Intro to Upper Elementary
When I began working in my current environment, it became clear to me that I had found my passion in life. I quickly felt the understanding that I could make a meaningful impact on the next generation. I could right the wrongs that I felt I grappled with in my own education and upbringing. I felt a connection with my students that I worry other means of education would not allow me to carve time for.
My school is quite small and new. A small staff make up our guides and assistants and a small student body make up our pupils. I wanted to find where I fit in this new environment I had found myself in. Of course, if it brings any clarity, I was in the Fourth Plane of Development.
My school stopped at Lower Elementary, as at the time we only had one trained LE guide on our entire staff. We connected quickly and I was deeply fascinated by her classroom and skill as a Lead Guide. On our Curriculum Night (a day where both staff and parents come together and tour each room from youngest to oldest and learn about each rooms specially catered curriculum), I listen to each of my new coworkers gush about their practice, and I knew that I wanted to be apart of it.
My interest was immediately pulled to Upper Elementary, for a few different reasons. Firstly, it was the next part in the program. Since we stopped at LE, I didn't know what the rest of Montessori education looked like. When I researched I found that I loved the work done in UE. Not only was I drawn to the work that they did, I was drawn to the idea of helping children form independent thoughts on the material and to challenge my own way of thinking.
Becoming a Lead Upper Elementary guide soon became a dream of mine. I have yet to begin my education, this is very daunting for me for a multitude of reasons. However, I hope to one day be able to lead my own classroom and make a difference in the lives of some of the most important members in society. Children.
What is Upper Elementary?
Presuming you have some understanding of what Montessori Education is (here is a reference if needed), in the simplest terms, Upper Elementary (UE) is a classroom of 9-12 year olds/4th-6th grade students.
They have similar curriculum to the previous classrooms (Nido, Toddler Community, Children's House, and Lower Elementary), describe here by OMS Montessori; "The international Elementary Montessori curriculum taps into the natural sensitivities of this age to create an energy that animates Elementary education. Dr.Montessori called this curriculum a ‘cosmic’ curriculum. Each year five great stories are told in a dramatic fashion in order to create a framework of information to which students will add detail and understanding throughout their elementary years: The story of the beginning of the universe, of life on the Earth, of human life and of the great human creations of language and of mathematics and science. These create a broad framework that invites students to explore all the traditional curriculums (the sciences, history and geography, as well as mathematics and language) creating greater depths of understanding each year."
The same school touches on what changes between Lower Elementary (ages 6-9) and Upper Elementary.
"As students move from Lower Elementary to Upper Elementary, they are moving away from reliance on concrete materials and toward greater abstraction. The framework of lessons and concepts students began in Lower Elementary are consolidated in Upper Elementary. Students at this level reach a high level of abstraction of concepts and explore themes and topics in greater depth."
This is a point I find particularly fascinating. Highlighting the sentence here "The framework of lessons and concepts students began in Lower Elementary are consolidated in Upper Elementary." helps me point out one of the parts of UE that draw me in the most.
Currently I assist in an LE classroom with an absolutely wonderful lead guide. They are incredibly passionate about the work in their classroom. It has been enlightening and fascinating watching LE students and their work. However, they only cover the very surface of subjects I find incredibly enchanting. I love to learn, it is one of my favorite pass times. I also want to be able to share my love of learning and help inspire others to feel the same way. That is where I feel my skills in UE would be most beneficial. Growing the love of going deeper and learning more and loving to learn.
Highlights in the UE Curriculum:
Here is an example of UE Scope and sequence document that goes into more detail what is covered in each of the "subjects" in the classroom.
