Lower Elementary for ages 6-8In the primary (preschool), guides/ teachers—present as many seeds of culture as possible. If this has been sufficiently presented, the question becomes: What is left for the elementary aged child? And Montessori’s answer to the question is that we give them the universe or more specifically, the cosmos—the big picture of cosmic time and history--, coming from the Greek meaning order—the order within the universe. We give these children the order within the universe, thus the Cosmic Education curriculum is where the guides -- who are "enlightened generalists”—think Da Vinci--assist the child to see that everything is connected, that the various subject disciplines are interrelated and not separate compartments.
Astronomy, chemistry, geology, biology and history are woven into a continuous, comprehensive series of origin stories within stories so that isolation of subject material is avoided.
With the children, we explore more deeply the microcosm and the macrocosm— from the atomic structure and the particle zoo to galaxies and quasars along with innumerable topics in between.
The Elementary Community cultivates your child’s imagination, reasoning skills, social development and great intellect by providing individualized and small group lessons and projects.
Beyond building the child’s skills in reading, mathematics and writing, Elementary lessons help the student discover the interconnectedness of knowledge and life on earth. At this stage, children have the ability to think abstractly and require variety in activity, rather than repetition. They are imaginative, creative and possess the knowledge to question and reason. Beyond the standard academic curriculum, students benefit from lessons with specialists in music, art, movement and Spanish.
The Elementary curriculum presents a foundation for the traditional subject areas in the form of the "Great Lessons,” stories accompanied by the presentation of pictures, charts, stories, timelines, experiments and concrete Montessori materials that aid the child’s understanding of each concept.
The Great Lessons provide a framework for the elementary curriculum and are designed to show:
Following the foundation of the Great Lessons, the curriculum focuses on language, mathematics, geometry, biology, geography, earth and physical sciences, history, music, foreign language and art.
While the media has reported on Montessori schools in Silicon Valley maintaining cursive handwriting, and these schools have extended wait lists. Here at AMI neat cursive writing is a mainstay of our curriculum, even to the extent Kay Barnes, former mayor of Kansas City, complimented our children on their beautifully written and decorated letters she received regarding a city zoning issue that was going to directly impact our school. And in the process our children were actively participating in civic matters!
While it may seem counterintuitive, it is a well-known phenomenon that Steve Jobs and other high-tech professionals in Silicon Valley enroll their children in preschool and elementary schools where low use of technology is the norm. While use of computers at home is allowed for selected projects, basic pencil, pen, and beautiful paperwork is basic to what goes on at AMI.
A case in point. Dr Saha, MD, PHD, MBA, and CEO of a cancer research company, having degrees and training from the California Institute of Technology, Oxford, Harvard, and Johns Hopkins, was dissatisfied with his children’s education at the leading private school in the metropolitan area. After a tour and extended conversation regarding our curriculum, with a close look at the manner in which we present the periodic table of elements, DNA, bacteria and viruses along Montessori guidelines, he and his wife, nearly immediately transferred his two children to AMI. The use of computers, in other words, was not the highest priority for his children at this level of education.
As a footnote to the above, Patty Keane, PHD (chemistry), after her oldest daughter received a presentation on the periodic table of elements, insisted that her four younger children likewise receive this presentation in particular as "it would make a lifelong impression on them.”
Lessons are presented to children either individually, in small groups, or to the entire community of peers.
Our motto, taken from Dr. Maria Montessori, is "Education as a Key to Life”. Life is much more than academics. Life is filled with frustrations, changes, set-backs, bumps in the road, and much more. Flexibility, resilience and grit are life skills that are developed over the years along with training in a social-emotional "tool box” of skills in dealing with interpersonal matters.
Giving the barrage of the news cycle on a 24/7 basis—along with "fake and non-’fake news” and access to social media , from day one in the Upper Elementary, an introduction in the essential skill of Critical Thinking 101 presents Principle 1: Don’t believe everything you read, see or hear.” And lessons continue thereafter.
The noted author, Alfie Kohn, in his book, Punished By Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A’s, Praise, and Other Bribes, points out the drawbacks to dangling external rewards too often. Children accomplish "big works” without receiving any of the "rewards” cited in the subtitle. We strive to instill in children the internal value of completing work without external incentives.
Transitioning from a Montessori to a Traditional SchoolWe have found our young scholars make a successful transition to other schools—public, private or parochial. Our curriculum prepares students to thrive at these school and they may enroll and succeed at the most prestigious schools (Barstow and Pembroke)—middle and high schools in the area.
Further on in their studies, our students have been accepted at Harvard, California Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford, Yale, Berkeley, KU Medical School, UMKC Medical & Dental Schools, Columbia University in New York, Washington University in St. Louis, among others.
The new education is a revolution, but without violence.
It is the nonviolent revolution.
-Dr. Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind
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