A WINDOW INTO A MONTESSORI ELEMENTARY CLASSROOM

Time: One day at the start of school

“People from the beginning of their life on earth have always wondered about the world they lived in.  They would ask how and why things happened.  They asked how the world began.  What was that bright object that rose every day in the sky?  What were those objects in the night sky that shone so brightly? Even today, people ask the same question:  How did all the things come to be?”……….. this is how the very first Great Story begins.  This is how all new elementary Montessori students across the world are initiated into the wonders of our universe, our earth and the history of human beings.  Maria Montessori says: “To interest the children in the universe, we must not begin by giving them elementary facts about it, to make them merely understand its mechanism, but start with far loftier notions of a philosophical nature….”  In other words, myth-like stories that reveal “the truths of nature.”  It is now the first week of October and all the Great Stories have been told.  These truthful stories, laden with scientific laws and historical components, elevate the elementary aged child’s imagination and prepare them for the more detailed studies of these special laws in the follow-up biology, geography, history, language and math lessons.    

Although the upper elementary students are not part of this Great Story telling, the small classroom size is conducive to “overhearing” and eaves-dropping which in turn has provided inspiration for many interesting research topics at the beginning of each year.  This year is not any different.  One upper elementary student discovered and  shared new information about the ancient coelenterates; another is investigating the coral reefs; yet another the symbiosis between some ancient creatures (all found on our Timeline of Life).  Some lower elementary students are drawing letters and numbers from ancient cultures, some are researching those cultures mentioned in the Great Stories…… 

I bare a witness to the genius and wisdom of Dr. Montessori’s timeless way of teaching all throughout the year but especially in fall.  It is not only the stories that inspire the interest but that the independence fostered in this environment allows the interest to develop at the right moment for that particular child.