Help with setting up.

[RUKAIYA BANDALI]

Hi Everyone who can help

 

I have recently taken over a running Montessori nursery and would like some help/advise.

we are a one room setting and we cater for children 2 years - 5 years open full time 8am - 6pm. I would love your ideas on ways to set up the room either with dividers or anything to section the room for the 2 years and 3-5 years.

Pictures would be lovely so i can visualize how it works for you.

Awaiting some lovely ideas from all of you.

 

Thank you in advance.

 

Rukaiya

[Sneha]

Hi Rukaiya!

If you're aiming for a vertically grouped classroom where the 2-5 year olds are all together then dividers/room separaters may prove as a hinderance to allow the children equal access to all Montessori equipment.

However I can understand that due to your sessions/day schedule, you may want to arrange your classroom to cater to the different age groups at different times pf the day. 

If you are placing low room separaters around the classroom then might I suggest arranging your Practical life/Sensorial equipment around the 2-3 year old group but also making it possible for the 4-5 year olds to be able to access them. The actual layout of the classroom depends upon the types of dividers you are planning on purchasing but I would recommend purchasing some that are easy to move around, so if you do decide to have an open plan room, you have that flexibility!

Some settings also use their shelves to act as room dividers as-well which may be a better option to allow the free-flow between areas. So placing the Literacy and Mathematics shelves in an 'L shape for example would essentially separate this section from Practical life and Sensorial or using curved shelving to provide that separation - but not necessarily dividing the room up. 

You may also need to bear in mind that the Practical Life and Sensorial areas need to be in close proximity to a sink where children can refill the jugs/wash their hands prior to and post some of the activities.  

I hope this helps! 

[finleysmaid]

....took me a minute to work out vertical grouping (had visions of stacking children)

Why do you want to separate the 2 year olds out ? (as said i can understand for part of the day...story times etc) as Penny Tassoni says we are only given one or two 2 year olds at a time for a reason, i never really get why you would want them all together!

we take children from 2 and a half (6 months does make a big difference) but everyone is together in one family grouping. For dividers we use trellis from cosy which can be set up horizontally or vertically plus as sneha says we don't flatten everything to the wall ...all of the book cases, units etc are used to create communication friendly spaces, this works well for the two year olds as it helps them chat to their friends ...when we have little ones in we also set up a two year old are for them to go and chill in if they need a rest from the hustle and bustle.

[Stargrower]

If you're looking for inspiration on setting up a room, you could look at the Community Playthings website as they have lots of photos.