General
description
Our goal
Curriculum
Elementary Education
Age Range
A quote about Dr. Maria Montessori
Cinquegranelli
Montessori School is Washington-state certified and state approved for
Kindergarten and First Grade. Our teachers are Montessori-certified
and the student-teacher ratio is 10:1. We are located in the heart of
Seattle's own Crown Hill business district, adjacent to a beautiful neighborhood
park. We participate in the Montessori movement that unites a global change
in education. We welcome families and children of all races, national,
and ethnic origins.
Cinquegranelli Montessori School was inspired by the original
"Casa dei Bambini" established by Dr. Maria Montessori in Rome,
Italy, 1906. Our school traditions reflect a home and family environment,
where children ages 3 to 5 and 6 to 9 can develop independence, learn
responsibility, and practice social skills in a community of friends.
We
provide outdoor play and environmental education in our adopted park with
planting and harvesting experiences in our garden. We offer avenues into
the Italian language and culture to embellish a child's perspective of
the world.
". . it is a living place, full of children in search of themselves and their world There is a feeling of total involvement as children explore and discover, sometimes with materials on rugs on the floor or on tables; sometimes together. There is much movement, self-initiating socializing, and casual interchange between children and between child and teacher. The teacher is hard to find . . . she is likely to be on a rug on the floor, or at a child-sized table, giving full attention to one individual child at a time. Careful observation of her will show she is constantly on the move in a quiet way, as she goes from child to child and seeks to be alert to the needs and actions of all . . ."
-- from Montessori, A Modern Approach,
by Paula Polk Lilliard
Our
goal is "to guide the full potential of each child through experiential
learning, within an environment that offers beauty, order, structure,
creativity, and an opportunity for real accomplishment."
At
Cinquegranelli Montessori, we encourage freedom with responsibility and
respect for self and others. Originating at Cinquegranelli is the "Discovering
Italy" curriculum, in which children experience Italy through activities
in language, music, dance, stories, books, and food experiences.
Our
early education philosophy is based on the child-centered approach of
Dr. Maria Montessori. It allows children the freedom to explore and experience
activities in a prepared environment (in "an orderly, well-planned,
multi-sensory child space") where they may grow in wonder, discovering
the great and ordinary secrets of the Universe.
The curriculum covers five areas of learning that flow easily into one another. The basic Montessori curriculum materials allow for individual differences in the mental, physical, social, and spiritual growth processes.
These five areas are:
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Practical Life - Daily living exercises to develop skills in self-care and care for the environment. Lessons in grace and courtesy, which helps build respect for self, others, and the world in which we share.
-
Sensorial - Through hands-on experiments with special materials, children refine the five senses. They encounter specific aspects of shape, weight, color, texture, length, width, temperature, taste, smell, sound, etc., and discover how to name, sort, classify, arrange in order, and describe sensory impressions.
-
Mathematics - Hands-on materials help internalize number concepts forming the bridge to abstract operations. Children explore the decimal system and concepts in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The world-wide metric standard for measurement in math and science is traditionally introduced using Montessori metric materials.
-
Language - Children are read to often and listen to real-life stories told by teachers and guests about lives of others, various places, and the secrets of the world of nature. Language materials are used to develop basic skills linking sounds with symbols. Individual expression is encouraged in creative writing, reading, and drama.
- Cultural
- Includes geography, history, life sciences, literature, foreign language
(Italian), music, art, and creative movement. Life sciences are a rich
focus at Cinquegranelli.
Originating at Cinquegranelli is the "Discovering Italy" curriculum, in which children experience Italy through activities in language, music, dance, stories, books, and food. Cinquegranelli provides daily voice and movement activities (in Italian and English), enhanced by an exceptional music program with Joseph Weisnewski, which features appreciation of music, composers, and instruments from around the world. Children also perform at Festa Italiana annually.
Tarantella at Festa Italiana 2001
Members of a growing circle of professionals who are committed to sharing their knowledge in all five curriculum areas with the children of Cinquegranelli are occasional guests of the school.
Two Montessori teachers act as gentle guides presenting activities in all five learning areas. Both function as a team. At the close of each school day, they exchange ideas, discuss their observations, and note the progress of each child. For more information about our teachers, please see the staff page.
Cinquegranelli
is a place where elementary children have a unique opportunity to study
nature and gain social awareness through community service and the arts.
Here, once the child establishes trust in their sense of place, their
imaginations are free to make connections through research and experimentation.
Intellectual growth is rapid as their academic skills increase.
Our teachers are partners in this process, the dynamic
link between children and the knowledge they seek. While encouraging the
child's inspiration with new information and projects, teachers provide
balance by helping children set goals, plan time management, and create
self-evaluation skills.
"Psychologically there is a decided change in personality,
and we recognize that nature has made this a period for the acquisition
of culture, just as the former was for absorption of environment."
– Maria Montessori, To Educate the Human Potential
Our education
program welcomes children aged 3-7.
Presently Cinquegranelli is Washington state approved for Kindergarten and
First Grade. Experienced Montessori guides prepare the environment and
give lessons to match each child's abilities.
Montessori materials are sequenced and children experience
success and confidence as they strengthen their minds and bodies
simultaneously. Because of their differences
in development, a noncompetitive atmosphere is fostered. This allows children
the freedom to create an encouraging, responsible community.
Often
the older child act as a model for the younger child. The sequenced materials
in the environment provide for the needs of all.
A quote about Dr. Maria Montessori
"While Maria Montessori was putting together the basic description of her educational procedures and philosophies, Albert Einstein was at work in Switzerland, Arnold Schoenberg and Sigmund Freud in Vienna, James Joyce in Trieste, Igor Stravinsky, Pablo Picasso, Marcel Proust, and Gertrude Stein in Paris, William Rutherford and Niels Bohr in Manchester, Bertrand Russel, Alfred North Whitehead, John Maynard Keynes and James George Frazier in Cambridge .... It gives one to think."
--Martin Mayer, in his introduction toThe Montessori Mind (from the Pacific Northwest Montessori Association, Summer, 1998)