Montessori Teaching Languages

Santa Monica Montessori School is opening a bilingual program with a choice between Mandarin or Spanish.

This program will be offered as a part of the Montessori curriculum in our early childhood classrooms for children ages 3-6 years. Montessori discovered that children between the ages of 0-5 years have a heightened ability to distinguish between different sounds in language. As we age, our ability to pick up another language fades.

Preschool is the perfect time for a child to become familiar with the sounds of a new language and to attempt to reproduce those sounds.

Of the two adults in the classroom, one will speak English and the other will speak Spanish or Mandarin. We hope to include children in the class who are native speakers of Spanish or Mandarin.

There will be songs and stories that are sung and told in the different languages. The written word in multiple languages will be seen on labels. The children will develop an appreciation for diversity and cultural awareness.

 

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