Graduation is tomorrow.  And the last day of school.  This time of year is always bittersweet.  It is an ending, but also a new beginning.  It is hard to watch these little children that you shared three years with move on.  But that is the purpose of education - to prepare us for the next phase, a new chapter.  They beam with pride on that stage and they are so proud to be 'big kids', to move on to the next plane of development.  We will have a new Upper Elementary class next year. After four years of a combined Elementary class, we have grown enough to split into the traditional three year cycle of Lower Elementary and Upper Elementary.  It is exciting to be a part of.  We started our Elementary program four years ago with five students.  We will have twelve in Lower Elementary next year and six in Upper Elementary.  We are growing.

Last year, we had our first graduation ceremony with children completing each cycle, Kindergarten, third grade and sixth grade.  This year, we outgrew our classroom space and will be holding graduation in the auditorium next door.  We are growing.  The children are thriving.  My heart is full.  We are blessed and God is good.  Look ahead with us.  Our future is bright!

​Written by Maggie Wertz

​“Oh, The Places We Will Go in Upper Elementary!”
“You have brains in your head.
  You have feet in your shoes.
  You can steer yourself
  any direction you choose.”
          -Dr. Suess
 
A new classroom will emerge this fall at LifeSong Montessori as the third-year class completes their last lower elementary year.  In the new upper elementary classroom, the Montessori materials start to give way to larger, hands-on projects that encompass many areas of study and we are so excited!
In the last two years of her life, Maria Montessori wrote curriculum for the elementary and middle school years.  Her “Five Great Lessons”, presented to the students over their three years in the lower elementary classroom, are stories designed to engaged students and spark curiosity and wonder. The upper elementary classes, in further exploration of this “Cosmic Curriculum”, discover a much bigger world and are able to choose their own paths of more detailed study.
Much like the project-based curriculum of STEAM schools, we will be exploring the Montessori lessons through science, technology, engineering, art, and math. Robotics, computer coding, woodworking, puppetry, textile crafts, cooking, and gardening are several of the projects we will tackle in upper elementary.
As Dr. Suess tells us in his book, with the brains in our head, and the feet in our shoes, we can steer ourselves any direction we choose.
 
Written by Carolyne Britt, Upper Elementary Guide