Elementary Program
“MCS is a great school because kids have a lot of freedom in the classroom to choose work they are interested in doing. This makes school a lot more fun.”
- A.G., MCS Student, age 10
“MCS is a great school because kids have a lot of freedom in the classroom to choose work they are interested in doing. This makes school a lot more fun.”
- A.G., MCS Student, age 10
Class Size
Lower Elementary: 26
Upper Elementary: 15
Lower Elementary
Grades 1 - 3
Upper Elementary
Grades 4 - 6
Adult / Student Ratio
Lower Elementary: 1 / 13
Upper Elementary 1 / 8
Schedule
Monday- Friday 8:00 - 3:00
Based upon the concept of cosmic education, the elementary program honors the child’s innate desire to explore, examine, and make sense of the world. The curriculum connects inter-related parts and helps the children to place themselves in the myriad fascinations of life.
Cosmic Education
The Elementary program at Montessori Country School is grounded in the Montessori principle of Cosmic Education, honoring each child's innate desire to explore, examine, and make sense of the world. The interconnected curriculum helps children understand relationships across disciplines while discovering their place within the broader human and natural community. Guides intentionally prepare both the physical and social environment to foster independence, accessibility, purposeful movement, and responsibility. Multi-age classrooms strengthen collaboration, peer leadership, and a sense of belonging through shared routines, care of the environment, and meaningful community participation.
Materials & Presentations
Learning is rooted in first-hand experiences with Montessori materials across all subject areas: mathematics, language, history, geometry, biology, and physical science. Our curriculum follows the Elementary Scope and Sequence while allowing individualized pacing. Children develop understanding through presentations, independent exploration, repetition, and spontaneous follow-up work during an uninterrupted three-hour work cycle. Weekly conferences with the guide promote goal setting, self-reflection, and self-advocacy, encouraging students to take ownership of their learning.
The Elementary years are divided into two developmental sub-lanes each with distinct characteristics and needs.
Maple: Lower Elementary (ages 6-9)
Children are driven by intellectual curiosity, growing independence, and a desire to understand the interconnectedness of the world. They become increasingly aware of justice, fairness, and moral values while developing meaningful peer relationships. Montessori classrooms support these needs through a rich, hands-on curriculum that encourages exploration, research, collaboration, and critical thinking.
Madrona: Upper Elementary (ages 9-12)
Children develop greater capacity for abstract reasoning, independent research, and complex problem-solving. They seek intellectual challenges, mentorship, and opportunities to contribute to their communities while deepening their understanding of social responsibility and justice. Montessori environments meet these developmental needs by providing integrated, real-world learning experiences, collaborative projects, leadership opportunities, and meaningful work that fosters independence, ethical thinking, and a sense of purpose within the broader world.
The 6th Year Capstone Experiences
Children in their 6th year participate in two capstone experiences: the Montessori Model United Nations and the Community Service Project. Beginning in September, 6th years embark on a year long learning opportunity with MMUN: they learn about the United Nations and its work in promoting peace actively through committees and resolutions; they select a country to research and represent on a UN committee (e.g. HRC, DISEC, SOCHUM, FAO). Depending on the committee topics, 6th years spend the next several months researching and learning about their topics, preparing position papers and speeches to present at the New York MMUN Conference in March. Beginning in January, 6th years also reach out to local community service organizations of interest to partner and develop service projects with a mentor. Throughout their Elementary journey, children participate in community service. This 6th year opportunity to design their own and learn from a mentor is an ideal capstone experience to realize their activist potential.
The Environment
Guides continuously observe children and reflect on the effectiveness of the environment, adapting lessons, materials, and expectations to meet individual needs. Through ongoing collaboration with colleagues and specialists, they ensure instruction remains responsive while supporting each child's development of confidence and self-competence. Rather than focusing solely on behavior, guides seek to understand the underlying skills children need and provide opportunities to practice them.
To meet the tendency for exploration and need for socialization, our Elementary program supports the Montessori pursuit of “Going Out.” Our environments have necessary resources to enrich follow-up, but are limited to encourage children to independently plan excursions to local museums, libraries, and organizations to integrate research with planning skills.
Social Emotional Development
Social-emotional development is woven throughout the curriculum. Students build conflict resolution, emotional regulation, and respectful communication skills within a culture of trust and belonging. Guided by the Montessori principle of freedom and responsibility, children develop independence, intrinsic motivation, leadership, empathy, and the ability to contribute meaningfully to their community.
Three Year Cycle
The Elementary program recognizes the distinct nature of three-year cycles in child development, from 6-9 years old and 9-12 years old. The curriculum in each classroom is designed to meet the unique needs of students, while cultivating intentional experiences for children to serve as “the Intern” in their 1st year, “the apprentice” in their 2nd year, and “the Master” or “Elder” in their 3rd year. Many of the skills built in the first two years of the LE or UE environments coalesce and are realized in the 3rd year of the cycle (3rd for LE and 6th for UE). It is expected that students complete the 3rd year of their classroom cycle.
