Our Programmes

The BonguLwazi Montessori School programme focuses on the child. It is not about the child fitting into a system, but the system caters for the child’s developmental needs. The week starts with observations where the child or a group of children are assessed while independently doing their chosen work. The teacher takes note of the child’s gaps and uses that to develop a weekly plan for the child or a group. Thereafter, the presentations which focus on developing the “whole child”, i.e. physically, intellectually, socially, emotionally and spiritually are carried throughout the week covering different subject area as illustrated below. It must be noted that the programme is not rigid but serves as a structure to ensure progress and the child is also allowed to do activities that satisfies his sensitive period.

Practical Life

Using simple and practical activities to teach the child to care for himself and his environment while preparing him for Maths and Language activities. The exercises are divided into:

  • preliminary,
  • elementary and
  • applied activities.

Sensorial

Presenting sensorial activities that develops, orders, broadens and refines the child’s senses. Activities include the differentiation of shapes, colours, patterns, sizes, textures, temperatures, smells, weights, loudness and pitch, and development of muscular memory.

Maths

The child works with concrete and abstract maths activities and we use an “open maths system” where the child is shown different ways of finding a solution for:

  • counting
  • quantifying
  • addition
  • multiplication
  • subtraction and
  • division

Language

Developing the child’s receptive and expressive language, focusing on how the child uses spoken sounds, words and written language. Introducing and reinforcing language using the following methods, depending on the child’s level:

  • Look and say method
  • Alphabet method
  • Tactile or kinaesthetic method
  • Phonetic word method
  • Contextual method
  • Language experience approach

Culture

The child interacts with his environment, focusing on the natural, man-made, social, symbolic, cultural and internal environments. The culture subjects include:

  • Botany
  • Zoology
  • Geography
  • History
  • Arts