Young children are neurologically wired to take in language more efficiently and accurately than at any other time of life. Language proficiency is a big part of our program.  At Arise and Shine Montessori Minneapolis children learn language skills in a variety of ways. We use music, movement, rhythm and auditory games as well as multi-sensorial phonetic language exercises.  

We use a graduated reading program beginning with various forms of  phonemic awareness:

• Rhyming
• Beginning sounds
• Blending
• Segmenting

We have materials to support each of these steps. The children begin with rhyming games and then matching sounds to phonetic objects. They then move on to read three and then four-letter words. Simple, short, phonetic sentences come next followed by picture books and small chapter books that contain multiple blends, digraphs and long vowel patterns.

 We have a writing component to our methods which gives children distinct and specific instruction for writing using music and sounds.

As in every area of the curriculum, each child works at his own level of ability and understanding, so no one is left behind or left unchallenged.
At our Minneapolis child care, we approach mathematics in an orderly sequence that takes children from the concrete to the pictorial to the abstract.
Children use a variety of hands on games and learning activities to first understand the concept of one through ten as a quantity. They move on to learn the numerals one through ten and how these relate to quantity.
 Once a child has a firm grasp of these concepts he will have opportunities to learn teens, place value, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, time, fractions, geometry and the decimal system. The child does not learn these concepts by rote, but rather through real experiences with hands- on materials.

Practical Life activities build the foundation of our Minneapolis preschool program and include many tasks the child sees as part of the daily routine. These include sorting objects, pouring liquids, preparing foods, fastening clothes, washing dishes, dusting and sweeping. With these activities children develop:

• Concentration
• Sense of order
• Initiative
• Self-reliance
• Independence
• Fine and large muscle control
• Hand-eye coordination (writing skill coordination)
• Perception and planning of the sequence of events
• Care of themselves and the environment

We perceive, experience and define our environment through our five senses. The sensorial materials of our Minneapolis preschool are specially designed to develop and refine perceptual abilities. They also teach children the basic scientific abilities of observation, sorting (classification), grading and comparison.

Sensorial activities are foundational to all areas of learning.  Our Minneapolis child care has materials to help children refine and develop all 5 senses.  Pictured at left, a child is matching and grading sound cylinders by shaking them and listening to the distinctive sounds that they make.