Lower Elementary Classroom Culture

The Educational process is based on our students’ stage of development and their capacity for more abstract concepts and reasoning. A first through third grade student is at the beginning of their life-long journey of independent thought, greater responsibility, and discovering their unique qualities and interests. Our use of the Montessori Method facilitates their process in an individualized way. While we use the most authentic Montessori approach, we also believe in accountability and preparing our students for learning success when they leave our school.

We start by teaching students how to navigate their day by using work plans. A new layer of personal responsibility is taught and applied in the realm of time management skills. We recognize that even though it seems to come naturally, balancing work expectations in the classroom is a cooperative goal which requires guidance. Our first year students learn the basic expectations for using a work plan to organize their time and balance their academic interest and requirements. We observe your students’ innate skill and ability to know what they would like to do in the classroom and provide the right amount of guidance to steer them towards independence. The children are accountable for the amount, quality, and completion of their work within our framework of expectation. Usually within a short while the “training wheels” come off as the children become more confident in navigating the classroom curricular expectations. Most second and third year students begin the year with robust work plan, building off of the previous years’ experience.

Peer mentoring is also encouraged at this level as students are developmentally ready to really take advantage of working with a partner or group. The Community Meeting is a forum for students to acknowledge each other and learn to accept that acknowledgment; solve problems; create and decide upon class activities; and to share projects, writing, research, birthdays, and special items of interest and relevance to the curriculum. The unique aspect of this meeting is that even though teachers are present during the meeting, it is facilitated and monitored by the students.

Learning and teaching with elementary students is conducted at three basic levels: large group lessons, small group lessons, and individual instruction. In any size lesson, guides are tasked with providing the sparks for learning. Guides will often have students recall prior knowledge or lessons through a series of interrogatives; put forth the purpose of the lesson (Why we are learning what we are learning…); present the materials and how to use them; and then define or direct the expected outcomes for completing the learning tasks. Your student will experience these three types of lessons on a regular basis during their school day.