Lower Elementary Curriculum
(The Reasoning Mind— Ages 6-9)
This is a period of strong intellectual curiosity. Children begin to think more abstractly, question the world, and develop a sense of morality. They enjoy working in groups and are capable of deep concentration and imagination.
+ Practical Life
Practical Life for elementary students is a continuation of the practical life skills presented and practiced in Early Childhood, with an added emphasis on an end goal or larger purpose. In the elementary classroom, Practical Life is integrated and practiced daily as students continue to develop their awareness of movement and speech while forming a connection to their environment. Children learn to move with purpose, concentrate on a task, carry out a series of steps in a sequence, learn to care and respect their environment, and build community, as they learn to have meaningful and respectful discussions. Practical Life also includes the important element of Grace and Courtesy, lessons that focus on teaching children how to be polite, empathize, problem solve and keep peace.
Some Practical Life activites include:
Cleaning & Organizing
Animal Care
Cooking and food preparation
Sewing, Weaving, Embroidery
Woodwork
Gardening & Plant maintenance
Expressing feelings
+ Mathematics
In Lower Elementary, students continue working with math concepts they can handle. They use tactile, hands-on materials that they can manipulate to SEE the how and why behind different concepts. Montessori lessons are presented in a sequential order, such that the child builds upon what he or she learned in previous work. Only after concepts are understood concretely, are children invited to move to the abstract, which includes mental computation or use of pencil and paper. In addition, students also partake in extension projects and activities designed for them to become involved with and further internalize learned concepts that have been introduced.
Lower Elementary children learn the processes of the four operations in arithmetic using more advanced manipulatives that help them in the memorization of their math facts, while also learning correct mathematical terminology. Children build upon their knowledge of geometry nomenclature, and are introduced to word and money problems, fractions, decimals, measurement, time, graphs and data, and basic algebraic concepts.
Some Math materials include:
Golden Beads
Stamp Game
Bead Frame
Bead Cabinet
Checkerboard
Test Tubes
Geometry Sticks
+ Language
Language development in Lower Elementary is interconnected across all subjects, serving as the foundation upon all other elementary studies. It is through the total freedom of conversation, every story or book that is told or read aloud, and every new word that is taught that children are learning language. Given the freedom of conversation, language becomes an integral part of the learning environment, where there is continuous encouragement for self expression and communication.
Lower Elementary Guides are trained to guide students to form mastery in the foundations of reading and spelling which include phonemic awareness, blends, consonant digraph, vowel digraph, and diphthongs. Our curriculum guides students to then master the physical mechanics of writing, handwriting (print and cursive), and keyboarding, where they are provided the opportunity to express themselves through writing journals, poetry, short stories, and nature observations. They also write reports in areas such as zoology, history, geography, and put together beautiful research projects and dioramas.
Students are given the opportunity to develop and practice presentation and public speaking skills through projects, where they learn the importance of audience engagement, voice projection, and active listening.
Some Language materials include:
Movable Alphabet
Grammar Symbols
Language Skyscrapers
Waseca Language Works
Farm Sentence Analysis
SRA Reading Lab
+ Geography & History
History is infused into our Montessori environment and follows The Great Lessons; beginning with the development of the solar system, life on Earth, the development of humankind, early civilizations, and recorded history. Children in elementary begin their exploration of history by studying how time is broken down into years, months, days, hours, and so on to gain a better understanding of how long history past really is. Lower elementary students are introduced to ancient civilizations, creation stories, what inventions helped civilizations’ development, immigration in American, and what causes people around the world to live differently or similarly and what traditional ceremonies are practiced worldwide. Within these studies, students are introduced to the biomes of the world, land-forms and water-forms, map skills, and they also take part in putting together research projects on different countries according to the continent we are studying.
Some Geography & History materials include:
Impressionistic charts and timelines
Library resources and informational cards
Continent Boxes
Flags, Puzzle Maps, & Globes
Landforms & Biomes
Artefacts
+ Science
Science is one of the most intriguing and exciting subjects to explore as the students learn to search for answers to their own inquiries. How do the colors appear in the rainbow? Were the same bugs alive when the dinosaurs lived? Why don’t the clouds go up to space? Curiosity about the world is science. Maria Montessori considered all children to be “little scientists,” as they are innately eager to make observations, explore, discover, correct their mistakes, repeat lessons, record data, and engage in that same process over and over again. Interwoven throughout The Great Lessons, science is presented with experiments, visuals, and with just enough information to engage, encourage, and spark students’ imagination and love for learning- an ability that does not fade as they grow older. This drive for continuous discovery enables children to gain a profound understanding, appreciation and respect for our natural world. Our Science curriculum focuses on inquiry-based learning in a nature-based setting, guiding students to think beyond a presentation or experiment to draw their own conclusions. This process is not only done inside the classroom, but most importantly, is taken outdoors where all elements of science live. Through experiential projects and relevant field trips, students have plenty of opportunities to take their learning outdoors where they can apply their knowledge in the real-world.
Some Science materials include:
Impressionistic charts and timelines
Library resources and classification cards
Experiment bins
Project-based lessons
Artefacts
Technology
Microscopes
