“The first duty of an education is to stir up life, but leave it
free to develop.” —Dr. Maria Montessori Upper Elementary
Curriculum Work and Social It is the great work of the
Elementary child to develop a strong self-concept and find a
place in the community. Therefore, as in the Lower Elementary,
the academic and social mission of the Upper Elementary program
inspires a dual sense of responsibility in which students learn
to take care of their own needs while growing in sensitivity and
responsiveness to the greater good. The result is an atmosphere
dominated by an expectation of caring for oneself, for each
other, and for the communal physical environment. In such an
atmosphere of mutual respect the student's own inner clock of
development sets the pace and direction of their social and
intellectual movement towards independence. Consequently, the
boundaries of the Upper Elementary child's environment expand in
response to the continuing strides being made toward the ability
to reason, both cognitively and