Philosophy

Kindi Academy believes that children are gifted with creative minds. We tap into this rich resource. We start nurturing students’ skills and abilities from an early age. Our success rests solely on our ability to instill strong academics, lifelong
skills, values, and morals in our students. 

The Montessori method used by the school is truly unique in its approach to teaching children these lessons. It is based on understanding the individual needs of each child and differentiating the pace of progress of students. We at Kindi recognize the limitations and improvement areas in each student and will provide extra support when needed to ensure that they garner the necessary skills to succeed. Through individual attention, we foster a sense of self confidence, achievement, and happiness in each child. We provide children with a solid platform early enough in life from which they spring to higher elevations believing in themselves and their abilities without losing sight of the community and society to which they belong.

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Practical Life

The child in a Montessori
environment is first introduced
to basic exercises of daily
living. These “Practical Life”
exercises involve simple and
precise tasks which the child
has observed adults
performing. They satisfy the
child's needs to imitate adult behavior and achieve a certain level of independence. They serve to lengthen attention span, develop fine motor skills, and improve hand-eye coordination.

Through repetition, the child's actions become “orderly and precise”. All materials have a series of sequential steps and are designed so that the child can learn to concentrate. In this dynamic environment, an older child may also present to a younger one encouraging leadership and respect in the older and appreciation in the younger. Children also practice patience by waiting while a particular material is being used by others.  

Practical life also means caring for one's own hygiene, caring for others, and caring for the environment, both
inside and outside. Activities such as cleaning, dishwashing, dusting, mopping, and polishing are found inside the class. Students are also exposed to cooking, baking, and cutting fruits and vegetables to improve their coordination and dexterity. Children are taught to take care of the environment through planting. “Grace and Courtesy” which is first taught at home is enhanced at school. They include exercises in greeting people, saying “thank you”, “please”, and “excuse me”. At Kindi, we reinforce honesty, politeness, caring, giving, and sharing.

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Sensorial

“The little hand which touches, feels, and knows how to follow a determined outline is preparing itself without knowing it, for writing.” (Dr. Montessori's Own Handbook)
“The senses are keys to the doors of knowledge” (The
Absent Mind). The materials in the Sensorial area help the child refine his or her experience with sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell. Vocabulary is also increased as every quality, like size, shape, texture, sound, and temperature, is given “a face”.
A simple example of Sensorial material is Knob Cylinders, designed to teach the difference between “thick and thin”, “large and small”, “tall and short”. Fingers hold the knobs using the “pincer grip” which prepares them to hold a pencil correctly.

Sensorial materials are concrete and are graded from simple to complex. Most of them have a built in control of error. This allows the child to concentrate, work independently, and to fix his own mistakes. This material is also designed to prepare the child for math as in the binomial cube which is dissected again in later grades to learn squaring and cubing. Geometry is another example where the solids and geometric cabinets gear towards the future learning of geometry. The exact cabinet is used in upper grades to learn angles through triangles.

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English Language

The Montessori reading curriculum has a strong foundation in phonics. Phonics is the foundation for great reading and rich vocabulary. This emphasis on phonics continues in the
next classroom where children sound out bigger words, form complex sentences, and apply these skills to making sentences and paragraphs. Along with learning the sounds, the material teaches students to hold a pencil and start writing.
The English language program is very intensive and includes, topics such as grammar, usage, mechanics, spelling, reading, and writing. Students also learn how to do research and present their results publicly. Language is one of the strongest subjects in Montessori education and sets students for a lifelong love for reading and exploring.

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Mathematics

The Practical Life and
Sensorial activities give an
indirect introduction to
math. The materials used
in math continue to prepare the child to use concrete material in order to introduce abstract
concepts. In the classroom, students cover number recognition; odd/even numbers; the decimal system; quantity making; squares of numbers; cubes of numbers; addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division up to 4 digits using various materials; and fractions. Logic and Critical Thinking topics are also introduced.
Students in Kindergarten leave the classroom with high confidence in working with numbers and fully visualizing mathematical operations in their minds.

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Cultural Subjects

The curriculum covers geography, history, biology and some simple physics. In addition to presentations, the cultural area is explored through specific Montessori materials.
In Geography, materials have been developed so that the child can gain an understanding of other cultures and diversity. The child learns about the solar system, the world, followed by the continents and each country. Children are exposed to plants, animals, people, food, flags, language, and landmarks of each continent. 

Concrete materials are used to give an understanding of all different landforms, such as lakes, islands, peninsulas, among others. In Biology, students learn about Botany and Zoology. Students learn about vertebrates and invertebrates, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and fish. In History, students create time lines and learn the calendar including days, months, seasons, and time. In Art and Music, we learn about famous artists and their works and revisit Geography and History in the process. Children also learn about types of instruments and Composers. This well-designed and diversified program widens children’s perspectives, gives them a better understanding of the world, and makes them better global citizens.

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Languages & Religion

The modern world we live in
today has truly become a
small village. In just few
hours, a person can be
strolling the streets of another
country with different culture
and language. Realizing that
language is the first barrier to overcome between cultures, the school offers several foreign languages.  These include three of the world's most widely spoken languages, Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic.  The school also offers its students the opportunity to learn about the different religions of the world. Classes are offered in Islamic Studies as well as Studies of World Religions, with all classes asserting better understanding and absolute respect for the other.

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"Free a child’s potential and you will transform him into the world"
Maria Montessori