Curriculum Overview
Battle Creek Montessori Academy uses the proven effectiveness of the Montessori educational model to teach a broad spectrum of students; successfully nurturing each child on their journey towards knowledge.
Teachers “follow the child”, and through the use of the Montessori method and materials, find ways to best encourage each student’s learning style and individual talents. Multi-age classrooms are used to stimulate personal growth without stigma, and teachers truly get to know and are able to help their students, staying with them for three-year periods. Students work within a cooperative environment of support with their peers, teachers and parents. The result is a graduate who has learned how to truly respect others and to be respected, who has become a confident learner, and who has amassed a body of knowledge that can lead and support the graduate for the rest of his/her life.
Lower Elementary Program
The lower elementary program at Battle Creek Montessori Academy allows students to expand their knowledge in a wide range of academic subjects – building on the skills and social abilities that they developed in preprimary. Academic subjects are integrated into a program designed to allow children to learn at their own pace.
Freedom of movement, open work areas and uninterrupted blocks of time for individual and group projects help to support the 6-9 year old’s drive toward autonomy. Students are guided through a rich and challenging curriculum as they continue to work both individually, and in small groups. The program permits a variety of approaches using colorful manipulatives that make sense of abstract principles.
The subject matter includes:
- Math
- Reading
- Grammar
- Sentence analysis
- Penmanship
- Spelling
- Creative writing
- Geography
- History
- General science
- Botany
- Zoology
- Art
Upper Elementary Program
The upper elementary curriculum is built upon the foundation laid in the primary and lower elementary classrooms. New materials are introduced as the child moves from concrete to abstract thinking. The curriculum is integrated, individualized, academically challenging and meets the developmental needs of each child, intellectually, socially, physically and emotionally. The students experience individual, small and large group lessons and projects.
Subject areas include:
- Language Arts (penmanship, spelling, grammar, reading, study of words, creative writing, sentence analysis and diagramming of sentences)
- Math (arithmetic, geometry, algebra)
- Geography (physical, political, economical)
- History
- Science (botany, human anatomy, zoology, astronomy, chemistry, physics)
- Practical Life (cooking, sewing, cleaning, community service)
Children build timelines, record science experiments, research and present written reports and projects and learn computer skills. Field trips that relate to areas of study are scheduled to enhance the child’s learning experience.
Organizational skills and independence are developed through the use of classroom work plans, homework planners and weekly schedules. Class meetings encourage cooperative efforts as questions of right and wrong lead to discussions on fairness, rules and procedures. Also, literature circles serve as a venue for discussions about character development, responsibility and accountability in our personal lives.
Middle School Program
The middle school curriculum is built upon the Montessori foundation laid in the prior levels and takes the ideals of movement, choice, intrinsic motivation, and collaborative group learning to the next level for secondary abstract learners. The curriculum is integrated, individualized, academically challenging and meets the developmental needs of each child, intellectually, socially, physically and emotionally.
Subject areas include:
- Language Arts (grammar, reading, study of words, creative and expository writing, grammar, vocabulary and etymology)
- Math (arithmetic, geometry, algebra)
- Geography (physical, political, economical)
- Social World and History
- Natural World (life science, physical science, earth science, chemistry)
- Practical Life (economics and business, sewing, health and nutrition, community service)
Students build timelines, experience hands-on learning, research and present written reports and projects weekly and enhance technology and social skills. Related immersion activities and trips complement the curriculum.
Additionally, to support adolescents in their Personal World during this time of change, students work and reflect daily to develop and define their identity. Organizational skills, personal accountability, and independence are developed through the use of daily, weekly and cycle-long management and communication tools. Daily morning meetings encourage citizenship, a necessary sense of fun, and grace and courtesy, as well as providing the integral social needs of the adolescent learner.