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<p class="fontlook">Committed to educating the whole person, Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart supports an extensive curricular and extracurricular program. Students throughout the five schools pursue a wide range of interests through programs integrated throughout the school year. By involving students in a number of school activities and programs Carrollton is preparing them for the leadership roles they will assume in the future. The preparation of women of courage and confidence calls for education of the mind and the heart. 
<p class="fontlook"><!--FOTO-->Children in the Montessori program learn through experience with hands on material. Each of the three Montessori classes is composed of children ages three to five. In the spirit of Maria Montessori, emphasis is placed on training in independence and self-motivation, as students are encouraged to choose and complete various learning activities. The program provides for the emotional and intellectual needs of each child and fosters the child's growth in self-awareness as well as an understanding and consideration of the needs of others. Group activities are designed to help the child see herself as a member of the school community. 
<p class="fontlook">The development of the child's ability to express herself orally is a major goal in these years. The students develop language skills as they listen to stories, recite poetry, sing, and participate in daily discussions. Students are encouraged to speak in front of the class during their daily meeting time. The classrooms are equipped with reading and mathematics readiness materials geared to a range of developmental levels. Block building, puzzles, games, the use of small manipulative materials, sand play and art activities enforce concepts of space, pattern, size, sequence and measurement, as well as encourage the development of fine motor skills. Weekly art activities include easel painting, watercolor, and crayoning. Science activities focus on plants, animals and cooking. Students visit the school library once a week, where they listen to a story, select a book to take home, and learn that library books must be shared and cared for. The girls play in the Montessori playground daily and participate in physical education classes and movement classes each week. Everyday there is a morning assembly in which the Montessori girls pray and hear announcements.
<p class="fontlook"><!--FOTO1-->The Montessori program seeks to develop the child's sense of self-worth as an active learner and member of the school community. Each child learns to assume responsibility, master skills, and solve problems. The classroom environment is designed to stimulate the child's natural sense of wonder and curiosity through opportunities for fun, friendship, vigorous activity, adventure, and quiet reflection. A rich and varied curriculum, including language arts, mathematics, science and social studies, supports and promotes students' intellectual development.
<p class="fontlook">The major areas in the program are practical life, sensorial, language, mathematics, science, social studies, geography, music, violin, art, religion, physical education, yoga and Chinese.  
<p class="fontlook"><B>Practical Life</B>
<p class="fontlook">Practical life activities can be separated into four topics: care of self, care of environment, exercises of grace and courtesy and control of movement. These activities form the introductory level of Montessori training and focus on the development of fine motor skills, sequencing, logical execution of movement, and independence. The children are expected to carry out each task by themselves after preparatory lessons have been presented by the teacher. One of the aspirations of this introductory level is to develop fine motor skills slowly and successfully as an aid to the child’s later endeavors in handwriting.

<p class="fontlook"><B>Sensorial</B>
<p class="fontlook">The sensorial exercises allow each child to discover properties of each of the five senses. This method assists the child in recognizing differences and distinguishing what is similar and unique about the material.

<p class="fontlook"><B>Language</B>
<p class="fontlook">The language program develops a child’s auditory, visual, verbal and fine motor skills related to the alphabet, sounds of letters, printed symbols of each letter and the words they can make. The children articulate ideas and explain learning experiences in written form as well as in group discussions. The language program and the Junior Great Books Program provide opportunities for the development of listening skills, creative expression and imagination. Scheduled library visits encourage a love of books and reading. Phonetic instruction begins at the three-year-old level and is an ongoing part of the program. Topics that relate to home and family activities or geography, special occasions and holidays are also included in the program.

<p class="fontlook"><B>Mathematics</B>
<p class="fontlook">The mathematics program begins with lessons that utilize concrete materials and manipulatives which the children handle in order to grasp the mathematical idea. Gradually language and printed numerals are introduced to connect the concrete experience with the symbols.  Based on the child’s ability the program teaches numbers one through one thousand, decimal system, and the order of operations (addition and subtraction).  The Math and Sensorial equipment lay the foundation for knowledge of numerous geometric theories and concepts. These include manipulatives of various sizes, shapes and color. All number concepts are introduced with concrete work.  The child learns the concepts of the hierarchy of numbers in sets of ten and then uses regrouping to go to the next level. The children excel in this format and progress confidently to higher operations following this concrete learning foundation. Traditional Math workbooks and the Everyday Math Program are utilized to reinforce concepts taught with Montessori materials and prepare the students for a smooth transition to a traditional classroom.

<p class="fontlook"><B>Science</B>
<p class="fontlook">The life science program allows the children to use apparatuses that they manipulate to learn basic scientific concepts.  They are exposed to materials that show the life cycle of some animals, parts of the plants, solar system, food groups, and seasons among other concepts.  Simple lessons about the earth are taught with emphasis on weather, air, water and respect for our environment.  This program goes hand in hand with studies about geography and different landforms on earth. 

<p class="fontlook"><B>Social Studies and Geography</B>
<p class="fontlook">Social studies lessons are part of the geography program. An awareness and respect of the people, places and customs of the different cultures around the world are emphasized in the social studies lessons. During the geography lessons, the children are exposed to different items that characterize the continent or specific country being taught. The children love this imaginary traveling around the world and they get involved by bringing pictures, food, books, personal anecdotes or items they might have at home from that part of the world. There is also parent participation to this effect. As a conclusion to a continent cycle, we might have a special celebration that involves parents, teachers and students bringing and wearing the typical attire from that part of the world. The social studies lessons attempt to present children with the lives and examples of those personalities that have made history for their character, perseverance and courage to follow a dream and a belief. The combination of these two subjects deepens in the children a geographical and universal understanding, as well as a sense of global responsibility, ethnic tolerance and an admiration for diversity.

<p class="fontlook"><B>Music</B>
<p class="fontlook">Music is introduced through singing, listening, and playing rhythm instruments. Basic music theory and sight singing is also incorporated into music class.  The children learn how to breathe correctly, and use solfege while they warm up their voices. They learn about the different instrument families, and how they are played. Composers such as Beethoven, Mozart, and Hayden are also introduced.  Rhythmic exercises involving percussion instruments and sight reading are also a part of the curriculum. They learn a variety of religious, holiday, and seasonal music.

<p class="fontlook"><B>Library</B>
<p class="fontlook">The Montessori Library program fosters a love of literature through weekly presentations of stories and poems. The students are encouraged to explore the library and become familiar with library procedures. A number of special projects, both artistic and dramatic introduce the concepts of character and plot. 

<p class="fontlook"><B>Art</B>
<p class="fontlook">In art the children are introduced to the Meet the Masters Program in which they begin a journey through the fine arts, which exposes our girls to a myriad of famous artists. This highly creative program is formally introduced once a month and is a wonderful precursor to the Primary School fine arts experience. 
<p class="fontlook">Another variety of arts and craft lessons are given weekly.  The activities include crayons, pastels, chalk and marker drawings, easel and water color painting, play dough and clay work, stencil cutting and tracing paper work, printing and collage making. In the Montessori program the key to any activity is in the doing rather than the end product. Like in other lessons, children are responsible for the clean up. Emphasis is placed on personal enjoyment, creativity, and knowledge of how to engage in many art activities and to explore new venues. Parents are encouraged to participate in seasonal art projects.

<p class="fontlook"><B>Religion</B>
<p class="fontlook">At Carrollton we have implemented the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, originally developed in Rome by Sofia Cavalletti and Gianna Gobbi 50 years ago. 
<p class="fontlook">The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is not a curriculum but rather an approach to the religious formation of children and adults that is rooted in Sacred Scripture and Liturgy, and compatible with the inherently dignified educational principles and philosophy of Maria Montessori. It seeks to create and facilitate a hands-on-space for children called an atrium, in which both the children and their catechists can hear, ponder, and celebrate the most essential mysteries of the Christian faith as revealed in the Scriptures and the Liturgy. Here at Carrollton, the children visit the atrium every week and work with child sized materials that represent the lesson they have been introduced to according to the liturgical season.

<p class="fontlook"><B>Physical Education</B>
<p class="fontlook">The physical education program offers many opportunities for skill development.  The facilities include a swimming pool, tennis court, large grassy area and covered pavilion area.  The girls have Physical Education twice a week for forty five minutes.  Each class participates with their age level and the average class size is one teacher per ten students.  Swimming, creative movement, gross motor skills, running and ball handling activities, and gymnastics are emphasized in the curriculum.  Swimming lessons are taught during school year.  Starting with the three-year-old group the Physical Education teacher, with an assistant guarding the pool, teaches the fundamentals of swimming.  By age 5 all students are swimming and are mastering new skills such as diving and stroke development.

<p class="fontlook"><B>Yoga</B>
<p class="fontlook">Our yoga class delights the children, capturing their imagination as they do poses incorporated into stories and creative play. Children love yoga because it makes them feel good, develops a sense of quiet and a respect for silence. Yoga improves their concentration, increases self-awareness, helps build self-esteem and strengthens their bodies. Most importantly, yoga helps children experience the “self within”.

<p class="fontlook"><B>Development</B>
<p class="fontlook">The goal of the Montessori health curriculum is to promote the self-esteem and social skills that are the foundations for all healthy behavior. The uniqueness of each child is examined, family portraits are developed and issues of nutrition appropriately are important skills for this age group.

<p class="fontlook"><B>Chinese</B>
<p class="fontlook">In an effort to educate our students as global citizens, Mandarin Chinese is offered to the Kindergarten students twice a week.  As one of the three world languages, Chinese introduces the children to communication in a verbal and auditory method of instruction, which includes communication, culture, connections, comparisons and communities within the language.

<p class="fontlook"><B>Strings Program</B>
<p class="fontlook">The Kindergarten students have a string program once a week as part of their music program.  The girls are learning through the Suzuki approach.  Suzuki approach of teaching music is the method that will be utilized.  Based on the so-called mother-tongue method, it differs from traditional methods of teaching instrumental music and involves the student at a very early age.  The Suzuki approach deals with much more than teaching a child how to play an instrument.  It seeks to develop the whole child, to help unfold her natural potential to learn, and to become a good, happy person. The purpose of the Suzuki training is not to produce great artists, but to help every child find the joy that comes through music making.  It not only increases ability, but helps promote the development of children. Through the Suzuki growing process, children develop confidence and self-esteem, determination to try difficult things, self discipline, and concentration.
