Embracing the Cosmic Education Journey
“Not only can imagination travel through infinite space, but also through infinite time; we can go backwards through the epochs, and have the vision of the earth as it was, with the creatures that inhabited it.” -Dr. Maria Montessori
Each year, our elementary programs begin the school year with the telling of the five Montessori Great Lessons. These stories introduce children to the origins of the universe, the development of life on Earth, the emergence of humans, the development of written language, and the history of mathematics. The Great Lessons help students make connections to the world around them while encouraging curiosity, wonder, and a desire to explore. 
This year, our students will experience this Montessori tradition as an Upper School community, with our Middle School students taking on a leadership role. Throughout the month of September, on five occasions, teachers from across the Upper School will tell each story. Afterward, students will work together in their “Buddy Bunches” groups to reflect on what they have heard and create artistic responses. Buddy Bunches are mini community groups comprised of Kindergarten, Lower Elementary, Upper Elementary, and Middle School students, paired with a teacher or faculty member.
The students’ artwork inspired by the Great Lessons will be displayed for you to see at Back to School Night.
The Great Lessons are designed to spark curiosity and encourage further exploration in subjects like science, history, geography, and culture. The five lessons are:
1️⃣ The Coming of the Universe and the Earth
2️⃣ The Coming of Life
3️⃣ The Coming of Human Beings
4️⃣ Communication in Signs
5️⃣ The Story of Number
The stories seek to instill values of global awareness, peaceful communication, and ethical cooperation, nurturing responsible citizens – even as they offer a holistic understanding of the origin of science, math, and biology.
As Maria Montessori puts it, “Our experience with children in elementary schools has shown us that the age between six and twelve years is a period of life during which the elements of all sciences should be given. It is a period that, psychologically, is especially sensitive and might be called the “sensitive period of culture” during which the abstract plane of the human mind is organized.”
