Lower Elementary

Grades 1 - 3

A child who looks forward to school each day may seem like a dream, but at Milwaukee Montessori School, it’s our reality. Our students often tell us how much they love their lessons and being in their classrooms.

Student Agency

We design environments that lead to student agency, which refers to learning through activities that are meaningful and relevant to children, driven by their interests, and often self-initiated with appropriate guidance from teachers. Student agency gives students a voice and, often, a choice in how they learn.

Mastery-Based Learning

Unlike other schools that “cover material”, and move at the pace determined by a teacher or a school district, our students move ahead when they have mastered the content. It may seem like that could take a long time, but once students are fully prepared to move ahead, they do so at a steady pace because there are no gaps in their knowledge. In fact, mastery is key to accelerating learning and results in a transformative and joyful student experience.

Lower Elementary Curriculum

Milwaukee Montessori School’s Lower Elementary (LE) curriculum is built around core academic subjects: Geography, Botany, Zoology, Geologic and Contemporary History, Mathematics, Geometry, and Language Arts. LE Students also receive lessons in Spanish, Instrumental Music, Vocal Music, Studio Art, Athletics and, in third grade, Technology. This curriculum prepares our students for Upper Elementary.

Skills

Skills such as reading fluency and comprehension, writing, and math are routinely assessed by the LE teachers and through online adaptive technologies. The daily Lower Elementary homework assignment includes 20-minutes of reading aloud from an assigned non-fiction book and 10-minutes of math practice.

Out-of-the-Classroom Resources

Lower Elementary students and teachers benefit from out-of-the-classroom resources, such as field trips to theatrical performances, food gardens, local cultural exhibits, and participate regularly in community service.