Geography encompasses the study of the life of man, our culture and the way we live (Cultural Geography) and also the study of earth’s physical features (Physical Geography). Your child’s geography studies will cover both these topics.
Cultural Geography is an important aspect of our work in the Montessori classroom. This is where tamariki identify with their own culture; at home, in our community and our world. It develops the child’s sense of where they belong and their own uniqueness and place within their world. We study other peoples of the world, cultures and how they live within their particular location on planet Earth. We look at our values as people and how we live in our community. Our kaiako model these values, leading by example in a peaceful, collaborative and innovative manner. We are very mindful and respectful of each child’s differences. We acknowledge and celebrate the uniqueness that each child brings to our community.
We teach “where do I come from?” The children are encouraged to find out the story of their own whakapapa journey. We are lucky to have many diverse cultures in our Riverhead Montessori whanau which includes a rich cultural heritage of not only Maori, Pacifika and tamariki from Aotearoa but Russian, Croatian, Spanish, Japanese, Iranian, Indian, Chinese, Korean, Singaporean, British, North American, Canadian and more. Like the rest of New Zealand we are very much a multicultural centre and this brings an amazing wealth of experiences and opportunities for all our tamariki.
Here we teach the child the basic forms of landmass. We will use models, pictures, and books. We will also talk about climate zones and how they affect the people who live in them. We will combine Cultural Geography work and look at the different regions of the world that have been developed by humans.The teacher will follow the children’s interest and cater to them. It is important for our teachers to model a positive attitude for all cultures, so the child can pick up on the fact that there is value and dignity in each human culture and this is to be respected.There will be some one to one teaching with the Three Period Lessons and a lot of language work where information is passed on conversationally.Geography work as a whole is open ended. We follow each child’s interest and supply him with the information he is seeking. Geography helps teach the child about the society in which he lives and others around the world. We want to convey the feeling of people around the world.This will help the child to realise that he is not only a member of his society, but a member of the world.
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