Elementary

Elementary classrooms at MMS feel like flourishing companies.

As adults, we work with people of various ages. At MMS, instead of isolating children by single grades based on biological age, students learn in rich, multi-age classrooms. Lower Elementary is composed of 6-9-year-olds and Upper Elementary of 9-12-year-olds. 

Younger children take inspiration and role modeling from their older peers, and older peers learn and enjoy valuable leadership skills. The classrooms themselves are beautifully designed and filled with scientifically designed tactile learning materials that are highly engaging and effective.

Elementary children have reasoning minds.

They are fascinated by why and want to understand everything about how the universe works.  To further fuel and inspire their students’ passion to know, Elementary teachers are master storytellers. 

With dramatic flair and captivating materials, the teachers present the whole of the universe and human history: Historical stories include the evolution of life on earth, the coming of human beings, the story of the creation of language, and the story of numbers. Historical presentations are followed by lessons, research, and project opportunities that empower students to study further details of each subject. This method of presenting the whole, then studying the parts provides deep thematic understanding and specific skill development and content knowledge.

As they begin to grasp life, history, and current events beyond their immediate experiences, elementary children seek role models and heroes.

The world is so complex: Who has risen to meet the challenges and create positive changes? Elementary teachers meet this yearning with a curriculum that showcases the lives and accomplishments of diverse and remarkable historical and modern-day figures. Not only does this ignite and excite the students’ intellectual and ethical curiosity, but they also feel awe and admiration for the lives of those who came before them. They ask and actively pursue this question: In my life, how will I positively contribute?

In life, when we learn and innovate, we connect facts, ideas, and themes to reach new levels of understanding.

MMS Elementary students explore connections between curricula all the time, leading to richer and more engaging learning. 

For example, after reading the biography of Ruby Bridges, a group of Elementary students studied playwriting and dialogue and wrote a play with their interpretation of Ruby Bridges’ life. 

After studying the zoology of whales, students organized a visit to an exhibition of the skeletons of blue whales. They captured this opportunity to practice calculating mathematical measurements of the skeletons while they also studied the biology and life cycles of the whales. 

When all of life is seen as an opportunity to learn, joy and curiosity burn brightly.

Our students learn to understand who they are as learners.

Our Elementary program is designed to build meaningful content knowledge and metacognition – thinking about thinking.

A key ingredient is self-regulation: Each day students record detailed accounting of their day and what they accomplish. They have regular one-on-one meetings with their teachers to review their work journals. They reflect on their learning progress, level of focus, and use of time. They also set goals for the next week. 

Not only does this process allow Elementary students to strongly internalize skills for learning, but research also indicates that this type of self-awareness and self-regulation are essential qualities for developing resilience in life.

The elementary child is a social being.

The views of their peers, the richness of friendships and social groups captivate their interests and attention. Rather than preventing the drive to connect with their classmates, we embrace it. 

As adults do in effective work environments, Elementary students engage every day in collaborative learning and follow up projects with small groups of excited, supportive peers. This makes coming to school every day a joyful, highly engaging and fulfilling experience.