A Montessori Middle School education offers an experiential, dynamic approach to each subject area, integrated studies between programs, and a focus on character development and self-exploration.
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The 7th and 8th Graders took advantage of the beautiful fall weather to move their writing lesson outside. While older students have moved more toward abstraction in their understandings, hands-on materials can still play an important part in being able to demonstrate understanding of complex ideas. Here, our young adolescents are literally constructing their understanding of the elements of writing through a collaborative brainstorming activity. This is what is possible in a small learning community with flexibility, a value of the outdoors, and teachers intent on students constructing their own knowledge.
Balancing independence and collaboration is a key element of a Montessori and IB Middle School. The students participate in student-led literature circles that encourage responsibility and a deeper connection to the material. When each learner has an important role, they construct greater meaning from the text. And of course, our break-out spaces support the adolescent need to be comfortable!
