Bruno Upper EL Classroom

Cold, rainy days kept us inside most of the week, but that didn’t hinder our learning inside! We made some changes to our afternoon classes, mixing up individuals in groups for Culture, Geography, and Science. One of the staples of a Montessori classroom is having students in a 3-year cycle within the same plane of development, which in upper elementary is 9-12 years old. Dr. Maria Montessori stated, “The main thing is that the groups should contain different ages because it has a great influence on the cultural development of the child. This is obtained by the relations of the children among themselves.” She also stated, “Our schools have shown how children of different ages help one another. The younger ones watch what the older ones are doing and ask all kinds of questions, and the older ones explain. This is really useful teaching, for the way that a five-year-old interprets and explains things is so much nearer than ours to the mind of a child of three that the little ones learn easily, whereas we would scarcely be able to get through to him. There is harmony and communication between them that is not possible between an adult and such a young child. There is a natural mental osmosis between them. A child of three is also quite capable of taking an interest in the work of a five-year-old because, in fact, the difference in their abilities is not that great.” Although she specifically mentions 3 and 5-year-olds, the same interactions and relationships occur at each plane of development (elementary 6-9 and 9-12). We’re thankful we were able to rearrange our schedule to fulfill Dr. Montessori’s philosophy.

Reminders:

• Unit 11 vocabulary is due Monday, February 6th and the test will be on Friday, February 10th.
  • Unit 12 vocabulary will be due on Monday, February 13th.
• No school on Monday, February 20th, in observance of President’s Day.
• The PTO Dinner Fundraiser and Auction is Thursday, February 23rd.
• Parent’s Night is Tuesday, February 28th.
• The Science Fair project will be due on April 18th, and parents can visit on the afternoon of April 19th. An information packet will be sent home next week.

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