Montessori Upper
Elementary Programs
(Limited Spaces Available)
Grades 4 – 6
Full Day: 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.All Year Full Day: 7:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Program Detail Upper Elementary
Our upper elementary program serves students aged 9-12 — from fourth to sixth grades. In the upper elementary classroom rigorous academic content is taught in small group lessons. The student-teacher relationships that develop over the three years they spend together allow for the unique role of teacher as mentor to impact students in unparalleled ways. The teachers are continuously assessing whether a student understands a concept or needs further instruction. They also help students realize their individual interests, recognize and apply their strengths, and overcome more challenging content or tasks.
The mixed-age classrooms allow students opportunities to “practice life.” They start out as the youngest, and work their way to become the oldest, the role models and mentors admired by their younger peers. The teacher is not the only one giving lessons or the only one managing the class. The classroom is filled with little teachers, each student realizing over time what he or she will contribute to the success of the classroom.
It is this unique experience that helps CDS students develop into remarkable students, citizens and leaders. The CDS teachers are always thinking about the adults these young students will become as they strive to develop the qualities of respect, responsibility and resourcefulness.
Whether it is baking sixty muffins for snack for the class, learning to make flight reservations for the 6th grade class trip, or riding their bikes to the local library, CDS students learn how to respectfully interact with adults and professionals and navigate the worlds of commerce and culture.
Curriculum Detail
Art
- Students receive instruction on the use of the following media in order to illustrate work they have learned in various content areas
– Water colors
– Watercolor pencils
– Charcoal
– Sketching pencil
– Clay
– Embroidery
– 3-D Art
Geometry
- Plane figures
- Angles
- Relationship of lines
- Perimeter and area
- Pythagorean Theorem
- Circle
- Solid geometry
Language Arts
- Word study and etymology
- Reference skills
- Reading
– Comprehension
– Fluency
– Strategies - Study of literature
- Study of grammar and syntax
- Writing process
– Outline
– Rough draft
– Revising
– Proofreading
– Publishing
Math
- Four Operations with whole numbers, fractions, decimals and integers
- Squaring and cubing numbers
- Finding square and cube roots
- Solving linear equations
- Powers of numbers (exponents)
- Non-decimal bases
- Distance, velocity, time
Math contd
- Ratio
- Percent
- Graphing
- Coordinate plane
- Measurement
- Data analysis
- Probability
- Combinations
Music
- Singing in two-part harmony
- Learning to conduct
- Setting poetry to music
- Cross-curricular musical study
- Student-led music exploration
- Choral performing
Social Studies
- Ancient civilizations
- Native American civilizations
- Land and water forms
- American history
- (These subjects are explored not with an emphasis on memorization and facts but rather by exploring major periods and gaining an overall picture of the defining events.)
- Civics
- Geography
Science
- Students engage in hands on activities that allow for discovery in the following areas of science:
- History
- Botany
- Zoology
- Biology
- Properties of matter
- Electricity and magnetism
- Technology and design
- Ecology
- Physics
Technology
- Research
- Word processing
- Presentation software
Where Learning Meets Life
Students develop their writing skills when they write emails to the parents of the school about various topics including fundraising events, details about the annual camping trip, and creating a weekly newsletter.
6th grade students learn about commerce, finance, making reservations, and research when they independently plan, fundraise for, select a destination and finally go on a week long class trip somewhere in the U.S.
Students develop essential executive functioning skills by planning the use of their time throughout the day (supported by adults when necessary) rather than following a set schedule determined by the teacher.
