Montessori Curriculum
The Montessori curriculum revolves around a three year cycle. Classrooms are grouped in the following communities:
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Early Childhood - 3 to 6 years old
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Lower Elementary - 6 to 9 years old
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Upper Elementary - 9 to 12 years old
While younger students learn skills at their own level, they also absorb other aspects of the classroom. Older children further develop their leadership skills while mastering their academics. The children have equal opportunities for independent study as well as shared lessons and activities.
If you have any questions, please feel free to call or schedule an appointment to visit our school. We encourage you to visit with your child so you may both have the opportunity to see our classes in progress and decide whether you would like to be a part of Midwest Christian Montessori Academy.
Classrooms
Early Childhood - Preschool & Kindergarten
Children between 3 to 6 years of age have many needs. Emotionally, they need love and acceptance. They need security and order but also the freedom to explore. Montessori preschool and kindergarten teachers prepare environments that allow children to explore and experience purposeful activities.
Classrooms have child-sized tables and chairs arranged individually or in small clusters. Classroom materials are placed on child-height shelves throughout the room. Activities are initially presented by the teacher. Afterwards, they may be chosen by the children as interest dictates.
Classroom materials usually include activities for engaging in practical skills such as pouring and spooning, materials for the development of the senses, math materials, language materials, music and art materials, and more.
Lower Elementary - 1st through 3rd Grade
Children between 6 to 9 years are actively social and begin to demonstrate an ability to think abstractly. Montessori education, at the lower elementary level, is designed to spark the imagination and to address the child’s need to interact with others.
Through observation, teachers outline individual plans for each child’s developmental level. Children are encouraged to learn both in cooperation with each other and independently. A multi-age group, 6-9 years of age, provides a community of support. A certified teacher facilitates a child's learning according to their skills and interests.
Upper Elementary - 4th through 6th Grade
Children between 9 to 12 years of age are seeking to bring order to the various disconnected facts and ideas they encounter in the world. Using their imagination and thinking hypothetically, they move from concrete representation to abstract thinking.
Montessori upper elementary students move from only being concerned with right and wrong to seeking understanding of what motivates behavior. This is a time of significant moral development as students imagine and develop solutions to moral issues that they are confronted with.
Montessori teachers create rich environments for their holistic development, providing bridges that move them from concrete learning to abstraction
