Cosmic Education in the Montessori Elementary Classroom Based

Cosmic Education in the Montessori Elementary Classroom Based on the book: Children of the Universe by Michael and D’Neil Duffy

What is Cosmic Education? • Cosmic Education is the foundation of the entire elementary Montessori curriculum. • It is the pathway to establishing peace in our world.

Goal of Cosmic Education • Through Cosmic Education, the child is guided to examine the question: Who am I? • The child will seek his or her identity and role as a member of our human species and as an individual.

Who Am I? To answer the question Who Am I? , there are two questions that have to be examined individually: – Where do I come from? (which is answered through the study of humanity’s past) – Where am I going? (which is answered through the child’s discovery of his or her cosmic or future task)

Classroom Exploration Can elementary children explore such philosophical questions?

• … six- to twelve-yearold children are now entering into society. • … they are using their imagination and expanding their awareness to the world. • … at the pre-primary/ kindergarten level, your child was sensitive to, and absorbed information from, the environment. Now, at this stage of development, children become sensitive to the acquisition of culture.

Your Child… • Has a need for wider boundaries, which is expressed by a need to ‘go out’ and explore the world outside. • Has a need to interact more socially with one another and do group work. • Needs field trips, excursions, and experiences that widen his or her horizons.

Your Child is Ready Because… • He or she is transitioning from a sensorial / material stage of learning to abstract understanding. The ‘what’ questions become ‘why’ questions. • She or he is using the power of imagination in an virtually unlimited search for knowledge (the Universe is their only limit). • He or she is exploring the intellectual and moral aspects of life. • She or he is developing a ‘conscience, ’ the ability to distinguish right from wrong, a sense of fairness, and the ability to recognize the needs of others.

Why Now? • The child may not be able to completely answer “Who Am I? ” – Can we as adults even answer this question? • But…we begin this exploration because the child is at a sensitive period where we can lay down these impressions that will be built on throughout their lives.

If We Don’t… • If we postpone exploring who we are as individuals or as a species, we risk making the child’s learning difficult, rather than enjoyable. • We risk not providing a framework - an inner guidance system or moral compass - that the child can use as she/he reaches tough decisions in life. This exploration is a way to help children prepare for the future.

The Cosmic Curriculum • This is an integrated curriculum of history, geography, biology, and physical science. • Language and mathematics are the tools through which we explore cultures. • We focus on: – understanding over memorization – process over product – problem solving over always obtaining correct answers • We use concrete materials which lead the child to abstract understanding.

The Great Lessons • The core of the cultural curriculum is the five Great Lessons: • • • The Universe Story The Story of Life The Story of Humans The Story of Language The Story of Numbers. • These are impressionistic lessons, meant to inspire the children to explore and study further.

Story, then Study • We begin first with the telling of a story. • This provides a context for the child’s studies, a framework in which to place other pieces of information. We start with the biggest picture: the Universe. • The stories stimulate the students’ emotional connection to material, making their learning more effective and meaningful. • The context and study of history also helps us understand who we are, how we got here, and what our cosmic purpose is.

The Montessori Teacher • The job of the teacher is not to teach information, but to guide and direct the studies of the students by stimulating interest. • We just provide the introduction to study - the story, the big picture, the main outlines, and how to use the materials. • If the teacher becomes the dispenser of information: – Students could become passive learners who memorize and regurgitate – Their studies could become limited by the teacher’s knowledge

Understanding Our Cosmic Task • We can only understand our cosmic task if we first explore how we got here. So we extensively study our past, beginning with the Universe. • In a traditional classroom, social studies goes from self family community state nation world • This promotes a self-aware perspective as well as a narrow global view and small context in which to place knowledge. • With cosmic education, nation barriers are broken for a broader view and study of humanity. • Just as with other elements of the Montessori philosophy, the whole is used to better understand the parts.

The Story of the Universe • All elements of the curriculum fit into the all-encompassing circle of the Universe. • From this story the children are introduced to studies in chemistry, physics, astronomy, biology, and geology. • The basic principle of this story is that everything on Earth and in the Universe obeys laws of nature. • We combine the accuracy of modern science with the feel of an ancient creation story, to meet the child’s desire to use their imagination.

The Story of the Solar System • While not one of the five Great Lessons, exploring the Solar System helps bridge the story of the Universe to the Story of Life. • Children hear the story of our descendence from the life cycle of stars. • Students develop a better understanding and appreciation of our own planet and how amazingly unique we are.

The Story of the Earth • Again, not one of the five Great Lessons, but this story impresses that we are not just children of the universe, but of our Earth too. • This story provides a sequence of the Earth’s formation and how it changed over billions of years to provide us with an environment in which life could be supported.

The Story of Life • This story is the main chapter in the Epic of Evolution – the major process of the cosmic story: change over time. • The story introduces children to the appearance and spread of the diversity of life – and impresses humans as latecomers to the story, giving perspective. • Here, children will study plants and animals and learn the characteristics of living things. • Children also discover that each organism has or had a cosmic purpose – that everything works to fulfill the Purpose of Life (including them).

The Story of Humans • With the study of humanity’s beginnings, children get a sense of appreciation of all that we’ve inherited from our ancestors. • Similarities and differences between humans and other animals are highlighted. • The importance of the hand our species’ mental abilities are explored, without boasting or arrogance.

The Story of Civilizations • The focus in not on rulers and wars, but on the development of ideas and the pioneering discoveries that allowed humans to progress. We focus on the daily lives of common people, and on discovery and adaptability in the face of challenges. • In showing the commonalities and patterns of humanity through time and place, we bring a deeper understanding of the contributions of the past and their impacts on our present. • At the lower elementary, we study the fundamental needs of humans: nourishment, clothing, shelter, defense, transportation, art, religion, self-adornment - leading to an understanding of the basic unity of all humanity. • The traditional, nationalistic view of the world is avoided because the child’s nation is the world – and each nation is an expression of all humanity.

Cosmic Education and the Future • The purpose of the Great Lessons and Cosmic Education: – To establish the relatedness of all life through common ancestry – That life, in all its amazing and varied forms, is just a variation on a theme – To teach children to respect rather than exploit life – of others and their selves

Cosmic Education… • …raises the consciousness of children to an awareness of the fundamental unity of all humans, all life, and all parts of the Universe. • …is child-centered education with the intention to transform and better our world: Peace begins with the internal development of our children. • …unites all peoples to one spirit: We have the responsibility to shape our future.