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Miss Karen Raemer
Lead-Teacher Poplar Classroom
AMS Certified for Early Childhood Education
Karen grew up in Salt Lake City and graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in Business Management. She has spent 20 years training, teaching, and counseling adults. She finds teaching at Little Miners much more rewarding and loves spending her days with the children. Her hobbies include spending time with her family – especially her two darling grandsons, taking care of her pets, gardening, and knitting.
This is the culminating year of the Early-Childhood cycle which provides an extraordinary opportunity for the 5 and 6 year-olds to develop their leadership skills. Kindergartners act as positive peer models for their younger classmates. They enjoy their positions of responsibility that further strengthen their own capabilities and self-esteem. Everything that children have learned in the previous years as a Montessori student, come together in the Kindergarten year. These children are ready to meet new challenges with confidence and determination.
Geography in the Montessori classroom is a true celebration of the world’s diversity as well as it’s common threads. Children gain a deeper global perspective as they are introduced to land forms, continents, and study of the earth’s formation. The Geography curriculum begins with the two hemispheres of the Earth and becomes more detailed as children learn about the continents and the countries.
Perhaps the most critical life skill of all for children to master is the ability to work and play with others in a peaceful and caring way. Treating others with dignity and respect are cornerstones of the Montessori philosophy and are taught through Grace and Courtesy exercises.
The Cultural area of the Montessori classroom can and should be as broad and varied as the world in which we live. Cultural Studies extend into the Practical Life, Sensorial, Math, and Language areas of the classroom and allow for further exploration with interesting and unique activities. The Cultural Area includes music, art, geography, history, ecology, geology, botany, zoology, and the physical sciences. These “key experiences” provide the child with a sense of wonder through sensorial experiences, literature, music, activities, and artifacts from all around the world. The Montessori classroom encourages exploration and curiosity to define a sense of self and the spirit of the people of the world.
Maria Montessori observed that the potential exists for children to develop the higher language skills of reading and writing with the same ease with which they acquire oral speech. This “explosion” into literacy occurs naturally in the primary years if children are presented with the tools and experiences needed to nourish this organic inclination to learn.
The Sensorial materials are critical for academics in the Montessori classroom. These activities begin with the youngest children in the class. Through various extensions and games they remain interesting to even the oldest children. The Sensorial materials build on the Practical Life activities and prepare the child for math and language through lessons in observation and problem solving.
Little Miners offers Yoga, Ski, Ice Skating, Stretch & Grow, as well as plenty of outdoor time.
Info Coming Soon.
Art and music represent ways to communicate, ideas, imagination, culture, and humanity. Just as a child requires skills to write or dance or swim, she needs to also be given the tools and techniques to create her own masterpieces.
A carefully sequenced progression of mathematical activities from concrete to more abstract materials, simple to increasingly complex operations and lastly, tools for memorization of facts ensure a child’s whole brain development. The process and problem solving are first and foremost. Movement, active participation, and opportunities to problem solve, stimulate all four lobes of the brain, and nourish the child’s interest. Dr. Montessori created math materials that spark the imagination of the eagerly curious child.
Sensorial activities assist Toddlers in the great task of organizing, integrating and learning about their sensory input. The sensorial materials are designed to simplify learning and awareness of the environment by isolating difficulty; isolating the senses; encouraging mastery through repetition; possessing self-correction within the material; and presenting an attractive appearance to the child.
For those children enrolled in the full day schedule nap time will begin around 1:00PM following lunch, recess, and a pre-nap story time. LMM will provide a separate sleeping cot or a pop-out tent for each child.
Music & Movement
Around the age of two, children’s speech development experiences an explosion of words, soon followed by sentences. The Language materials in the Toddler classroom encourage the refinement and enrichment of language as the first steps on the road to writing and finally reading. Early Language materials and oral exercises like storytelling and reading aloud support the toddler’s need to be immersed in language. Activities include books, puzzles, naming objects like fruits, vegetables and animals, and beginning sound games.
These are the first exercises introduced to the children. They create the foundation upon which all other work in the classroom depends. Practical Life exercises include care of self and the environment, as well as the development of large and fine motor control. These practical experiences in everyday activities are the cornerstone of the Montessori Method.
Little Miners has recently partnered our Toddler Program with Stretch-n-Grow of Utah! On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, our toddlers enjoy a 30-minute session of exercising with this fun company. Here is an excerpt from their website about Stretch-n-Grow: