Upper Elementary Experience

The questions are getting bigger.

First they asked their parents, “Why is the sky blue?” Then they asked their teachers, “What will happen if… ?” They asked their peers, “Will you be my friend?” But now, they ask themselves, “Who am I?” and “Who will I become?” For our upper elementary students, this is their age of enlightenment, their last years of childhood, and the world as seen through their questioning eyes.

Continuous Course
Three classrooms, six faculty members, 86 students, a million ideas: That’s our program in a nutshell. This is the pinnacle of the Lead Mine campus, the stuff of dreams for lower elementary students. With open doors between their classrooms, they have seen the pin maps, watched science experiments, listened to the music, and heard about the trips: Betsy-Jeff Penn, North Carolina exploration, and New York. And when they finally arrive in upper elementary, these students are ready to take on the world.

Academically, physically, and emotionally, children in upper elementary—grades 4, 5, and 6—are continuing their lower elementary education. Completing the second plane of development, the children are characterized by a strong reasoning mind and an incredibly social core. The difference is found in their natural maturing; the more they learn about the world, the more they want to define their path. “The children are beginning to become who they will be and their individual personalities and interests are more clear,” Lori Wilson, Co-Director of Upper Elementary II said. “Their focus is getting as wide as possible,” Adam Diamond, Co-Director of Upper Elementary III said. “And our system encourages them to maximize their potential and learning process.”

Culture of Learning
Observe a class in progress and right away you’ll note three things. First there’s a lot going on. “There is a diversity of lessons that unfolds every day,” Kalpu Shah, former Co-Director of Upper Elementary I said. “The culture is so rich within a given day that the children can’t help but be enthused and learn.”

Next, the lessons are given in a way that is meaningful. Rather than having isolated facts tossed about, ideas are presented in context and the traditional subjects are allowed to overlap.

Using math as an example, Kalpu explains, “Mathematics doesn’t exist in society in isolation. It exists within the framework of everything else that we do.”

“And history is really a backbone of all elementary work.” Jonathan Churn, former Co-Director of Upper Elementary II adds. “Every area we discuss has that historical component, that element of asking, ‘Where did this idea originate?’ Once the children have an appreciation for the work that came before, they begin to ask, ‘What is my role? What will I discover? and How am I going to make a difference in the real world?’ ”

Finally, the children are expected to apply the things they learn. They look at everything and ask, “Why did that happen? What can I do to figure that out?” Only then can they understand the lesson and pursue knowledge in a way that is meaningful to them.

Liz Macaulay, Co-Director of Upper Elementary III, gives an example of watching her students work together to create a map to scale. “All of a sudden they turned to me and said, ‘This is math!’ And that’s what it’s all about. We give them lessons and they use them in ways we can’t even specify—because where they choose to take those lessons is really in their hands.”

Leaving the Classroom
Going out into the real world is a significant expectation for our upper elementary students. It may be to do research, to purchase materials for a project, or to lend a helping hand in the community. It may be placing a telephone call to a professor at NC State or to the curator of a museum in New York, but every experience requires the child to apply lessons learned— including grace and courtesy—in a way that is designed by the child. And every experience helps the child find his or her own place in the community.

Reaching out, making choices, accountability; these are the character building opportunities encountered every day in our upper elementary classrooms. Presented in a real world context, not as part of a philosophical debate, our children apply their lessons and learn by doing. They will leave the classroom not only with a deep understanding of their academic studies but also as good, caring community members.

“We’re not preparing the children for middle school, directly,” Greg Dahlin, Co-Director of Upper Elementary I said. “We’re preparing them for life, so that wherever they go, as they leave here, they are ready for that next beginning.”

The measure
In today’s climate of measuring results and year-end benchmarks, a Montessori education can seem a bit vague at times. “You have to trust it’s going to work. There’s a process to it. You may not see it as you’re going through the process but by the end there is a tangible result,” Lisa Anderson, Co-Director of Lower Elementary III said. For the students, that process involves taking ownership of their learning and learning at their own pace. For the directors, it means making sure every child completely understands each lesson.

My best days are when I am doing a collection or some type of community service and it is a success. Like when I was collecting pink lids (save lids to save lives – Yoplait) and I got to $5.70. —Upper Elementary student