Elementary
Our Bilingual Montessori Program for Children 6-12 Years Old
ELEMENTARY
The teacher sparks the Elementary child’s powerful imagination, and provides him/her with a vision of the order of things. The teacher narrates the Great Stories around which the Montessori Elementary curriculum is organized: the Story of the Universe, the Story of Life, the Story of Humanity, the Story of Communication by Signs, and the Story of Communication by Numbers. The stories are retold in increasing detail and complexity every year of the Elementary program. The spiral curriculum–revisiting a subject from different perspectives and in different ways– gives the children an opportunity to go more deeply into a subject through elaboration, amplification and problematization, without repetition.
The Elementary Cosmic Curriculum puts the emphasis on the big picture and on the interrelation of all things. It moves from the general to the specific. The Great Stories provide the whole, the Montessori didactic materials provide the details, and the project work, Workshop, Kitchen, Garden and Going-Out provide the details embedded in the whole.
In addition to the Cosmic Curriculum, students are presented the entire Montessori Mathematics and Geometry curriculum, through the didactic materials and formal presentations, which have been studied and imitated throughout the world for nearly a century.
During the three-hour work cycle students are free to choose their own work, under the watchful eye of the Montessori-trained adult who helps them remain focused and progress in all areas. Time is set aside throughout the year for community meetings, group discussions, camping trips, long walks and games.
The Kitchen Classroom is central to the Elementary experience, as is the work of self- expression and self-discovery through Clay, Configuración, Aikido, and Portfolios. The Montessori-trained adult supports the child’s work of exploration of the world by creating an environment in which the child can continue to grow in autonomy, by mediating community life and by presenting materials and experiences to the child.
