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 ELEMENTARY From a speech given to the Montessori Society at the Twenty-Second Annual Conference of Educational Associations, 1934, Maria Montessori said: "The "normalized" child possesses the capacity for work and energies far superior to those attributed to the average normal child. He has a quicker intelligence, a more receptive mind, and a greater creative ability than the average child. He is alert and keen to gather knowledge from the environment and he acquires, in this way, so much culture, that he is considered precocious. He can work for hours without becoming tired and with joy--sure signs of psychic health. These are phenomena which could not possibly be procured artificially by any educative method whatsoever. In character, too, the child acquires self-reliance and independence and a certain ease of action. These acquisitions not only satisfy our highest aims as educators, but they go beyond them, upsetting our common conceptions." Developmental Needs Of The 6-12 Year Old Maria Montessori believed that development of the child could be divided into three-year increments. Each three-year period has a different focus of learning and growth. Many patterns repeat themselves. The first year of the each period was one of awakening, new beginnings, the second year one of continued learning along a specific plane and the third year was the culmination of the previous two years of growth. The first year is one of confusion, hesitation and yet excitement for the possibilities, the third year is one of confidence, quiet assurance and resolve that comes through gaining understanding. So each triad replaces the one before it. The six-year old entering the elementary program comes to us confident with the success and achievements of his primary experiences. He may be a fluent reader and writer, (or not), with a good understanding of numbers and how they work. She has increased skill in physical coordination and movement, both large muscle and small. Curiosity and the need to know about the world around him expands from the home environment to the larger world outside. Social skills become key points of learning as the child moves from working independently to needing the approval and acceptance of his peers. Boundaries created by adults become questionable and moral issues, fairness, right and wrong become important topics of discussion. Imagination soars. As a child's awareness grows, so too his curiosity and need to know. Basic skills in language, math, science and the arts are the tools needed to aid the quest for knowledge. By age nine, most students have a firm foundation in the basics and are ready to move into the more independent structure of the upper elementary class where the students go past the basics and study in greater detail all areas of the curriculum. As is so important in the primary program, the teacher or guide prepares the environment to meet the social, emotional, spiritual, physical, and academic needs of the student. She creates an environment that nurtures these needs of the child growing into the young adult. As the child's guide, the teacher plants tiny seeds of interest... The secret of good teaching is to regard the child's intelligence as a fertile field in which seeds may be sown, to grow under the heat of flaming imagination. Our aim therefore is not merely to make the child understand, and still less to force him to memorize, but so to touch his imagination as to enthuse him to his inmost core. We do not want complacent pupils, but eager ones; we seek to sow life in the child rather than theories, to help him in his growth, mental and emotional as well as physical, and for that we must offer grand and lofty ideas to the human mind, which we find ever ready to receive them, demanding more and more. - Maria Montessori, To Educate the Human Potential, p. 15 To learn more about our Elementary program, please read our Parent Handbook pages |