxed acquisition of two different communication structures. This will leave the record that there is not a single form of knowledge and enables a plural perspective.
There is always a guide (Montessori term that refers to the teacher) who approaches the child in their mother tongue, offering them security and emotional shelter, at the same time as they transmit the basic structures of their language (the main Montessori material of language is the guide itself). At the child’s side is another guide who speaks exclusively in English who puts the children in contact with the other language in a natural and vivid way. In this way, the two languages become vehicles in space.
In the Montessori space we offer accompaniment and initiation to “writing-reading” both in Spanish and English starting with the mother tongue.
Nutrition
With small habits we nurture the self-construction of each person. Sendas it smells of freshly made bread that the children from “Taller” knead using whole and organic flour and sourdough starter. This bread and organic oil from nearby olive groves are the basis of the morning snack, which is completed with the fresh fruit and nuts provided by the families.
With these and other small gestures, every day, we help to acquire healthy eating habits, and to train people to have a conscious and responsible relationship with the environment.
P sychomotricity and sport
From 3 to 6 years old, in “Casa de niñ@s”, where movement is essential for the self-construction of each individual, we offer the relational psychomotricity proposed by Bernard Aucouturier twice a week.
Outside, we invite the free development of movement and play and we promote autonomous exploration.
In “Taller”, for kids from 6 to 12 years old, we offer quarterly initiation sessions to a sport with the aim of knowing the rules, techniques and skills that each sport offers, as well as teamwork and interdependence. In addition, the experience offers a reference of great value for life, what is practiced is mastered.
Social Skills
We believe it is important to offer the tools to children to be able to manage daily conflicts, propose solutions to situations in their social environment and develop their capacity for empathy. For this reason, within our curriculum we work on social skills through games, dynamics and role playing.
Expression and Music
Expression and creativity appear transversally in all areas. We accompany the children in the expression of themselves, through artistic diction, theatrical representation, literary creation, drawing, watercolour, pastels, clay, singing, music, and handcrafts.
We provide the techniques and conditions (materials and a safe environment) for this expression to take place and find its own form. Music plays an important role within the programming through songs, rhythmic creations and dance.
Excursions
Every Friday the kids from 3 to 6 years old go out to enjoy nature from 12 noon. We live in a place surrounded by holm oaks so we leave the school on foot. The children experience first-hand the seasons of the year and the changes they produce in the environment, find little animals showing their life cycles week by week, think about what happens to the water that disappears from the puddles, watch the birds who have returned from their migration with their happy trills…
The children from the workshop go a little further, hiking different trails and visiting different spaces, establishments and places, which arise from the interest of the group and are organised by the children themselves.
