This course prepares students to offer children a basic foundation in five cultural subjects: music, science, geography, history, and art. In the Montessori classroom, the cultural subjects are not divided because they overlap in so many different ways. In reviewing basic ideas and in experiencing the concepts in a form that is age-appropriate for preschool children in day care and Head Start settings, students develop a foundation of skills upon which they can expand to broaden the child's understanding of the world that surrounds them. The music component is a fundamental introduction to the elements of music, to basic ideas and activities of listening, movement, call and response, echo rhythms, and ways of developing young children's voices. In the science component, children begin with basic concepts of physical and geological science with magnification, prisms, magnets, volcanoes, rocks, etc. Botany and zoology, plants and animals, follow. Students construct an exploration journal that highlights observation skills. The geography component begins with the understanding of spatial relationships and expands to include globes, maps, people, cultures, and the world, both local and global. In the history component for the pre-school child, the emphasis in history is on the development of an understanding of time. Only then can children begin to develop a concept of the history of the earth and its people. The art component fills an important role in children's ability to visualize and conceptualize their ideas about the world. The emphasis is in encouraging classroom teachers to teach techniques and not outcomes. Students create five albums, one in each area of study, that illustrate the correct use of materials in developmentally appropriate activities.
