History and Geography

In Lower Elementary, children acquire a vast base of knowledge about the world, from its geographic features to the way different cultures throughout the ages and throughout the world have satisfied the basic needs (such as food, shelter, clothing, and transportation). They learn to observe, categorize, and integrate their knowledge, guided by the Montessori Five Great Lessons. These lessons, revisited at the start of each school year, progress from the origins of the universe and life, chronologically to the development of writing and the explosion of knowledge it made possible.

By Upper Elementary, children study history in its logical sequence, progressing from prehistory through ancient history toward the present. This sequence is taught as an exciting story, with a focus on the broad arc of history and essential events, told to groups of children. Children then have the opportunity to independently dive deeper into a culture, an event, or a historical figure as part of their follow-on work. This approach ensures that all children understand how human society developed over time, and the key events that shaped human history, while also engaging their motivation by providing autonomy on researching and presenting specific details.

A key goal of the Vruksha – International School of Montessori history program is to help students understand cause and effect in history that people’s decisions and actions have long-reaching consequences. We ask the question, “Why do these historical events unfold the way they do?” For the student, this means not only getting the (essential!) facts, but seeking to uncover the why of these facts. We may know that an emperor in Roman times acted in a particular way; what we really want to understand is why he did what he did. In this way, the Upper Elementary students learn to draw larger conclusions about the successes and struggles of man based on solid, factual evidence.

Fundamental skills needed to understand history.

Children learn basic skills systematically from working with timelines (where we integrate math, e.g., by bringing in two Golden Bead Thousand Chains to help children understand what 2,000 years means) to calendars, to map reading.

A systematic framework for thinking about cultures and places.

Lower elementary children learn to think about the Fundamental Needs of Men with Montessori materials that guide them as they learn about how people from prehistory to modern times, from Europe to Africa and Asia have met their needs for food, shelter, clothing, transportation, spirituality, and art. They come to understand that all humans have common needs, needs that are similar to their own and that what differentiates people across places and across time is how they satisfy those universal needs.

A broad base of knowledge about different cultures and places.

As students explore a wide variety of cultures, they come to appreciate and notice their differences. We offer this content in a stimulating variety of ways from telling stories, to reading books about different cultures in read-aloud (integrating history and literature), from studying Montessori Three-Part-Cards illustrating how people at different times have solved the problems of shelter or transportation, to encouraging and supporting independent research into cultures across the globe and across time, to inviting families to come into class and share their cultural traditions (e.g., by sharing seasonal celebration, bringing in cultural objects, or coming to school in cultural dress).

A solid grasp of physical and political geography.

The Montessori Elementary geography programs builds upon the foundation laid in Montessori Primary. Students work with pin maps, identifying capitals and flags of countries across the world. They move from a concrete study of land and water forms in Primary with clay and water, to learning to identify key rivers, lakes, mountain ranges, and other defining physical features in the United States and across the world. They learn to read actual maps, to use a compass, and to find places using compass directions and latitude/longitude grids. They integrate their study of geography with their growing knowledge of the Fundamental Needs of Man, discovering how physical geography and climate impact housing, clothing, agriculture, etc.

A chronological study of history, from prehistory to modern times.

Guided by the Montessori Five Great Lessons, children embark on studying history from prehistory to modern times. This study takes several years, and prepares children to capably reason about human events not just in high school, but throughout their lives.