Upper Elementary

Upper Elementary Program

At the upper elementary level, children continue to develop mental independence while learning to manage the demands of daily life with confidence, grace, and effectiveness. The classroom structure fosters self-discipline, while research, independent study, and collaborative projects teach students how to actively learn, rather than passively memorize for a test. This approach helps instill the lifelong love of learning that is a hallmark of Montessori education.

The Montessori curriculum is organized as a program of integrated studies rather than separate, isolated subjects. Concepts introduced simply and concretely in the lower levels are revisited and expanded at increasing levels of abstraction and complexity in the upper grades, allowing students to explore ideas more deeply over time.

At Providence, children ages nine to twelve attend one of two upper elementary classrooms. Classes average 25 students with two teachers, and, as in other levels, each classroom includes a three-year age span. Whenever possible, classrooms are balanced by gender to create a supportive and collaborative learning community.

Curriculum Highlights

The upper elementary program extends personal responsibility for work completion and time management. Students manage their own work schedules and work spaces. Students often work alone, with a partner, or in small groups to design and complete various projects. These independent work projects give the students the opportunity to study a subject in depth and then share the information through oral presentations, displays, reports, shelf work activities and/or dramatic presentations.

The Montessori materials, one-on-one work with teachers, and field studies cultivate higher-order thinking skills of analysis, synthesis and evaluation. At Providence, we challenge our students with questions that require more than knowledge and comprehension, we ask questions such as:

What if ? or
Can you design a different way to…? or
Do you see a pattern or relationship?

Field studies and community service projects are an integral part of the nine to twelve Montessori curriculum. Through community outreach, we enable the children to take their first steps toward making a conscious contribution to the world.

The elementary program offers a full-day of classes from 8:15 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.