The core of our elementary curriculum is the Great Lessons. Lower Elementary students were thrilled by the story of the birth of the universe and the beginnings of Earth, the First Great Lesson. The first part of this lesson was presented before the solar eclipse. The second part of this lesson, the beginning of our planet Earth, includes several demonstrations for students to replicate over the next several weeks. The activities represent: Layers of the Earth Volcanoes The three states of matter The water cycle  The First Great Lesson begins our journey into: Astronomy: solar system, stars, galaxies, comets, constellations Meteorology: wind, weather, erosion, water cycle, clouds, glaciers Chemistry: states of matter, changes, mixtures, reactions Physics: gravity, energy, light, sound, heat, friction, motion, magnetism Geology: types of rocks, minerals, land forms, volcanoes, earthquakes, eras of the Earth Geography: maps, globes, latitude/longitude, cl...

An integral and unique part of the Lower Elementary curriculum is the introduction of The Great Lessons. These exciting lessons are designed to ignite a child's imagination and curiosity about the world around them. There are five Great Lessons that are presented every year. The Great Lessons paint a broad picture. Students climbed into the darkened loft to cosmic music for the story of the coming of the universe and the beginnings of Earth, the First Great Lesson. This represented an empty space before existence. Together the guides told the story which was illustrated with the bursting of a black balloon filled with gold stars. The lesson continued with the beginning of our planet. Oil,  water, and molasses poured into a jar helped demonstrate how particles  of different weight settled into layers of Earth. Over millions of years, as the surface cooled, a crust formed and under this crust was red, hot, boiling molten rock. A baking soda and vinegar volcano ...

As we continue to observe our classroom butterflies go through metamorphosis, we reflect on this past school year and all of the growth and change that has occurred. The LE students have worked hard to reach goals and overcome challenges. This personal growth in the students is analogous to the life cycle of a butterfly.  The butterflies undergo so much change in such a short amount of time - from a tiny larva to a chrysalis that has fought to remain hanging from the top of our butterfly habitat, and which will eventually transform into a beautiful butterfly. It is so exciting to watch! Change and personal growth include discovering the inevitability of change and the need for one to clarify a vision for the future. As a Montessori classroom, we strive to instill in the students the importance of achieving one's personal goals, regardless of whether those goals are equal to those of his or her peers. Our mantra for this week in yoga is, "change is good....

Mathematicians are blooming in the Lower Elementary classroom! As the progression of our Montessori Math program continues, students are discovering how to multiply by four digit numbers with carrying and exchanging utilizing the Stamp Game, Checkerboard, and pen and paper. Other students have moved on to subtraction with the Strip Board, Bead Bars, and pen and paper. All of our students are practicing how to tell time, read place value, read and formulate graphs about the weather and tally counts of votes in our Community Meetings. They are also playing fun movement games to practice geometry vocabulary such as acute, obtuse, and equilateral. Our students are fired up about Math and learning that math can be found throughout all of their daily routine. Math is in their alarm clock, how many bananas are needed for snack, how to trade bamboo sticks with friends on the playground, and how many bracelets you have once you give one away to a friend. The Montessori philos...

As Lower Elementary students are learning about the Coming of Humans to Earth and the Fundamental Human Needs (food, clothing, transportation, shelter, religion, and defense), they received a lesson from a guest on crocheting. The students learned about the uses for crocheting: clothing, gifts, re-sale, and donations for needy people. The students had fun listening to the guest speaker, Dan Trimmer, give the lesson and discuss how he started crocheting because of his need for a winter hat while skiing. As each student had their own individual ball of yarn and a crochet hook, the students learned about the importance of care and responsibility for materials, as well as how to utilize their fine motor skills in a creative way. The students  will have the opportunity to work on their crocheting each day while listening to the read-aloud Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. We have already begun to see the benefits of crocheting in the LE classroom as students practice key habits suc...

It is an exciting time in Lower Elementary as the Second Great Lesson, "The Coming of Life," is studied. This lesson is an integral part of the Montessori curriculum as it spawns a whole series of lessons in Zoology, Botany, and History.   The timeline presented in this great lesson represents the beginnings of life on Earth from the simplest forms through the appearance of human beings. A great variety and magnificence of life is presented, with each organism a contributor to a vast, cosmic scheme.   The students were "all eyes" as the living things were presented and placed in their respective time periods on the timeline. Some of the students took part in the lesson, playing the roles of Sun, Water, and Air. These students read lines to their cl assmates that explained why living things are necessary to earth. As follow-up work, the students will lay out the timeline independently and research the relationship between all things.  One of the ...

The students are learning about the importance of place value in math. Many students are using the Stamp Game to interpret concretely the difference between units, tens, hundreds, and thousands. This material is a favorite of the students!  It is typically used for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, and helps the students to absorb the consistency of place value.  The children practice writing their numbers by recording their answers in workbooks.  The students will use the math materials for a period of time as they move towards abstraction, when they will complete the math work without the assistance of the Stamp Game material.

Lower Elementary students participate in Junior Great Books, a literature group that promotes interpretive thinking and discussion skills through the use of folk tales, classics, fairy tales, and modern short stories. After students listen to a piece of literature read aloud at least twice, they participate in a method of learning called Shared Inquiry. Shared Inquiry is an active and collaborative search for answers to interpretive questions about a text.  Interpretive questions have more than one answer that can be supported with evidence from the story. Students learn reading comprehension, critical thinking, and writing through sharing their ideas about great literature. This continues to be a loved activity for our LE students!

The students are transitioning beautifully as they enjoy their days at Abintra. You can help your child be successful in school by doing the following: Make sure your child has a good night's sleep with a consistent bed time and routine. If you're not sure how many hours of sleep your child needs, check the Sleep Hours chart below or call your child's pediatrician. Start every day with a good breakfast! Enjoy time with each other or observing nature in the morning and avoid use of electronic devices before coming to school. 

It's clear that Montessori environments look much different from traditional classrooms. At Abintra, we hope to provide our community members with useful resources to help them get the most out of their child's Montessori experience. John Snyder Today's resource pick is the article "Supporting the Elementary Child's Work at Home" by Austin Montessorian John Snyder, former Chair of the AMI Elementary Alumni Association and member of the Montessori Leadership Collaborative. In this article, Snyder discusses how parents can contribute to their elementary student's Montessori experience outside of the classroom. As Snyder explains, "It's not worksheets. It's not assignments. It's practicing being an entrepreneurial learner in the context of the family." Snyder points out that "Basically, there needs to be a shift in thinking of the Montessori school as the place where the child is being educated to thinking of it as jus...

How do you feel when someone takes notice of your hard work and acknowledges you for it? How does positive feedback affect your motivation? Compliments and acknowledgments are important to the Lower Elementary community, and we practice sharing and accepting these on a weekly basis. In our classroom, students learn how to observe and articulate the positive in others and in themselves through role-playing, discussions, and writing activities. Every community meeting starts with compliments or acknowledgments and sometimes the class gives an individual student an acknowledgment circle. These acknowledgments enhance students' sense of belonging by teaching them to notice and cultivate the positive aspects in each other, fostering close connections. These statements also help the students understand how their actions have a positive impact on their classmates and allow them to see the value of their contributions.

   Handwriting is an important part of Montessori language arts curriculum. In Lower Elementary, writing is taught through a logical, step-by-step process. Because children differ in their level of coordination and small muscle development essential for writing, they progress as their mastery permits. Students have instruction, practice, and opportunity to improve their writing skills so they can feel proud of neat and quality writing work. The Montessori early childhood curriculum provides preparation for handwriting, such as exercising the pincer grip and practicing mechanical skills of handwriting through several exercises including gripping Knobbed Cylinders, moving the Number Rods, tracing the Sandpaper Letters, and using the Movable Alphabet. Students in Lower Elementary add exercises that require increased dexterity, including pin punching continents, which helps strengthen the hand for controlled writing. Lower Elementary students use penci...

An integral part of our language curriculum in Lower Elementary is a literacy program called Junior Great Books. This program provides our students many opportunities to interact with thought-provoking stories as they develop their reading, writing, oral communication, and critical thinking skills. Each piece of literature engages the students through multiple sessions in order to teach and reinforce through different methods. The progression of study includes the following activities: Listening to the story being read aloud by one of the guides, then writing initial questions or reflections on a flip chart. Listening to the story a second time, followed by open discussion and a written reflection assignment. Completing activities that help students understand vocabulary or text. Participating in a shared inquiry conversation where students openly discuss their interpretations of the text. Often, there is an art activity which allows the students to translate their refle...

Students enjoy a special picnic lunch; the candle represents the sun! An integral and unique part of the Lower Elementary curriculum is the Great Lessons. These exciting lessons are designed to ignite a child's imagination and curiosity about the world around them. There are five Great Lessons that are presented every year so that students are exposed to them more than one time. The Great Lessons are used to paint a broad picture of large concepts. Then, students can be shown how smaller ideas fit into the larger framework. Lower Elementary students were thrilled by the First Great Lesson, the story of the coming of the universe and the beginnings of Earth. The story was told in the loft. As students climbed the ladder to the loft, cosmic music welcomed them to a dark space, representing an empty space before existence. The bursting of a black balloon filled with gold stars and other demonstrations helped tell the story of the coming of the universe. ...

In Lower Elementary, students value the weekly Community Meeting as a predictable and safe way to practice respectful communication with their peers.  The process of voicing a concern begins when a student articulates a problem by documenting the issue in a composition notebook we refer to as “the agenda.”  The students know that items added to “the agenda” will be read at the next Community Meeting.  Part of the rationale behind having the students write down their concerns for community discussion at a later time is that it allows for a “cooling off” period and time for the students to resolve their issues on their own. We begin our Community Meetings with compliments and acknowledgements, with each student having the opportunity to contribute.  After that, items on the agenda are read aloud and discussed.  The person who originally voiced a concern in “the agenda” chooses how to approach the problem.  The student may ask the class to share their feel...

Practice: Lower Elementary students have been focusing on time management. Using the time-timer as a visual aide helps students understand the length of time it takes to complete a task. The students have been reflecting on the work they complete during these blocks of time, and commenting that it assists them in making choices during the work cycle. Reinforcement through discussion: During our community meetings, we discuss the practice of time management. Many children have observed that they complete more work when they are quietly working and are also becoming aware of the amount of time spent on each task. Skill building: In addition, the students are learning to tell time. It has been exciting to hear the discussions in comparing the analog clock to the time-timer; many of the children are sharing their strategies in using their blocks of time. We remind the students that their social time is scheduled into each day during morning exercise, lunch, and recess. Working quiet...