Montessori | BIS Freetown

WELCOME TO EARLY YEARS

The British International School and Montessori Education support children aged 16 months to 5 years in its Early Years Program. The Pre-school 1 acceptance age is 16 months and the daily activities time is 8:30-1:00 pm.

The Early Years Program adheres strictly to the Maria Montessori educational approach which focuses on the sensitive periods of the child. These are moments that show readiness for learning. During this period children are often seen repeating certain actions until a new skill emerges and is then mastered. We believe that the sensitive periods are crucial to the child’s developmental needs and so we have prepared an environment that nurtures those needs.

OUR STORY

Children in our Montessori Garden are given every opportunity to explore, learn and interact positively thereby laying a strong foundation that prepares them physically, emotionally, socially and intellectually

THE SIX SENSITIVE PERIODS OF CHILDREN

Sensitivity to order

Sensitivity to language

Sensitivity to walking

Sensitivity to the social aspects of life

Sensitivity to small objects

Sensitivity to learning through the senses

All learning activities revolves around the seven key stages below using the UK Early Years Framework

(EYFS) and linking each stage with the Montessori Approach.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development.

Our setting has been designed to encourage young children to make new friends, be socially active and become independent. Using our Montessori materials children are supported with activities that promotes care of the self and the environment.

COMMUNICATION AND LANGUAGE

We ensure that children are giving every opportunity to share their natural curiosity and ideas by encouraging them to talk through structured play and circle time activities. For children who do not have English as a first language we take pride in our ability to help them settle and learn quickly.

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Using a wide range of resources both indoors and outdoors children are given every opportunity to develop their gross motor skills, be it kicking a football around the premises or building with large foam blocks indoors and interacting while using play equipment outdoors.

LITERACY

Our range of literacy materials are geared towards exposing the children to prints, reading and writing. Our staff encourages this through reading sessions daily, while varied activities are encouraged to support fine motor skills needed for writing.

MATHEMATICS

Through games, songs and structured activities we encourage children to explore numbers in the context of every day life.

UNDERSTANDING THE WORLD

Children enjoy exploring their environment and this curiosity is nurtured through our prepared environment which encourages exploration of texture, colour, science activities, while circle time talks and pictures about places and nature are used to further compliment their learning.

EXPRESSIVE ARTS AND DESIGN

We believe in the importance and impact of creativity in the early years and so children are encouraged to express themselves through art and design and everyday children are given the opportunity to paint, color, mold with play dough while their finished works are put on display in the classrooms. Our staff also help the children to express themselves through singing and using simple musical instruments. We also engage the children in music and movement as a form of expression.

NUTRITION

We know how important it is for growing children to have healthy and nutritionally balanced meals. We encourage parents to ensure that their children’s meal packs include healthy options of fruits and vegetables this is enable the children develop healthy eating patterns.

PLAY TIMES

Gross motor development is an important aspect of children’s development. We encourage the children to engage in various play activities outdoors which enables them become physically active, challenge themselves and most of all benefit from the fresh air.

INDEPENDANCE

We recognise the importance of routines for young children as it helps them to settle in quickly. The well being the children is of paramount importance to us at BIS and so we ensure that their day is structured to include free flow activities to support and encourage freedom of choice.

ONLINE LEARNING SUPPORT

With recent growth in the use of technology in the world of education, at BIS we have observed and seen the benefits of e-learning. To ensure continous motivation and the enhancement of the children’s learning experiences we have combined the use of interactive learning approaches and teacher led approaches in our classrooms.

The online programs being offered in our preschool and kindergarten classrooms extend beyond the classroom and children can be further supported at home using the programs.

We also use an interactive online platform that enables us to communicate with the parents and to keep parents abreast of what their child or children are learning.