The cultural area

The cultural area in the Montessori room allows children a very hands-on way to explore abstract concepts.

 

At the same time, we are encouraging children to explore the world around them like scientists.

 

Emily is learning about the months of the year and the passage of time. She takes twelve pieces of paper with the names of the months of the year written on them and uses a printed guide to put them in order in a circle. Then she asks her friend Joanna to stand in the center of the circle holding a picture of the sun. Emily will take out the globe and walk in a circle around the sun representing the passage of a year. 

 

Laurie, four years old, is learning about the parts of a tree. We observe trees outside together, then Laurie makes a booklet detailing the parts of a tree. On each page is a blank outline of a tree. On the first page he colors and labels the whole tree, on the second page he colors and labels just the roots, while on the third page he colors and labels the trunk, etc. In this way Laurie develops a very real understanding of the different parts that make up plants, animals and objects, and can begin to make judgments, categorizing them based on these characteristics.