At the end of every summer when I return to work as a Montessori teacher for ages 6-9 (grades 1-3), I like to recharge the setting and make changes that follow the child. Maria Montessori considered "the prepared environment" of the classroom to be a place of order and beauty meant to attract the child to meaningful work, settle him/herself spiritually and emotionally, and allow him/her independent access to motivate auto-education. In anticipation of the start of the school year, I have taken some recent photos of some aspects of the Montessori classroom that live Maria's mission beautifully.
Montessori elementary focuses on the 5 Great Lessons (the Coming of the Universe, Earth, Humans, Language, and Numbers), which is called the "Cosmic Curriculum". We will be starting with the Big Bang (as one of the explanations of the start of the Universe, as well as cultural stories from around the world), so the work on the middle shelf left is called "Stellarnucleosynthesis" which is the birth (or death) of a star -- in our case, the Sun. The work is a series of concentric circles (made of felt), each representing one of the elements that was created when the Universe banged into existence. That leads into study of the Periodic Table, atoms, planets, and eventually Earth. That thing on the top shelf middle is a light box, for tracing various things -- pictures of animals in books, outlines of leaves from card material, flags, etc.
Life Science: That big thing on the right is the Bead Cabinet. It's also in age 3-6 classes, as well as age 6-9 classes like mine. It helps with linear counting, multiples, cubing, etc. Those are called Golden Beads, where each number is assigned a certain color, for beauty and orderly isolation of numerals. (That's actually near the math area, but I thought I should explain it.) The life science shelf contains botany, as well as protists like fungi and bacteria, and I like to have a child-size microscope on the shelf where students can use it to look at pre-made slides (like of a butterfly wing or flower pollen) or slides they make (with seaweed or laundry fuzz). I also have a magnifying glass and two binoculars, as well as a tree identifying book and the leaf cabinet, so we will start the year by trying to find leaves with different margins and figuring out from what trees they fell.
Room 1: This is a view of the room from the front door. Parent volunteers give weekly spelling tests to students at a computer table. I made the reading/writing corner in the back of the room larger and kind of isolated, so it might actually be quiet for kids reading or writing book reports. When I took everything off the wall in June, my intention was to move everything down the wall closer to student eye level. It is important to see the world from the perspective of a child, so sometimes lying on my back helps me get closer to his/her point of view. This is the students' room, not just mine.
Measurement: My favorite shelf this year! I bought a new lamp for the math area, so that sometimes we can lower the lights and work in dim calmness rather than under the glaring fluorescents. On the top shelf are glass containers with lentils, beans, chickpeas, and popcorn kernels in them -- fun for students to feel and use for measuring with real food! I made the "Today's Menu" for the vegetables, fruits, or herbs I will try to bring in every week. On the bottom shelf there are teaspoons, tablespoons, and cups as well as other kitchen items like a sieve, apple corer, peeler, etc. and some command cards for measuring. (Example: "Peel 1/3 cup of carrots.") Students can then put them out on the sink counter for a class snack. On the middle shelf, there are cook books, wide ruled index cards for writing recipes, and a scale for measuring weight -- we'll do that later this fall, after they grasp fractions.
Zoology: I like to put animal work out in order of "evolutionary emergence", and since at the beginning of the year we're talking about the Coming of the Universe, we won't really get to animals per se until later this fall. However, on the top shelf, I put a coral (a present from my mom!) and animal families cards (Example: male/female/baby = stallion/mare/colt) with little animal objects to match. The middle shelf has card material for animal homes (and real examples of empty wasps nests the children can touch!) and animal sounds. (I may ask students to do that work on the back patio, so they can bray or moo all they like!) The bottom shelf has a lesson and card material about prokaryote and eukaryote cells, which is more appropriate for 3rd graders.
Peace Table: Maria Montessori was very interested in peace education, maybe because she lived in Italy under a dictator who forced her into exile. Nearly every Montessori classroom has a peace table -- a quiet place for students to go when they feel the need for calm, and where disagreements between kids are settled. I have a deck of yoga cards for children, and there is a narrow rug for yoga next to the table. I also have a photo of me as a kid and my Grandpa Henry, so that the students see that I was once a kid (gasp!) and so I remember, too. The wooden bell is a sound cue to line up (for recess or specialist classes), and the Tibetan singing bowl is a sound cue for circle time. The candle is used at birthday celebrations, placed in the middle of circle to represent the sun, and the birthday child walks around it with a small globe (representing Earth) for each year of his/her life.
Writers Corner: I like having a rocking chair, especially for children who feel soothed by moving. Parent volunteers sit here when reading with students once per week. The writing table has a lamp, journal prompt cards, and antique photos to help inspire writing, or partners can sit here to work on a book report or activity (like readers theater or a recommendation/review poster). A nearby shelf (the writers studio) contains all the art-related supplies they might need to do that work independently. I found a curtain rod and some drapes for readers theater, so I can't wait for students to have a chance to act out their favorite books!
Practical Life: Starting in classrooms for ages 3-6, Practical Life work develops fine and gross motor skills like balance and coordination, as well as spiritual, emotional, and social skills like patience, helpfulness, and responsibility. There are command cards on the top shelf and little basket works (rock sorting by color, size, or weight; plant watering; hole-punching, table setting; beadwork; sewing; use of camera). On a nearby sink counter is a cute little elephant-shaped tea kettle and cups, as well as a hot water brewer and two kinds of tea. When parents or visitors come into the classroom for at least twenty minutes, students may ask them if they would like a cup of tea and serve them. The adults are happily surprised by such courteous children, and students know it counts as a work! The basket on the sink counter is where the vegetables, fruits, and herbs for measurement go.
For parents and students new to Montessori (or new to the 6-9 classroom), this may explain and give depth to the meaning to the care and thought that goes into a child's education. Every Montessori teacher and his/her classroom is different and specific to his/her personality, yet all Montessori classrooms contain materials that Maria designed over a century ago (thinking ahead of her time!), as well as materials inspired by her pioneering, scientific spirit of free and open inquiry. I look forward to sharing this learning environment with my students this year!
