Upper Elementary Program
Grades 4-6: Ages 9-12
Finding True Academic Independence
Our Denver Montessori Upper Elementary program empowers students as they begin to take full ownership over their academic progress, building confidence through their unique strengths and interests. As they spread their wings, eager to take on new academic, physical, and social challenges, they are now ready to embark on the journey into adolescence.
Meet the Child
The Plane of Development
Childhood
Mental and Emotional Independence Ages 9-12
More than ever before, children at this age are full of big questions, excited to explore complex ideas, and fearless in making new connections, both with ideas and people. We support students in developing their research, independent study and time management skills so they can learn to ask and answer their own questions. MCHD provides a safe and open environment for students to continue building their own value system and growing as social beings.
Areas of Development
- The reasoning mind: abstraction, critical thinking, and problem-solving
- Imagination and creativity
- Interest in culture and origin
- Peer relations and collaboration
- Moral and social justice
- Internalization of order
To learn more about the planes of development and how they inform our classrooms and approach, click here.
The Curriculum
Cognitive Development
The Cosmic Curriculum remains the backbone of our Upper Elementary program, spiraling into all areas of study—math, language, geography, history, zoology, botany, earth science, physics, chemistry, history, and more. By tying all curricula together through this “vision of the universe,” children are allowed and encouraged to make real life connections through their learning.
It is during these years, between the ages of nine and twelve, that children shift from learning to read to reading to learn. They are excited to follow their interests independently and are encouraged to do so. We provide all the tools each student needs to pursue their personal interests and passions, including the skills needed to plan and implement their own “going out” experiences. For these experiences, students are guided as they independently research, plan and organize their own off-campus excursions that serve to deepen their understanding of curricular topics.
Nurturing the Person
Social Emotional Development
Upper elementary students remain externally motivated by working and interacting with their peers, a need we continue to support with group work, activities, projects and leadership opportunities. These students, deep in their most sensitive period for social and moral development, are also beginning to gain a higher understanding of their place in their community and world.
To further encourage this development, every student is given opportunities to explore how they directly impact themselves, others, and their environment—drawing upon the values of Montessori Children’s House of Denver: respect for self, respect for others, and respect for the environment. They are also guided in developing and carrying out various service and philanthropic projects. These projects, which are primarily student-driven, empower them as they begin to understand that they are capable of affecting positive change in our world.
Hands as Instruments of the Mind
Physical Development
Upper elementary students continue to participate in the Spartan program, which ties well into our Montessori philosophy. At the end of the year, the program culminates at our school-wide Spartan Race & Field Day, during which students face a variety of challenging physical obstacles that they overcome.
The Spartan program teaches students:
- How to set individual goals
- How to find their True North: the strengths and passions that drive them
- How to break down goals into achievable tasks
How to work cooperatively - Resilience: to never give up, no matter how impossible it seems
- Confidence: to believe they are capable of more than they know
The Montessori Environment
The Classroom
Our Upper Elementary students take on more responsibility within the MCHD community, including caring for their classroom environment, their own learning, and others.
- The classroom is thoughtfully designed with the needs of the students as the guiding principle. Materials are organized by subject and difficulty to encourage self-directed learning.
- Materials continue to shift from the concrete to the more abstract and complex, helping students along the Path to Abstraction.
- A variety of reading materials are available at varying levels to meet their developing needs and inspire the specific interests and passions of students.
- Our living world area is rich with plants and animals, bringing the curriculum to life and offering students opportunities to connect to and care for living things.
- Students are expected to care for their classroom environment through rotating jobs.
- Classroom doors lead outside for direct access to the beautiful outdoor deck, which serves as an outdoor classroom, a place to take breaks, and an outdoor lunch area. The natural playscape just beyond the deck provides opportunities for recess, organized sports, and gardening.
- As with all Montessori classrooms, students are free to move around the room and work at tables or on the floor. The classroom is designed to their size and for their success, allowing them to access all of the works and feel physically and emotionally comfortable while at school.
Daily Schedule
7:30-8:30 – Before care.
8:30-8:45 – Arrival and settling in. Morning work / journal topic.
8:45-9:00 – Community meeting, which may include group lessons and discussions.
9:00-12:00 – 3 hour work-cycle, planning, choosing and completing independent practice and follow-up work, as well as receiving lessons.
12:00-1:00 – Community lunch and recess with Lower Elementary.
1:00-3:15 – The afternoon is for enrichment activities, including PE, Spanish, sustainability classes, science labs, etc.
3:15-6:00 – After care.
As students arrive, we review their work plans, which are categorized by curricular areas. Through record-keeping and observation, we are acutely aware of where each child’s areas of strength and challenge are. We offer lessons when students are ready to move forward with new concepts and skills. Over the course of the three year cycle, we learn how to challenge and support each child in their educational journey, while keeping them excited and engaged in their own progress.
While we evaluate student progress through a variety of methods, including benchmarking assessments and standardized tests, to understand their comprehension and mastery of the materials, we keep more formal methods to a minimum. We avoid emphasis on tests and, instead, assess primarily using more organic methods, which deters competition and supports individualized success. In this way, students celebrate their own learning without concern or even much awareness of other students’ progress. Indeed, students with specific differences often feel accepted and confident within this community, because they, just like every other student, are on their own learning trajectory.