What teachers say

In the classroom, we draw on “The Five Great Lessons” which make up the core of the Montessori elementary curriculum. These five stories are told by teachers to instill a sense of excitement and wonder about our world. These broad-based lessons create a context for questions that can lead to conversations about topics as different as geography, mathematics, and social justice. For example, the Third Great Lesson focuses on the question of how humans came to be on earth and the physical and social characteristics that set us apart from other animals: We have opposable thumbs which enable us to draw and write. We have larger brains which help us to think and reason. We have the ability to love--not just to love and protect our own children but to love people we have never met or even seen. Our ability to reason and our capacity for love give us the power to change our world. We tell this same story each year and hope that, with each listening, the children absorb something new and begin to question what it means to be human.

 

— Lower Elementary teacher

The academic focus in Upper El creates opportunities to see how well the Montessori method works. Math, for example, is highly individualized. We have kids at all different levels, moving at different paces through the checkerboard for multiplication, test tube division, hands-on equations as an introduction to algebra, and pre-algebraic concepts like decimals and negative numbers.

One really magical thing we do in Upper El is the sixth grade Rite of Passage project, which has several components. The sixth graders study coming of age rituals in other societies. They learn about a variety of traditions other cultures have developed to mark the transition to adulthood, including the Jewish Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah, the Mexican-American quinceanera, the Japanese Seijn-No-Hi ceremony, the Zambian Chisungu initiation for girls, and others. They also read coming of age stories and poems and write reflections on them. They interview adults about the differences between childhood and adulthood, asking tough questions like “When did you first feel like an adult? What do you miss about being a child? How has your idea of love changed from when you were a child to now? What do you like about being an adult?” One of the most touching things they do is pack of box of special mementos and memories they want to carry with them from childhood into adulthood. It’s very powerful and moving to witness the hopes and fears students have as they contemplate what it will mean to become a “grownup.”

This focus on the “whole child” is what I love about I do.

 

— Upper Elementary teacher