Named for the native people that inhabited Puerto Rico before the Spanish arrived, the Tainos Community is one of LAMB’s three Primary classrooms serving 3- to 5- year-olds. The Tainos Community’s children are eager to work and share their accomplishments with each other and their parents. The Community serves approximately 25 children and has two teachers. Both teachers are bilingual.
As with most Montessori classrooms, students engage in a combination of group and individual work. Students demonstrate their love of learning by their interaction with the environment and need for exploration. They develop skills through exercises like "Metal Insects" which help to develop eye hand coordination, pencil grip, and small motor skills. As children practice tracing shapes, they move from simple to more intricate patterns. One activity leads to the next, and all support the Montessori curriculum. They also participate in music classes led weekly by an outside music educator.
The snack table, with fruits, vegetables and other healthy foods, is available all day for children to eat when they feel hungry. Younger Tainos children take naps after lunch while older children continue to work.
Students are developing a second language through song, call and response, and repetition of words and phrases modeled by the Spanish language and English language dominant instructors. The morning is Spanish immersion and the afternoon predominantly taught in English.