Lower Elementary Experience

Something freaky happened over the summer.

Those adorable Extended Day children—soft, short-limbed, repetitive sensorial explorers—morphed into children with long, strong legs, wild imaginations, and an incredibly social core. And although they are still adorable, and still children, they have developed a reasoning mind and they are eager to set out on their own. Welcome to the second plane of development and the world as seen through the eyes of our lower elementary students.

The classroom community
Stop by any one of our four lower elementary classrooms and you’ll understand the extremely social nature of these children. “They want to be together,” said Babe Clawson, Co-Director of Lower Elementary IV. “To them, their friends are more important than their academic skills. We tie the two together: they do the work because their friends are doing it, not the other way around.”

This ability to meet children where they are, developmentally, and use it in the classroom is the underlying strength in a Montessori environment. Here, because children have the freedom to walk in, greet their friends, and select work together, they not only make long academic strides, but they also learn about friendships and balance. “We come together as a community to do problem solving. It can be little things—like the pencil is in the trash can—or bigger community-wide things. And that’s a really nice process,” Laura Opfer, Lower Elementary I Co-Director said.

A new plane
Between the ages of 6 and 12, children develop the ability to imagine and abstract. They have greater stamina and can focus for longer periods of time, and they are curious about everything. “The elementary child is more inquisitive, more ready to analyze,” said Valentina Barilli, Lower Elementary III Co-Director. “Our classrooms are filled with works that will peak their curiosity, and we ask, ‘What do you want to know about today?’ ”

This gives the ownership, the responsibility of learning, to the child. Rather than things being told to them or done to them, they are actively involved in the process. Our directors guide them along. “We’re watching them and observing them and depositing things into them that will help them be more capable on their own. And they’re all getting in the groove of learning,” said Pamela Thompson, former Co-Director.

Working within a three-year cycle, children can learn at their own pace. “There may be a first year student who’s joining third year lessons in an area. It’s a key experience for a child to see that someone younger may understand a concept as well as he does and it’s okay, it’s not a threat,” said Catherine Oudjit, Co-Director of Lower Elementary II. “We all learn different things at different times. What’s important is that you learn when it’s right for you.” Veda Assa, Co-Director of Lower Elementary II adds, “I love that we can tailor our teaching to what they’re interested in. I can teach writing but I don’t have to teach it the same way every year. And they all get to the same place in the end.”

The measure
In today’s climate of measuring results and year-end benchmarks, a Montessori education can seem a bit vague at times. “You have to trust it’s going to work. There’s a process to it. You may not see it as you’re going through the process but by the end there is a tangible result,” Lisa Anderson, Co-Director of Lower Elementary III said. For the students that process involves taking ownership of their learning and learning at their own pace. For the Directors, it means making sure every child completely understands each lesson.

Consider, in a system where a grade is the end product, the child who scores a 75 understands only 75 percent of the material. The class then, as a whole, moves on to the next thing. “What we do with the children,” Babe explained, “is give them follow-up work. And we’ll go through it one-on-one until each child understands the material. So every child gets to 100 percent. There’s no child who doesn’t get to 100 percent.”

That’s the immediate tangible result, the one you’ll see at the end of the three-year cycle. “But if you really want to see something, talk to a child who went to Montessori until they were in Middle School,” Alix Croswell, Lower Elementary I Co-Director, said. “They are so self-confident, so aware and open minded. Look at how motivated they are, how independent, and how much internal drive they have. They think about society and their role in it. And that’s the tangible change people can and will see.”

Our daughter is learning time management, conflict resolution, and self-discipline in addition to the impressive academic skills she is acquiring. —Lower Elementary Parent