"To
care for, and keep awake the guide within every
child is therefore a matter of first importance.”"
-Dr. Maria Montessori |
Elementary
Curriculum (6-12
years)
Environment
Children ready for the elementary classroom turn outward
to the world around them, ready for new horizons of
research and discovery. They are full of questions and
are ready to be inspired by stories, lessons and materials
to discover answers to their questions through reason
and imagination. Their questions drive the work of the
classroom, with each encounter developing new skills
and raising new questions.
Working with partners and teams,
the children share struggles and successes and learn
to support, respect and depend upon one another. Together,
they are capable of complex tasks. Much of the work
of the elementary class is accomplished through large
projects, which require cooperation and planning, and
facilitate the integration of different subjects, as
well as the development of deeper understanding.
At this stage of development, children's
goals are to further develop skills, to gain confidence,
to confirm their own value, and to recognize the value
of others. As maturity of spirit and mind develop, we
see these children progress ready to contribute their
share to the world around them.
Core Curriculum
The core curriculum provides instruction
in all traditional subjects including mathematics, physical
and life science, geography, history, geometry, language
arts, writing and literature. In addition, all elementary
students will be exposed to Spanish, music, art and
physical education.
Middle
School-Erdkinder (13-14
years)
Environment
The traditional junior high school years are most noted
for their need of autonomy in exploration and expression.
Due to the curricular design of independent research,
Montessori junior high classrooms are known to not appear
to have many materials initially. Students are expected
to conduct research as a vital and ongoing component
to complement their curricular studies.
Visiting the library, as well as
surface (common search engines like Google) and invisible
(subscription database like Lexas Nexus) Web research
will be commonplace in our Montessori classrooms.
Creative and dramatic expressions
are also large components of the Erdkinder classrooms.
Students will be encouraged to create various forms
of creative expression. Community partners will assist
in the development and public display of such expressions.
Core Curriculum
The core program will promote academic excellence, critical-thinking
skills and support the development of each student's
unique potential. Instruction in all traditional subjects
will be provided including Cultural Studies, English,
Math, Science, Study Skills, and Spanish.
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