The Montessori Primary Years
course of study is an integrated view of interrelated disciplines offered in
three-year cycles, which starts with the global and historical perspective, then
moves forward to current and local events. This approach differs from the
traditional model in which the curriculum is compartmentalized into separate
subjects, with given topics limited by grade level. In the Montessori approach,
lessons are introduced simply and concretely, in the context of history in the
early lessons and are reintroduced several times during the following years at
increasing degrees of abstraction and complexity. The curriculum from the
primary through the Primary Years program is engineered to meet and capitalize on
the changing developmental stages of the child. This is a very key foundation of
the Montessori Method. The major developmental change for a child of Primary
age is gaining the ability to reason and to imagine, and these skills are used
in the classroom.
This course of study is an
integrated thematic approach where major concepts are introduced through the
Great lessons, which challenge the imagination and provide a framework which
ties separate disciplines of the curriculum together into studies of the
physical universe, the world of nature, and the human experience. Mathematics,
science, literature, the arts, history, social issues, government, philosophy,
economics, art, and the study of technology all complement one another in our
curriculum.
Children learn about other disciplines by starting at the
beginning; the origins of the universe; the formation of the stars, planets, the
sun and the earth. Time lines, charts and research cards on the
advancement of civilizations help children study areas of interest – geology,
biology, geography and history. Different periods of history are explored
broadly, and students pursue many areas in depth.
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Biology |
The Second of
Montessori's Great Lessons presents the coming of life on Earth. This
story starts with singled celled organisms, life moving from water to
land and ends with the appearance of humans on the planet.
The Primary Years
curriculum involves field work and research:
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Botany:
nomenclature and functions of different forms and functions of leaves,
flowers, seeds, trees and plants. Study of plants in class/greenhouses,
experimenting with soil, nutrients, light, etc. The plant kingdom:
study of the major families of plant life, and classification by class
and phyla.
Zoology: Vertebrates
& invertebrates; internal parts of vertebrates: limbs, body coverings,
lungs, heart, skeleton, reproduction. The Animal Kingdom: life cycles,
classification by class & phyla. |
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The Leaf,
Root, Stem, Flower, Fruit, seed (function, parts, varieties,
specialization, modifications)
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