Hello, it’s nice to meet you!

Stacia Diggins, Primary 2 Teacher

In a Primary Montessori classroom, our children learn and practice how to show grace and courtesy, how to interact respectfully to another peer, and show appreciation for one another. These values our part of our foundational curriculum at the beginning of the year and they continue to develop and practice these skills throughout our school year.

Each morning we greet one another when a peer walks in the door during our morning carline. This social interaction encourages the child to develop a dialogue and conversation with their peers as well as build a strong vocabulary and dialect. In this plane of development, 0-6 years of age, the child is eager to help and demonstrate leadership roles in our classroom. They show these skills by having “jobs” in our classroom; like folding our laundry, putting away our dishes from the previous day, preparing and sharing snacks with their peers, demonstrating grace and courtesy during our lunch time, and finally, the Kindergartners taking on their afternoon jobs of restoring the classroom after lunch.

Primary age children, during this time of social development, are growing in their peer-to-peer dialogues while learning to add their experiences or ideas to others stories. They are also learning to practice and demonstrate taking turns with their peers while talking.

As a Primary Teacher in the classroom, we act as a guide during the child’s social development. We are there to support them in their problem solving and critical thinking skills. By guiding the children in this manner, we allow the child to self-regulate and take control of their actions and dialogue.

In the end, our classroom revolves around respect for others and building interpersonal relationships. With these skills, your child will develop friendships, respect for their peers and with adults.

The social development of the Lower Elementary (LE) student is quite different from the 3-6 year old in Early Childhood. While the primary student still prefers to work alone or side by side with another student, peer collaboration has become very important to the 6-9-year-old. Often, when you enter a LE classroom, you will notice how students are drawn to big, collaborative work. Sometimes, it may be hard work for our students to work collaboratively and maintain a successful learning environment. However, allowing our students to do so is part of the LE experience and important for the social development of all.

The lower elementary student is extremely sensitive and aware of what others think of them. This sensitivity often creates scenarios where feelings get hurt and misunderstandings develop. They are now developing their own conscience, but do not really yet have an understanding of others. In the LE classrooms, we spend a significant amount of time on building relationships and communication skills. We have many smaller and larger community meetings where they learn to listen to each other’s perspectives and get to voice their opinions in respectful ways. Fairness is so important to them and part of their big work!

“In the child is much knowledge, much wisdom. If we do not profit from it, it is only because of neglect on our part to become humble and to see the wonder of this soul and learn what the child can teach.”

– Maria Montessori

Children in the 6-9 year old classroom may appear as “tattle-tales”, but what they are really doing is trying to find out what behaviors are acceptable and which ones are not. During this stage, they are testing the adult’s reactions and will question our moral codes. They are very interested in why we do certain things. It is no longer satisfying to them when we excuse rules such as, “because I said so” or “because it is not safe”. They will want to know why we say things and why it is not safe. Additionally, peers hold each other accountable. If you are not kind, respectful or assisting in the work, you will have difficulty finding someone to work with you. Montessori saw the importance of this self correcting behavior in the development of morals and values for the children.