1
Contents Qingdao Amerasia International School Introduction
3
Our Mission
3
Our Vision
3
Our Core Values
3
Montessori Early Childhood Curriculum
4
Practical Life
4
Sensorial
6
Math
7
Language
9
Cultural
11
Chinese
14
IB速 Primary Years Program Curriculum
14
2
Qingdao Amerasia International School Introduction Our Mission QAIS aims to inspire a lifelong love of learning through a holistic, child-centered, inquiry-based approach. By embracing each student’s diverse needs, learning styles, and strengths, we strive to develop courageous global citizens who help to create a more peaceful world through community action, intercultural understanding, and respect for all life.
Our Vision To cultivate an inclusive and vibrant community that promotes knowledge, creativity, independent thinking and mutual respect in a nurturing and safe environment.
Our Core Values Academic Excellence: We embrace academic excellence, guiding our children’s innate curiosity and encouraging joy in learning. Independence and Imagination: We foster independent thinking and spark imagination, inspiring our children to become the leaders of tomorrow. Peace and respect: We instill respect for self, respect for one another, and respect for our planet, enhancing prospects for peace.
3
Montessori Early Childhood Curriculum One of the first goals of the QAIS Montessori Children’s House is to help the child gain control in the coordination of his movement, and help the child to gain independence and adapt to his society. It is therefore important to “Teach teaching, not correcting” (Montessori) in order to allow the child to be a fully functional member in his own society. The following is a brief overview of QAIS’s core curriculum in the areas of language arts, mathematics, social studies, science, sensory training, and practical life for our students ages 3 through 6 years old. Please keep in mind that this only represents an overview of the course of study, and is not meant to be complete. Since our students progress at their own pace, it is not possible to divide up the curriculum by grade levels.
Practical Life Practical life focuses on developing skills that allow the child to effectively control and deal with the social and physical environment in which he lives. Practical Life Exercises also aid the growth and development of the child’s intellect and concentration and will, in turn, also help the child develop an orderly way of thinking. There is a growing pride in being able to "do it for myself." Practical life begins as soon as the young child enters the school and continues throughout the curriculum to more advanced and complex tasks as the child gains mastery. In addition, the practical life exercises develop logic since there is a beginning, middle, and end to each exercise. PRACTICAL LIFE ACTIVITIES Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Presentation Cycle Mats Carrying Walking Tidying Classroom Environment Grasping Twisting Sorting Spooning Pouring Tweezing Table setting Table washing Cloth washing Cloth folding Food prep Cutting Rolling 4
Spooning Scooping Sifting Squeezing Locking Screwing Cleaning Scrubbing Mopping Vacuuming Personal Care Grooming Hand washing Polishing Dressing frames Grace and courtesy Indoor voice Sharing Listening Taking turn Manners Movement Walking the line Exercises/calisthenics Dance
5
Sensorial Sensorial materials are the tools for discovering the universe. The sensorial work allows the child to acquire clear, conscious, information and to be able to then make classifications in his environment. Montessori believed that sensorial experiences begin at birth. Through his senses, the child studies his environment. The sensorial materials are the keys to classifying the things around him, which leads to the child making his own experiences in his environment. Through the classification, the child is also offered the first steps in organizing his intelligence, which then leads to his adapting to his environment. These are sensorial exercises in perception, observation and fine discrimination, that play a major role in helping our children to develop their sense of logic and concentration. They begin at age 3 and are a major area of concentration typically through age 5. SENSORIAL Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Knobbed cylinders Pink tower Brown stair Red rods Color tablets Knobless cylinders Geometry cabinet Geometry cards Botany cabinet Botany cards Constructive triangles Geometric figures cards Geometric solids Sound cylinders Bells Thermic bottles Thermic tablets Smelling jars Baric tablets Binomial cube Trinomial cube
6
Math The mathematical material gives the child his own mathematical experience, which helps him to arrive at a deep understanding of mathematical concepts through individual work. Some of the math materials are teacher-directed activities but these are followed with activities for the individual. Most works begins with small group lessons which are followed by independent, individual work. The Exercises in arithmetic are grouped. There is some sequential work and some parallel work. The first group is Numbers through Ten. When the child has a full understanding of numbers through ten, the second group, The Decimal System, can be introduced. The focus here is on the hierarchy of the decimal system and how the system functions. It also starts the child on the exercises of simple computations, which are the operations of arithmetic. The third group will be started when the decimal system is well underway. From then on, these exercises will be given parallel to the continuing of the decimal system. This third group, Counting beyond Ten, includes the teens, the tens, and linear and skip counting. The fourth group is the memorization of the arithmetic tables. This work can begin while the later work of the decimal system and the counting beyond ten exercises are continued. The fifth group is the passage to abstraction. The exercises in this group require the child to understand the process of each form of arithmetic and to know the tables of each operation. The child who knows the process and tables for addition can begin to do the addition in abstraction. He may still be working on learning the tables for the other operations and these will not be taken up until he has the readiness. The exercises in the group for passing to abstraction, allow the child to drop the use of the material, as he is ready. He can then begin to work more and more with the symbols on paper, without using the material to find the answers. The sixth group of materials, fractions, can be taught in latter portion of the program while the child is in abstraction or can be presented as a sensorial work earlier in the program. The writing of fractions and the operations of fractions can follow, as the child is moving into the passage to abstraction. FUNDAMENTALS OF THE DECIMAL SYSTEM Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Number Rods Sandpaper Numerals Number Rods and Numerals Spindle Box Bead Bars Teens Board Tens Board 100 chain Hundreds Board Linear counting with bead chains NUMERICAL PLACE VALUE 7
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Phase 2
Phase 3
Golden Beads Number Cards Golden Beads and Number Cards Exchanging Game OPERATIONS WITH WHOLE NUMBERS Phase 1 Golden Beads -Addition Golden Beads-Subtraction Golden Beads-Multiplication Golden Beads-Division Stamp Game- Addition Stamp Game-Subtraction Stamp Game- Multiplication Stamp Game- Division Addition Snake Game Bead Bars Addition Strip Board Addition Charts Subtraction Strip Board Subtraction Charts Multiplication Board Multiplication Charts Division Board Division Charts GEOMETRY Basic Geometric Shapes Regular Polygons -Decagon Quadrilaterals Circle, Ellipse, and Oval Cube, Sphere, Cylinder, Pyramid and Cone Prisms, Ovoid, and Ellipsoid
8
Language To help the child in his development in language, the Montessori classroom is designed to help the child reach the 3rd period of consciousness. The child concentrates on the learning of each important step in language so that each progressive step is done easily and without any thought on the part of the child. The special material also plays an important role in aiding the child to develop the powers of communication and expression, of organization and classification, and the deepening of thought. The total environment of the Primary classes (3 to 6 years-old) tends to create and reinforce in our young children a spontaneous interest in learning how to read. We begin to teach reading as soon as that interest is first expressed. Using a total immersion approach, the youngest children develop a highly sophisticated vocabulary and command of the language. The children are taught through many early approaches to listen for and recognize the individual phonetic sounds in words. The children are introduced to literature by reading aloud and discussing a wide range of classic stories and poetry. Our youngest students recognize the shape and phonetic sounds of the alphabet through the 'sandpaper letters': a tactile alphabet. PRE-READING Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Sandpaper letters Sound recognition Moveable alphabet Matching Object -> object Object -> picture Picture -> picture Beginning consonants Phonetic object boxes Short vowel sounds Middle sounds/vowels Short & long: a, e, i, o, u
9
READING Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Blending/ending sounds cons/vowel cons/vowel/cons cons/cons/vowel/cons cons/vowel/cons/cons Sequence cards Opposites Word recognition Phonetic object boxes Moveable alphabet Matching Picture -> word Word -> word Word family boxes Puzzle words Digraphs Label the environment
10
Cultural Immersions in the arts, in dance, and in music are also given to the child along with the sciences of life: physical science, history and geography. All of these additional exercises are introduced, informed, and crystallized with language. In addition, the Cultural Work is given so the child has the experience to function in and respect his own culture, to develop respect and appreciation of diverse cultures, and to understand personal chronological placement in history. Zoology: Children cultivate an interest in animals while learning about their needs, characteristics and habitats. They are introduced to the concept of animal classification within five basic groups: bird, fish, mammal, reptile and amphibian. In this area children learn the anatomy of animals by learning the parts as well as the function of the parts. Natural Science-Botany: This area helps children build an interest in botany and an appreciation and respect for plant life. Children explore and learn the names of the parts of a tree, flower, and leaf. Physical Science: Children in this area inquire, observe, and reason. They also develop preliminary understanding of classification, measurement, prediction, and communication of observations. They learn to observe and use simple experiments to demonstrate primary laws of the Universe. Art and Music: Children learn and practice techniques, help expand ideas, and explore freedom of expression. To execute the series of steps involved in creating a work of art. This allows them to increase their understanding and enjoyment of music within our culture, and enhance music.
ZOOLOGY Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Living Non-living Vertebrates Invertebrates External parts of vertebrates Fish Amphibian Reptile Bird Mammal BOTANY
Trees 11
Types of Shapes of Parts of Research of Shrubs Types of Shapes of Parts of Research of Flowers Types of Shapes of Parts of Research of Plants Types of Shapes of Parts of Research of Leaves Types of Shapes of Parts of Research of Seeds Types of Shapes of Parts of Research of Field Research Gardening Planting Growing Harvesting MUSIC Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Matching bells Nomenclature cards Instruments ART
12
Nomenclature cards Oil Pastels Watercolor Paint Acrylic Paint Colored Pencils Sketching Pencils Chalk Clay Wood Leather PHYSICAL SCIENCE Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Equipment & safe use States of matter Solid Liquid Gas Water Light Air Sound Magnetism Friction Heat Weight Electricity Weather Rocks HISTORY
Study of time Clock Calendar Time lines Cultures GEOGRAPHY
Sandpaper globes Painted globes 13
Land forms Lake -> Island Gulf -> Peninsula Strait -> Isthmus Bay -> Cape Lake system -> Archipelago Maps (puzzles & labels) Planisphere North America South America Europe Asia Africa Oceania
Chinese Toddler and Primary children are exposed to the sounds and rhythms of the Chinese language through games, songs, and activities. Lessons initially include counting, colors, and basic vocabulary.
IB® Primary Years Program Curriculum The IB Primary Years Program (PYP), for students ages 3 to 12, focuses on the development of the whole child, nurturing their emotional, social, language, cognitive, and physical needs. The PYP curriculum therefore balances the acquisition of knowledge, concepts and skills, with the reinforcement of positive attitudes and student-initiated action. The PYP is the result of years of research that carefully examined a variety of national systems and independent schools. The aim of PYP is to develop internationally minded learners who are inquiring, knowledgeable, and caring, that help to create a better more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.
14
15
QINGDAO AMERASIA INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
Inspiring a lifelong love of learning. www.QingdaoAmerasia.org 16