The Elementary Two classroom completes the work of Children's House andElementary One. Montessori referrred to the age period from age 9 to 12 as "the golden age of childhood." She believed that children in this age group had tremendous intellectual capability.
The foundation for learning in Elementary Two has been prepared in Children's House,where the students have developed concentration, order, and language by means of clear presentations and independent choice in the prepared environment. In Elementary One, the children have strengthened concentration by continued work with hands-on materials, and developed imagination through "Great Lessons" which are stories that stimulate the child's mind to think in terms of the whole universe, the largest possible set, before breaking material down into parts.
Elementary Two adds the sensitive periods of abstraction and moral choice. Students at this age are especially sensitive to issues of fairness, both interpersonally, and in terms of the rights and responsibilities of individuals and the societies that govern them. The time is ripe for studying Great Civilizations, Early People, the magic of mathematical processes evident in the Square Root peg board, the Great Lessons for Written and Spoken Language, and for developing and completing large,challenging research projects. These are just a few of the activities to expect.
Elementary Two students still use Montessori materials extensively, but they are likely to progress to "abstraction"(paper and pencil) more quickly. The Elementary Two teacher must balance what he or she knows to be the tremendous demands for content that a successful citizen must possess before leaving J.J. Hill in sixth grade, with the simultaneous knowledge that meaningful learning originates with the child's interest.
Unique activities and privileges await the E2 student. For the first time, students may serve on the student council, learn to play a musical instrument by joining an after-school band program, serve on the school patrol (grade 6) and go, every third year, to an environmental camp, an overnight experience that educates students as well as cementing social bonds that contribute to cooperation and mutual respect.
