"In the primary classroom we give them the World
in Elementary we give them the UNIVERSE"
Around age 6 there
is a great transformation in a child. He or she is no longer
centered around himself and his family but wants to explore the world.
It is called second plane, the discovery years. An elementary
child has a thirst to know how things work, how things came
into being and where he or she fits into the world. It is at
this time that Dr. Montessori said "we are to give the child the cosmos".
Cosmic education refers to giving the global view on how everything
in our cosmos is dependent and interrelated to others.
Everything created is of service to something else. Every
animal and plant has their own plan in creation. Man's role
in the cosmos is to maintain the equilibrium of nature and contribute
to the program for both material and spirtual side of all man kind.
Cosmic education requires an integration
of the curriculum. The subjects of language, mathematics, zoology,
botany, chemistry, physics, geometry, history and geography are inter
connected and one does not exist without the other. The first
great lesson of the five "Great Lessons" in Cosmic education
is God Without Hands. This is the story of the creation of the
universe. This starts the foundation for study of physics, chemistry,
astronomy and geology. The other 4 lessons lead to
botany, history, civilization, writing and language.
At Montessori Christian Academy we teach "Cosmic Education" from the
original method Dr. Montessori intended it to be taught.
Dr. Montessori was a devout christian and most all of her lessons
are connected to christianity and the importance of developing and
nurturing the soul as well as the mind. Her original lessons
quote from the bible and to teach it any other way would be altering
her methods.
