Lower Elementary (Ages 6-9)
Upper Elementary (Ages 9-12)
Lower Elementary (Ages 6-9)
In the lower elementary environment you can expect to see students working alone or in small groups and may be working on either a floor mat or at a table.
Natural lighting, soft colors, and uncluttered spaces set the stage for activity that is focused and calm. All relevant material is set out on child height shelving to foster independent work choices among students. Everything has a place, conveying a sense of harmony and order that both comforts and inspires.
The classroom is a happy community. They invent, explore, experiment, confer, create, prepare snacks, and curl up with books; sometimes they might even do some light yoga or meditate in the corner. Meanwhile, teachers circulate throughout the room, observing the students and making notes about their progress, ever ready to offer support or introduce new material, as appropriate.
Expectations are clearly set and demonstrated allowing children freedom within limits.
Cosmic education is the path through which children develop a global vision of the world in which they live.
Cosmic Education starts with the whole, (i.e. the universe), and works toward the parts, (i.e. individual cultures, history, geography, life forms, etc.). This gives the child a foundational sense of perspective.
Within this supportive, inclusive community, children have the opportunity to work through the curriculum at their own pace, accelerating and mastering some tasks or taking additional time to understand the material with others. Our spiral curriculum allows children to revisit favorite lessons, while engaging them on a more complex level. Children are assessed on a quarterly basis, where mastery of material and lessons is used in place of traditional letter grades.
Great Lessons are an important and unique part of the Montessori curriculum. They are traditionally told in exciting story format and are designed to awaken a child’s imagination and curiosity. The five great lessons are the basis for the Montessori curriculum and are given in this order:
First Great Lesson – Coming of the Universe and the Earth
Second Great Lesson – Coming of Life
Third Great Lesson – Coming of Human Beings
Fourth Great Lesson – Communication in Signs
Fifth Great Lesson – The Story of Numbers
Elementary students must be 6 on or before September 30th of the upcoming school year.
All children transferring from another school, shall provide the following documents:
Transcript of previous year
Letter of behavior tendencies from teacher
Vaccination records or state approved vaccine exemption form
A current physical for child to participate in gym and high energy play at recess
Azalea City Montessori’s Lower Elementary program accepts students on an open enrollment basis as long as availability in the classroom exists.
The application process is as follows:
Fill out and submit an online enrollment package
Student attends an observation visit day, during the school year, or a meet and greet during summer enrollment
Parent attends annual orientation event or meets with office to go over enrollment paperwork, school policies, financial information, and medical information
Student starts attending ACM
This classroom has the following ratios:
27 students to 2 certified Montessori teachers
OR
32 students to 2 Montessori certified teacher and a teaching assistant
Upper Elementary (Ages 9-12)
Within the upper elementary environment, our job as teachers is to foster a love of learning. The classroom is very calm and productive, but can be loud and exciting, as collaborative projects take place.
Upper Elementary is an extension of the students’ world. As such, each child brings an emotional aspect to the classroom that plays an important role in classroom dynamics.
The classroom goal is to help students understand how to work, fit in and be a part of a community in a positive, peaceful, and productive way.
The Upper elementary curriculum embraces the responsibility to educate the whole child as we meet the academic, social, and emotional needs of each of our students. We provide an environment where children are engaged in their education, feel safe to learn, are peaceful, and are able to communicate their needs and feelings with others.
Within this supportive, inclusive community, children have the opportunity to work through the curriculum at their own pace, accelerating and mastering some tasks or taking additional time to understand the material with others. Our spiral curriculum allows children to revisit favorite lessons, while engaging them on a more complex level. Children are assessed on a quarterly basis, where mastery of material and lessons is used in place of traditional letter grades.
In upper elementary we explore the academic areas a little differently—and at times, go more in-depth—compared to a more traditional scholastic environment. Students can choose to take on more challenging or advanced work that would not be offered in a traditional school environment- outside of a gifted program. For example, Montessori students tend to excel at science and math. For this reason an advanced science student may choose to extract DNA from fruit or perform and test out hypotheses. While advanced math students may delve in to the Pythagorean Theorem or the Advanced Decanomial Sequence .
The imagination is the limit in the upper elementary classroom.
Elementary students must be 9 on or before September 30th of the upcoming school year.
All children transferring from another school, shall provide the following documents:
Transcript of previous year
Letter of behavior tendencies from teacher
Vaccination records or state approved vaccine exemption form
A current physical for child to participate in gym and high energy play at recess
Azalea City Montessori’s Upper Elementary program accepts students on an open enrollment basis as long as availability in the classroom exists.
The application process is as follows:
Fill out and submit an online enrollment package
Student attends an observation
on visit day, during the school year, or a meet and greet during summer enrollment
Parent attends annual orientation event or meets with office to go over enrollment paperwork, school policies, financial information, and medical information
Student starts attending ACM
This classroom has the following ratios:
20 students to 1 certified Montessori teachers
OR
26 students to 1 Montessori certified teacher and a teaching assistant