Primary School
The M. Montessori School is a private school recognised by the State with a European focus. The five classes do not exceed 15/18 students to allow teachers to follow all children carefully and individually.
A main teacher is present for 24 hours a week and is responsible for teaching Italian, mathematics, history, science, and geography.
In the remaining hours, several specialist teachers enrich the educational offer by teaching English, French, music, physical education, art, and computer science.
OUR TYPICAL DAY
Entry for primary school children is between 7.45 and 8.30 am, which coincides with the start of lessons. The morning is interspersed with a snack break offered by the school and a play break of about 30 minutes which takes place on the terrace or in the gym. Lessons continue until lunchtime at 1.00 pm.
After a time for play and relaxation, lessons resume at 4.00 pm. At this point in the day, children can prepare to leave, use the after-school service, or take part in extracurricular activities.
Dopo un momento di gioco e di svago riprendono le lezioni fino alle ore 16. A questo punto della giornata i bambini potranno prepararsi per l’uscita, usufruire del servizio di doposcuola oppure partecipare ai corsi extrascolastici
THREE-YEAR EDUCATIONAL OFFER PLAN
The fundamental purpose of our work is to provide children with an increasingly broad cultural and innovative educational background; to achieve this goal, we use a shared methodological base.
The didactic planning is in line with the ministerial one and is carried out by integrating traditional materials with digital contents to guarantee the learning of indispensable notions and to develop the curiosity of each one. Much attention is paid to the potential and uniqueness of each individual.
The training offer includes:
- 24 hours a week with a main teacher
- 4-5 hours of English
- 2 hours of French
- 2 hours of physical education in English
- 1 hour of music, computer science and art
STEM PROJECT
The English Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, is an acronym that refers to the disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. In reality, it is not a didactic methodology nor four separate disciplines but disciplines integrated into a new educational paradigm based on real and concrete applications. Connections are encouraged from a systemic and experimental perspective.
What differentiates the study of STEM from traditional science and mathematics is the different approach. Students are shown how the scientific method can be applied to everyday life.
STEM allows students to be taught computational thinking (the set of mental processes involved in formulating a problem and its solution) by focusing on real-world applications in a problem-solving perspective. Recently, the need to include art and reading among the disciplines to be protected has also arisen, thus evolving from STEM to STEAM (where the addition of the A intends the involvement of Art) and finally STREAM with the addition of the R for Reading.
Reading is an element capable of developing critical thinking and contributes to the success of every student. Reading and writing are the foundations of communication, whatever discipline is taught.
The benefits that are obtained with this teaching method are COGNITIVE, RELATIONAL, COMMUNICATIVE AND DIDACTIC.
From a cognitive point of view, reasoning, logic, problem solving but also the ability to make decisions and to reflect outside the box and find alternative solutions are enhanced. All these skills have an emotional impact: self-esteem increases, and you feel more confident and more determined to act.
From a relational point of view, there are improvements in the classroom climate because cooperative learning, circle time and debate methods are often used. It is thanks to the comparison and the debate that we go on to strengthen the relational and communicative skills of the students.
At a didactic level, finally, the objectives set for each disciplinary area are reached with different methods, not based on performance but on experience. Specifically, we talk about Tinkering. Tinkering is talked about as a form of informal learning where you learn by doing. The student is encouraged to experiment, stimulating in him the aptitude for problem-solving.
The main activities that can be proposed consist of building or deconstructing objects, designing, exploring materials or mechanical elements, and creating original artifacts or chain reactions.
The purpose of tinkering is to create objects of various kinds using recycled materials, easily found even at home. Boxes, glasses, sheets of paper, pieces of wood, metal wires, plastic wrappers are just some of the “ingredients” you need to get to work.
You will not have children with notebooks full of cards or written sheets but children with eyes that shine because they have deduced, experimented and intuited what they could instead boringly study by heart.
The final goal will be to have minds that have learned to think, to reason, to reflect and to question things with the process of metacognition.
ART
In primary school, the Art and Image discipline aims to allow students to develop the ability to express themselves and communicate in a creative and personal way, to acquire their own sensitivity towards beauty and to create a conscious and caring attention to the artistic heritage.
For this reason, the Montessori school has designed a work path that develops over the 5 years of primary school to accompany children.
The classes are taught in English.
COMPUTER SCIENCE
The computer science lessons for the first two years of primary school aim to introduce children to the use of computer tools and new technologies. Specifically, the lessons will involve unplugged coding activities, pixel art exercises, and problem-solving games that teach children how robots think. In addition, educational software and platforms will be used to promote group work, collaboration, and multimedia learning.
The computer science curriculum for years 4 and 5 aims to provide children with the basic concepts of computer science, which are essential for being able to use a computer for basic applications. By the end of their studies, students will be able to understand and use the main applications of the Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and will be familiar with the basic functions of the operating system (Windows). In conjunction with the mathematics teacher, the topic of binary code will be addressed, providing children with the theoretical and practical foundations for converting between decimal and binary number systems. During computer science lessons, educational software (e.g., Kidspiration, Mindmap, Wordwall) will also be used to support children’s learning and study processes.
Significant attention will be paid to the study and use of GSuite and web browsing. The topic of internet safety will be addressed, discussing and reflecting with children about the potential risks and dangers, guiding them towards the correct, conscious, and safe use of the internet.
Finally, part of the curriculum will include an in-depth exploration of photography and video editing. Children will have the opportunity to create short video productions, going through the different stages of production.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
For the first two years of primary school, children engage in two hours of physical activity per week
From the third year onwards, physical education is taught in English and aims to improve motor coordination, enabling children to organize their bodies about space, objects, and others. During these two weekly hours, pupils have the opportunity to experience various forms of sport, thus promoting cooperation, respect for rules, and developing healthy competition between teams. All this allows for work on the subjectivity of each individual as an element of the team and on being part of a group, in particular on active participation, a sense of responsibility, acceptance of defeat, and experiencing victory with respect.
