Visual arts, music, foreign language, technology, gardening and physical education are integral components of the discovery process from the early childhood through lower elementary classrooms.  Each week, children are exposed to age-appropriate activities that enhance their learning experience in the classroom.  Our goal is to create a well-rounded, comprehensive program with a more contemporary approach to a child’s overall development.

My First Montessori’s Integrated Arts Program arises from each classroom’s cultural and science curriculum, with lessons intentionally designed and carefully developed to integrate the arts into the students’ work.  The Arts Coordinator is responsible for working closely with our teachers to incorporate the weekly theme into her group lessons and provide materials for the work shelves in each classroom.  Furthermore, the child may utilize art in such things as geometrical drawings, geographical maps, mathematical graphing, or illustrations for history, botany, zoology, social studies, geology, geography, etc.  A variety of techniques are taught, and with multiple media available at their disposal, the child has free artistic expression in a Montessori environment.  Collaborative projects and large-scale murals also provide opportunities for children to work and brainstorm together.

The Music Program at MFM gives children the opportunity to experience music every day in the classroom through singing and studies of various composers.  Our Music Instructor provides formal group lessons with the children once a week.  A different musical instrument is introduced each week alongside music theory and language (notation, rhythm, harmony, musical literature).  The engaging class gives children a positive first experience to musical appreciation through song, movement and laughter.  The children also share their joy of music in our school-wide winter and spring performances.

Our Music Instructor offers private lessons to interested families.  With a baby grand piano on campus, the children receive convenient, individual instruction on the piano, guitar or flute to children as young as three.  This is an optional program and an additional fee will apply.

Foreign Language in Spanish is assimilated into the curriculum through formal instruction and exposure to supplemental manipulatives.  Research has shown that the younger a child is when he/she is exposed to a new language; the more achievable it will be for the acquisition of the language.  Beginning with the Transitional age group, half an hour is dedicated to Spanish instruction in the classroom each week.  Spanish materials and songs are continually presented to the children to reinforce these lessons throughout the week.

Technology is an increasingly important tool in our everyday life.  In order to equip our students with the necessary skills they need to navigate the Information Age, we have converted an entire wing of the atrium into a media center, with a full library and computer lab.  Our Information Technology Instructor will be familiarizing students with using the computer, searching on the internet and finding the exact book that they need from collection of 5000 books.  The resources of the media center will serve as an extension to the classroom:  To assist in building skills in writing, research and word processing, to teach keyboard proficiency and to reinforce concepts learned in the Montessori classroom.  The center is particularly beneficial for students who have visual motor and/or organizational difficulties and do not respond as well to the conventional approaches.  Educational software and research based projects provide ample opportunities for children to use the different work stations in the center throughout the week.

The children participate in gardening during the spring and summer seasons. The fruit and vegetable gardens provide a rich and rewarding way to learn about environmental science.  Children are engaged in the crop cycle from start to finish.  They receive hands-on lessons about soil composition, preparation of soil, crop rotation, sowing, transplanting, growing, and harvesting.  Harvesting the fruits of their labor encourages the children to try different foods from the garden.

Students are encouraged to participate in physical education as a step towards developing a lifelong appreciation for exercise and physical fitness.  A great outlet for their energy, athletics can improve a child’s sense of self through physical achievement.  We concentrate on the fundamental movements of jumping, skipping, leaping, galloping, and sliding skills through fun games, relays and activities.  Our P.E teacher introduces gross motor techniques to the children on a weekly basis such as throwing, catching, rolling, bouncing, and kicking.