Programmes
A Different Way To Learn
Imagine your child's education at IMS as a continuum where their developmental needs align with their classroom experience. Every child is introduced to all aspects of our curriculum at the right time in their development. The result of this is that your child is not only ready, but eager to embrace every new learning challenge. Believe us when we tell you, we all wish we had learned this way.
Ages 1-2
Montessori First Steps
Surrounded by patience, your child begins to experience the first steps to independently move, communicate and form their first relationships beyond the home.
Giving your child the most thoughtfully prepared start
Your Child’s Developmental Phase:
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Understands everything they hear while their speech is still developing
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Likes to say, “No!”
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Wants deeply to imitate what others are doing
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Drawn to using their hands to touch and feel
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Shows anxiety when separated from primary caregivers
What Your Child Needs from Us:
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Freedom to move their body as they choose
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Rich language environment focused on positive communication
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Calm and orderly classroom
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Natural and multi-sensory materials that are attractive
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Respect for their intelligence
Ages 2-3
Foundation Programme
As your older toddler becomes more fascinated by the world and how it works, they begin to actively participate in their community by doing things for themselves and others.
Building functional independence and fostering curiosity
Your Child's Developmental Phase
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Thrives off routine and consistency
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Refuses help when trying to take care of themselves
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Becomes deeply consumed in doing self-care activities, like hygiene and dressing
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Likes repeating to learn
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Conveys curiosity for peers in their mini social community
What Your Child Needs from Us
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Real activities with tools that produce visible results and leads to concentration
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Time to practise self-care skills
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Rich language environment focused on precise vocabulary and budding social interactions
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Flexibility to learn while moving their body
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Trust that they are capable
Ages 3-6
Casa dei Bambini
Your preschooler goes through a gradual transformation over three years as they build the layers needed to become an independent learner. They form skills and academic understanding through exploration and repetition.
Cultivating a solid understanding through tangible discovery
Your Child's Developmental Phase
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Shows impulse control at times
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Makes their own breakthroughs and learns by observing peers
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Enjoys working independently or in small pairings
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Repeats tasks to figure things out
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Understands best by doing rather than being told
What Your Child Needs from Us:
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Multi-sensory materials that establish a foundational core for exploration and love of learning.
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Rich language environment focused on nurturing early literacy and confident English and Chinese speakers
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Concrete tools to comprehend the abstract concepts of mathematics
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Opportunities to practise leadership
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Specific lessons to resolve social conflicts with kindness and respect
Ages 6-9
Elementary
Your primary aged child develops into an autonomous independent thinker learning how to independently work through and interpret information, and ultimately go beyond by posing their own questions.
Learning how to learn and live within a community
Your Child's Developmental Phase
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Prefers to learn in groups and loves large-scale work
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Is driven to understand the causes of phenomena around them
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Shows an active imagination
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Seems absorbed, almost absent-minded, by their own thoughts
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Is consumed by friendships and conflicts
What Your Child Needs from Us
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Projects of grand scope and scale
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Educators who ask the right how and why questions to lead them to think intensively and critically
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Hands-on and meaningful learning experiences to cement deep understanding and competency in academics
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Storytellers who captivate them to find out more about every topic
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A safe place to practise (and fail) at how to agree, disagree and find consensus
Ages 9-12
Upper Elementary
The Upper Elementary program is dedicated to guiding students as they delve deeper into their skills, translating their ideas into reality. Beyond mere conceptualization, students have opportunities to research, explore, and follow through on their ideas. Additionally, they develop essential skills in time management, decision-making, and task prioritization. Ultimately, these students move beyond mere ideas—they bring their visions to life.
Preparing tomorrow’s thinkers and agents of change
Your Child's Developmental Phase
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Displays maturity and poise
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Thinks more precisely, efficiently, and flexibly
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Loves to debate and reason
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Seems obsessed with fairness, justice, and moral issues
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More organised because mental order is strengthening
What Your Child Needs from Us
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Inquiry projects requiring integration of skills and consolidation of knowledge
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Student-led opportunities to connect with the wider local community and learn how a society works
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Outings entirely planned, managed, and executed by students
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Educators who recognise their strong desire to analyse and solve their worldly questions and problems
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Daily real-life practice of how to work effectively and lead with empathy
The goal of early childhood education should be to activate the child's own natural desire to learn.
Maria Montessori
