Lower Elementary

The elementary-aged child is full of awe and wonder about the world in which he lives. The Montessori elementary program inspires a love of learning by going beyond the usual goals of skill development and addressing the development of the whole person. Children who complete our program have a clear understanding of the natural world, of human knowledge, and of themselves.

Lower & Upper Elementary at Quest (grades 1-6) presents children with a full range of educational disciplines, including mathematics and language, as well as the arts, sciences and social sciences. The materials and exercises for each discipline area help children build a conceptual order, and classification materials associated with each discipline help children construct a mental order.

The Montessori elementary core curriculum has three major elements:

1. An integrated curriculum using Montessori’s Five Great Lessons
2. Mastery of fundamental skills and basic core knowledge
3. Individually chosen research

Integrated Curriculum

The elementary curriculum uses Montessori’s Five Great Lessons as its major themes. Because of its logical sequence, Montessori elementary education demonstrates how each particle, each substance, each species, and each event in the universe has a purpose and a contribution to make in the development of our universe. This philosophy allows the child to feel a sense of interconnectedness and gratitude about the world in which he lives. It is this understanding which leads to an intrinsic love of learning and contribution.

Rather than following the traditional approach of presenting facts as belonging to individual subjects, we use the Great Lessons to present a holistic vision of knowledge, building the subject skills into each topic or theme. Reading, writing, geography, science and history are all studied in terms of these larger, cultural contexts. We take the children from the whole to the parts and back to the whole again.

Mastery of Basic Skills: Montessori Materials and Beyond

The Montessori mathematics materials and manipulatives are widely acclaimed and used worldwide in both public and independent schools. In the Lower Elementary program, these materials are used to provide the child with concrete visualizations of the four basic operations, algebraic concepts, and an introduction to fractions and geometry. The use of these materials in small group lessons allows each child to progress at his or her own pace.

Hands-on materials are used in every other aspect of the curriculum as well. There are materials for the study of language and grammar, scientific classification, geography, and much more.

As the ability to think abstractly matures in the Upper Elementary years, the sequence of lessons lead more and more into work on paper and into research projects. The Montessori materials then become tools which the children can use to reinforce earlier work, or to creatively explore an advanced extension of an earlier study. (For example, the material that younger children use to learn the basics of arithmetic are reinterpreted to learn algebra.)

Individually Chosen Research

Elementary students are encouraged to explore topics that capture their imagination. As the mind, will, and self-discipline develop, it becomes possible for the children to undertake ambitious projects requiring the integration of knowledge from across the curriculum. Students often work together, using well- developed collaboration skills. When children progress into Upper Elementary, the teacher becomes more and more a consultant to the children, helping them to organize their research and find resources for multi-faceted projects.