Real Experiences Available to Riverstone Montessori Academy Students
Riverstone Montessori Academy students have opportunities to learn through real experiences and develop an advanced understanding of the world around them. Textbooks are rarely used in the Montessori classroom to great benefit.
Topic discussions lead students to turn to classroom materials that provide hands-on activities for instruction or find the information through their research at the library or on the internet.
Students may arrange a field study (usually only consisting of 3-6 students and not the entire class as Montessori is focused on individual and not class lesson plans) once they have become sufficiently familiar with a subject to study it in a real-world setting.
Applications in Science
Students who study geography and the effects of water on land, for example, will first research the topic. They will use the land models in the classroom to observe the 3-dimensional structure of this concept and then build their land masses and expose them to types of water erosion to observe the effects.
The students can then schedule and plan (the scheduling and planning are their responsibility) a field trip to a local canyon to see the effects firsthand. While there, they would take notes on their observations, draw or sketch the formations in a journal, and take photographs.
When they return to the classroom they would provide a PowerPoint presentation of their findings to the class so everyone might benefit from their knowledge.
Through this single experience, students gain research skills (text and internet), science studies (geography, physics), art (model building, sketching, photography), writing (note-taking, journaling, report preparation), presentation skills (PowerPoint design and presentation) and planning/preparation skills.
Since most field trips involve a group of students, they also work cooperatively to accomplish this task which instills values of teamwork and leadership.
Applications in Arts, History, and Culture
The Fine Arts is a perfect window to our world and provides a way to engage students in a meaningful study of human history on the planet. Most notable works occurred during significant periods of human history.
Our Elementary Students planning to attend an Atlanta Opera production, for example, will begin by learning the story in-depth. They will familiarize themselves with the characters and the period. They may act out the opera themselves, have a round table discussion of the character’s motivations, or do a storyboard drawing of the event. The students also research and understand references to other historical events in the context of the opera.
Students learn about the author and/or composer, their employer, and the reason for the opera’s production. The students provide a presentation or possibly a performance to the class of what they have learned.
Patrons are always pleasantly surprised by the well-behaved and engaged Riverstone Montessori Academy students at a performance. This is a direct result of their involvement in the process of learning. During post-performance question/answer periods with the cast, the performers were taken aback at the depth of the questions they received from “elementary kids”, such as why they decided to perform a scene a certain way or change their character.
Unlike a textbook study followed by a test, this hands-on approach engages the student in an experience. It involves all of their senses in a rewarding and enjoyable way. As a result, they retain more of the knowledge and look forward to learning more.
Riverstone Montessori Academy Primary Classes
Our Primary classes study the same types of concepts as the older students, but we bring the field trip in-house. Experts in music, science, and the arts visit the classrooms to demonstrate their skills and provide information directly to the students.
These are some examples of opportunities available to Riverstone Montessori Academy students:
- Middle school students running their own business complete with managers, staff, scheduling and managing their finances and checking account
- Following a trial from beginning to end seated in the gallery of the Cobb County Courthouse to better understand the Justice system
- Researching and visiting the many historic landmarks, geographic formations, and eco-systems available in Georgia
- Visiting local industries to better understand the science and mechanics behind the production of items we consume daily such as an industrial bakery, water treatment plant, or paper mill
- Receiving certification in county water quality studies, monitoring, and reporting of several local bodies of water
- Middle school ecology and biology field study in Costa Rica
- Elementary participation in a simulated United Nations Summit at the U.N. in New York, with the responsibility of researching and representing a specific nation
- Animal and plant classification studies with biological specimens gathered from the local eco-systems
- Music studies with visits to the Atlanta Opera and the Atlanta Symphony (including music theory and compositional work)
- Studies of history, culture, and art at a variety of local museums in the area including the High Museum of Art, Fernbank Museum of Natural History, and Emory University
- Flower and vegetable gardening
- Baking program to understand food preparation