Lower School - A Montessori Start
The Montessori educational experience at TMS provides the means for children to discover and develop critical age and stage related characteristics at a time when they are particularly receptive. This includes the enhancement of the following characteristics:
- A love of learning
- The ability to concentrate effectively
- A high degree of independence and initiative
- The ability to make good choices and exercise self-discipline
- Regular joy in learning, doing and being
The Montessori curriculum is seamless in its construction for students from 18 months to Grade 6. The curriculum is reviewed regularly and compared to that of the Ministry of Education to ensure that our students are exceeding learning outcomes.
In the Lower School, our instructional materials encourage learning in five major areas:
- Practical Life instils a sense of caring for oneself, for others and for the environment and leads to a strong sense of social awareness and responsibility
- Sensorial enables each student to identify, refine and classify information, create order and increase understanding and awareness of his/her environment
- Language assists in the effective development of writing, reading and oral expression
- Mathematical develops a concrete understanding of mathematical concepts, building a strong foundation in computational and problem-solving activities
- Culture provides an opportunity to use the senses to discover ideas and concepts in geography, history, and the sciences including zoology and botany
The discovery of the powers of the child is the most important discovery humanity has ever made and uncovers the very roots of our life.
- Dr. Maria Montessori
TMS is an accredited school by the Canadian Council of Montessori Administrators (CCMA). We are unique in that we also house the Toronto Montessori Institute which is a lab teacher training school.