About Marina Elementary
Welcome to the Montessori at the Marina Elementary School program. In our Montessori program, your child will experience educational advantages that make our program significantly different from other educational alternatives.
There is a Montessori Difference
Language Studies
Social Development
Mathematics and Science
Gym, Foreign Language and Computers
There is a Montessori Difference!
1. Individualized learning: Each child is recognized to be an individual, to have different potentials and different learning rates. The learning environment for each child is adjusted to enable that individual to grow as rapidly as possible intellectually and socially, and not be confined or controlled by the learning processes of other children.
2. Opportunities for Learning: The learning process is not compartmentalized into specific segments. But learning occurs most rapidly when a child has an exposure to a broad range of exciting intellectual stimuli. The school is organized to provide a wide array of experiences and a continuous flow of ideas and concepts that both encourage and enhance a child's progress.
3. Concrete Learning Experiences: while a predominantly paper and pencil approach may have some value, the learning process can be greatly enhanced with concrete learning exercises. In a Montessori classrooms, programs and materials are developed specifically to capitalize on the concrete learning concept and enable the Montessori program to be highly effective in addressing the developmental needs of each child. The child understands abstract concepts in concrete examples and relationships.
4. Expansive Learning: One of the major functions of the Montessori program is to encourage children to expand their horizons and explore new dimensions beyond the immediate situation to expand their horizons and explore new dimensions beyond the immediate learning situation. While many children are satisfied just to complete a page of an assignment, the Montessori child is encouraged to explore the "why" and "how" and to develop an intellectual curiosity that prepares the child for life.
5. Extended learning: The Montessori program is committed and designed to provide the student with the prescribed and important elements of elementary education. However, the child is provided a more complete program of study, with geography, botany, zoology and art, as well as reading, language and mathematics.
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Language Studies
At Montessori at the Marina the child will develop language skills that focus on the language of knowing why -- "Where do I come from?", "Where am I going?", "How does this work?", "Why do anteaters have sticky tongues?" Before, language was learning the name of a thing and the relationship between the acts, including moral questions of right and wrong. Language exposes the conscious development of human will to the use of reason.
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Social Development
The child from 6-12 years is group oriented and is extremely sociable. Montessori at the Marina is a school where everyone gets to know everyone else. The classrooms are multi-aged. When children are with the same group of classmates for more than one year, the children learn to appreciate one another. The staff of our elementary school is trained to observe and encourage social interaction. Students are free to speak with each other and move about their classroom at will. There are no assigned seats. Work may be shared between students and "ground rules" for each classroom are established through discussion with the entire class, not arbitrarily by the adults.
Parents are encouraged to participate in school activities and observe in the classroom. The parent education nights, parent potlucks, field trips, parent fundraisers, spring/summer class trips and, of course, sharing parent expertise in various classroom discussions all offer parents the opportunity to become involved on a personal level in education of this child.
Children enter the Montessori Elementary program either from a Montessori preschool or directly without Montessori preparation. All children quickly adapt to the Montessori methods and begin to explore their world of knowledge.
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Mathematics and Science
To lead the world in mathematics and science is an ongoing national goal. At Montessori at the Marina the students demonstrate that the goal is a reality. Students in grade one are factoring equations and exploring the area of circles and geometry.
Science fairs, Biology class and field trips are only a few of the many opportunities to discover the world of science. Our geography program allows children to learn not only the location of countries but to get to know that country's people and how they live.
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Gym, Foreign Language and Computers
Gym is offered once a week and concentrates on gross motor skills such as jumping rope, running, gymnastics, general physical fitness and dance. They also participate in coordinated games such as dodge ball and volleyball.
Spanish is taught twice a week for conversation, but is also reinforced through materials in the classroom. Learning vocabulary, learning about the countries where the language is spoken and the labeling of common things.
Children are taught to utilize computers for research, word-processing and keyboarding in order to keep up with technology.
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