Elementary

Our elementary program uses the philosophy and curricula established by Maria Montessori to encourage the healthy development of each child during their elementary years. As the primary classes focus on sensorial introductions to materials and concepts, the elementary classes build on this sensorial base to bring the children to abstraction of concepts. We strive to provide an opportunity to each student that will lead to their better understanding of the world and the roles that they play in it.

Elementary students are introduced to the different fields of study via "great stories" which present each subject area in its entirety. The details associated with the different areas of study are then examined through lessons and research projects.

The formation and workings of the universe are introduced through the geography curriculum. Children have opportunities to make discoveries regarding the laws governing astronomy and climatology. Experiments are introduced, then repeated by students allowing them to become familiar with the physical sciences, including geography, geology, chemistry, and physics.

The history curriculum introduces elementary students to the concept of geological time. With this foundation, children are excited to study prehistory starting in the Precambrian Era, human prehistory starting with the Paleolithic Period (Old Stone Age), and the development of civilization. As their research skills develop, elementary children have opportunities to participate in projects studying the nomadic, agricultural, and urban phases of human history, and migrations. Different civilizations then become the focus of attention.

The work that is performed relating to biology in the elementary class introduces children to botany, zoology, and ecology. Their studies bring familiarity with the functions and parts of plants which leads to classification of plants. The zoology curriculum provides opportunities to research both vertebrate and invertebrate zoology with particular attention paid to the body systems and animal classification. Ecology provides a framework for students to bring together all of the details regarding the living world.

The math and geometry curricula provide children with a sensorial foundation for their studies. The mathematics curriculum prepares students for work in algebra, trigonometry, and calculus while attracting their reasoning minds and encouraging the to form abstract thoughts. The geometry curriculum provides opportunities for experience with plan and solid geometry. The laws and theorems that govern the study of geometry are introduced, preparing students for work with theoretical geometry. The opportunity to use their reasoning abilities in order to discover mathematical and geometrical laws attracts the elementary children to this challenging work.

Language in the elementary class is, like the other fields of study, a continuation of the work that children complete in the primary classes. The language curriculum covers grammar, language expression including written and spoken language, and literature. The children's work brings familiarity with the parts of speech, the analysis of sentence structure, and the study of words (e.g. suffixes, prefixes, synonyms, antonyms, etc.). Reading and writing skills are developed through research projects which call on the children's abilities to read, comprehend, and write down information that they find in books. Students are introduced to several types of written language, and provided opportunities to use them. These include creative writing, journalling, letters, dialogue, descriptive writing, poems, essays, and biographies.

Music and art supplement the curriculum in the elementary environment. Music lessons introduce children to the different concepts that encourage musical composition. Different composers and pieces of music are introduced to demonstrate these concepts. Art lessons offer to children opportunities to use different media when pursuing their academic interests in the classroom. For instance, children studying the varieties of fruits can make collages to illustrate the different specimens that they have identified. Different artists are also discussed in the classroom to encourage appreciation for the arts, and to provide examples of the different media that can be used.