The Casa Class was wonderful, but the Elementary Class is awesome!
These words were
actually uttered by six-year-old Carson after his first few weeks in his Montessori
Elementary Class. Awesome? Why would a six-year-old find school awesome ?
He does so because he is comparing and is realizing that he is feeling great because
he sees a challenge which he is able and prepared to meet.. Not every child is going
to express themselves this way but those that have gone from the Casa to the
Elementary will be benefiting from Dr. Maria Montessori, who spent 40 years on
the study of the child, described the characteristics of the child at the different
planes of development.
In the Casa Class (for ages 3 to 6) he acquired Reading skills and a good base for Mathematics
from many concrete manipulations. Through his work with the Sensorial materials, he
refined his senses of touch, sight, hearing, smell and his baric sense.
He was interested in his immediate surroundings, he learned through his hands and
wanted to know what ? And now the stormy physical bursts of the infant growth have
subsided. He is six years old, the tumultuous preparations have calmed, his energies
are rich and ready, and the fertile field is well prepared. Dr. Montessori put it this
way:
Education between the ages of six and twelve is not a direct continuation of that
which has gone before, although it is built upon that foundation. Psychologically,
there is a decided change in personality (within the child), and we recognize that
nature has made this a period for the acquisition of culture, just as the former was
for the absorption of environment. The elementary child has reached a new level of
development. Before, he was interested in things: working with his hands, learning
their names. Now he is interested mainly in the how and why…the problem of cause
and effect. He no longer needs to expend energy on coordinating movements or using only concrete materials. He is now in a sensitive period for abstraction. His emotions also are developing to the level of morality. "It's not fair!" is a common expression at this stage. And this is the age of hero worship. Let's give him some great ones!
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Therefore, now is the time to sow the seeds of knowledge. How? Through what
Montessori termed Cosmic Education ! No longer just interested in his present
environment, the child from six to twelve can travel through time and space with
the use of that most wonderful faculty, his imagination! No longer just satisfied
with what ? and with an incredible need to know why, how, when, where, we present
him with----The Story of the Universe ! to give the child a real understanding of
his world and his place in it. As this grandiose story unfolds, he is exposed to
the various disciplines of Geology, Paleontology, Pre-History, Geography, Zoology,
Botany; the perfect opportunity, mentally and physically to germinate those seeds!
The core subjects, Math, Geometry and Language serve this thirsty, inquisitive
knowledge-devouring mind. They interrelate the parts for him to make his discoveries
by experimentation, imagination, abstraction and research.
Exploring the mysteries of the universe, discovering the wonders of the world past
and present; participating in amazing discoveries through experiments, planning
exciting trips in the community and beyond, helping those in need in your
neighbourhood and those in far away places. Yes, the Montessori Elementary
Class is indeed awesome.
These natural science activities are just a small part
of the Montessori environment called the Cultural materials.
[End of Statement]
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