The Elementary Program

(6 to 9 years), (9 to 12 years)

“The concept of an education centered upon the care of the living being alters all previous ideas. Resting no longer on a curriculum, or a timetable, education must confirm to the facts of human life.” The Absorbent Mind: Clio Press Limited: 1994, p.12

The elementary program is divided into two three-year age groupings; six to nine years old and nine to twelve years old.

The lower elementary program caters to the needs of the 6-9 year old child. This is an age of great intellectual strides. The foundations of the Toddler and Casa programs have prepared the child for excitement of the elementary years.

The child in the elementary years yearns to know about the whole world, so he is given the Great Lessons which are wonderful introductory stories devised to stimulate the child’s imagination. The child’s insatiable urge to learn about the universe and everything in it, directs the elementary work to all aspects of culture. Elementary studies include language, literature, geography, biology, science, music, art, mathematics, and geometry. Exploration of each area is encouraged through research outside the classroom on “going-out” trips. These are outings of a few children directed by a need to find out more on a specific topic, for example, a trip to the local farm might be necessary to find out how butter is made.

At the elementary level the peer is all important so the older children in the program provide excellent role models for the younger children. To answer the children’s need for heroes, they are introduced to people who have contributed to the betterment of the world, from the unknown person who discovered fire, to Einstein. The children work in small groups on a variety of topics.

Maria Montessori called on children to be “citizens of the world”. To this end, the children learn about the global community which fosters a sense of connectedness.

Grace and courtesy lessons, and care of the environment develop the child’s sense of responsibility to the classroom community, and to their understanding of the role they have to play in the world.

Beautiful Montessori materials in the classroom build on the foundations laid in the Casa program. However, the children’s opportunities to learn are not bound by the materials. The opportunities are as limitless as the child’s desire to learn.

The upper elementary program is a continuation of the lower elementary program. There are subtle differences, however. Maria Montessori wrote:

"A second side of education at this age concerns the children’s exploration of the moral field and a discrimination between good and evil. They no longer are receptive, absorbing impressions with ease but want to understand for themselves, and are not content with accepting mere facts. As moral activity develops, they want to use their own judgment which often will be quite different from that of their teachers. There is nothing more difficult than to teach [by direct methods] moral values to children of this age; they give an immediate retort to everything that we say. An inner change has taken place but nature is quite logical in arousing now in the children not only a hunger for knowledge and understanding, but a claim to mental independence, a desire to distinguish good from evil by their own powers and to resent limitations by arbitrary authority. In the field of morality, the child now stands in need of his (her) own inner light."  Maria Montessori, To Educate the Human Potential, p.1.