Curriculum
We are committed to developing well rounded multi-lingual life long learners. At ILIM, children are given a unique experience to learn the educational essentials through four (4) language immersion classroom settings (English, Spanish, Mandarin, and Arabic). Each of the curriculum pillars below is taught in the four target languages throughout the day in a Montessori -Reggio educational process. Our curriculum is carefully cultivated to ensure that our children receive the best intellectual exposure that challenges their minds and grows their innate abilities to process our world’s most abstract concepts.
Washing, sweeping, dusting, preparing lemon water, buttoning, and tying shoelaces are familiar to children through everyday life. In our environment, children practice these activities using materials tailored to their size to manipulate each piece comfortably. By working in this area, children gain essential life skills that build their independence and self-esteem. These activities also help children refine their movement, coordination, and concentration that contribute to foundational learning.
Language
Developmental Education
Children are receptive to language in all forms. We provide a rich language environment by modeling proper, precise, and grammatically correct spoken languages in English, Spanish, Mandarin, and Arabic. Children receive daily opportunities to engage with the language through storytelling, reading books, and day-to-day conversations. This immersive language environment cultivates a child's love for language, making writing, grammar, and reading become more natural and pleasant experiences.
Children naturally develop a desire to explore their senses and how they exist within their environments. Our developmental education assists them with maneuvering through these experiences. By exploring their senses and environments, the child learns conflict resolution methods and the vocabulary that corresponds to the sensory experiences. These tools afford the child the ability to form a reference frame to classify sensory inputs and provide a more significant opportunity to succeed in all other fields.
Math
The unique approach of Montessori education fosters every child’s innate mathematical potential. Mathematical concepts are first introduced in a concrete form. Working with concrete materials builds a solid foundation of children’s understanding and gradually prepares them to understand abstract concepts. Children can carry out basic numerical operations with understanding. They work happily with large quantities, fractions, geometry, and powers of and roots of numbers, concepts conventionally considered too advanced for the young mind.
Cultural Studies
In Montessori education, the cultural studies field cuts across multiple disciplines. The child gains a clear understanding of History, Geography, and Civics in each language. Children learn about different cultures through songs, books, and short presentations. Through daily conversations, cultural artifacts, exploring timelines, calendars, seasons, and photos, they develop an awareness of Geography, an understanding of historical passages of time, and an appreciation for the world around them.
Science
We use simple science experiences to introduce and illustrate the phenomena that are observed in nature. For example, experiments dealing with evaporation and condensation lead to an understanding of the rain cycle. Other scientific experiments form the basis for studying biology, botany, geography, geology, physics, and chemistry. These sciences are not taught simply for their implicit value; they are trained to give the child knowledge and respect for life around them.
Art is a way of self-expression. We do not directly “teach” art but rather, prepare children physically and intellectually to express themselves freely. Practical Life activities and sensorial materials help prepare the hand so that children acquire the fine motor skills necessary for artistic expression. We provide quality artistic tools and introduce the materials focusing on technique and not the final product. The goal is to offer keys to exploration and discovery, rather than to impress others
Music is very much alive in our environment, from singing and listening to songs to experiencing various musical instruments. In the Montessori environment, the bells represent a set of elegant material. As children work with the bells, an instrument that produces beautiful and precise sounds, their auditory senses (ability to discriminate pitch) are refined. They also learn the order and pattern of music, which nurtures their mathematical minds. Gradually, children learn the names of the notes and start to express themselves creatively. This helps tremendously when paired with language acquisition.
Art
Music
Entrepreneurship
Children gain an understanding of their unique purpose by learning their strengths and gifts. They learn to apply these skills in a business environment and become exposed to different business cycles (networking, marketing, finance, creativity, arts, technology investing, inventory, saving, etc.). Children will have opportunities to practice their entrepreneurial skills through the student-operated school store. Students must learn to be contributors to society.
Technology
A holistic approach to learning technology encourages children to engage and connect with the world around them from multiple lenses. This component of our core curriculum allows children to understand the powerful relationship between art and science. By engaging in a process of inquiry and discovery through exploratory projects, our children develop 21st-century skills necessary to thrive in society. Through a focus on robotics, coding, and engineering, our students realize how to apply what they learn to solve real-world problems.
Enrichment Programs
Gardening, cooking, animal care, arts, music, and yoga are all included in our flexible curriculum. We introduce opportunities for children to dive deeper into their interests.
Real World Experiences
Real-world concrete experiences help bridge the gap between what children are taught and how they apply and process the new information. We provide an opportunity for children to get out and experience everything they learn. These experiences also provide additional exposure to new things and garner new perspectives on different aspects of life. We commit to including some form of field trips in our curriculum. These typically start in our lower elementary classes.
Sample Student Schedule
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