Making the Great Lessons More Accessible

By Barbara Dubinsky

When I moved from private to public Montessori school, I was concerned that the Montessori curriculum remain intact. I did not want to just have an open classroom. I wanted a classroom where work emanated from the Great Lessons.

I truly believe that when students are “enticed” into studying the beginnings of their world, that they are inexplicably drawn into a deeper understanding of the interweaving of all nature.

When they are “enticed” to study the complexities and order of all life, they develop a deeper understanding of interconnectedness and of our need to be stewards of the earth.

When they are “enticed” to understand the true specialness of humans, perhaps our species will finally develop an understanding of what being peacemakers really means.

I truly believe that we need to teach children about their roots and connections with their world.

Every year I watch as a new group of students become fascinated with the material that the Great Lessons provide. I watch their eyes widen at the order that underlies our world. I watch how they question and analyze.

I know that they will do well on the tests that they are required to take in the public school system because they know how to think and process information and understand complexity. I know that there is a path that needs to be followed that supersedes all pacing guides.

In the beginning, my classroom did a lot of math. The math materials are enticing and fun. I have worked very, very hard, however, to turn my class into one that researches and learns and that uses language skills to organize thoughts and challenge beliefs. My students discuss topics openly and when they come to me for answers, I send them away with more questions to ponder.

I found early on that all lessons need to be supported with work.

Sometimes a good book will do. There are so many wonderful books available now for young readers.
I often develop card material to allow them to test their knowledge.

I also take purchased materials and then extend them with card material. The students need to be able to touch and manipulate.

I have developed card material for the Albanesi Timeline of Life. I know traditionally students just match pictures, but I believe that they need to be writing and learning about how each life participated in their world.

I believe an understanding of how life adapted to every nook and cranny and then in relation to each other is important. Many of my extensions for purchased material are in my album.

If a lesson is given on parts of a mountain, then the reasons that mountains exist should underlie the nomenclature.

If a lesson on cycles is given, the cycles of the universe should be included along with cycles on Earth.

All organisms should be in their own Kingdom and the diversity within the Kingdoms is important. Life developed itself in relation to other life and only by sharing correct knowledge can this fact be truly understood.

The students in my room certainly do most of the research and glean most of their own knowledge, but when I support or extend them, I do so with truth. It is important to continue Dr. Montessori’s lessons. Her lessons were based on the cutting-edge knowledge of her day—ours should be as well.

Like the universe, my work evolved.

This year, in my classroom, I pushed myself to tackle string theory when a couple of my third graders attacked atoms and wondered what gluons and quarks were.

But change continues outside my classroom, too.

Several years ago I wrote a website for Montessori teachers who needed more information on the Great Lessons. I participated in the Montessori Listserv and was amazed by all the e-mail asking for help about what the Great Lessons were and how to implement follow-up work in the classroom. This subject has always been foremost in my mind.

The website continues to have many thousands of hits a year from all over the world. I still occasionally add items of interests.

I still get e-mails from teachers who have individual questions or concerns. I am happy to help. I know this method of teaching is not easy, but it is so satisfying when your students are excited and focused.

As I began to work for training centers, I slowly put together an album that contained all the research and follow-up work that I had developed. The material of the Great Lessons is difficult, as Dr. Montessori noted.

As my undergraduate degree had been science, I had a natural interest and comprehensive background in the subject matter. I found that many trainees had the desire, but did not have the solid foundation that I had. I found that often trainees were pulled by their many responsibilities and did not have the time to read and develop lessons. Realizing that, I began including support pages in the album to help begin their journey. I knew their knowledge would grow as they taught and learned from their students.

Last year, I was working for a training center that was in the process of being certified. One of the people interviewing me knew of my website and she asked what album I taught from.

“My own,” I replied.

“Do you sell it?” she inquired.

“Oh no, it is not in a formal format,” I replied. “I just share it with my students as I teach.”

“Well,” she laughed, “if it ever is let me know.”

Things like that have a way of slowly taking root.

Last summer I began changing the album into a more formal format. My computer-oriented husband convinced me to put my work on a CD-ROM that could easily be mailed. The only problem I could foresee was all the pictures that would have to be scanned. I turned that process over to him—he even surprised me one day with a line drawing of photosynthesis that was magnificent.

I sent out an e-mail to the Listserv at summer’s end that the albums were available. I later added a notice on my web page to let people know what I was up to.

It has truly been an interesting journey—from watching my own children, to watching my students, to watching my trainees.

I am amazed by the depth of work that my trainees are doing. I feel humbled by their fresh enthusiasm and extensions of my work. I am humbled by the e-mails from people who have written to say that they are buying my albums in thanks for all the years the web site supported them.

I hope the albums give more to them and continue to help them to grow. I am grateful to those who have purchased my albums and written to let me know that the lessons and knowledge contained in them has helped them to begin or continue their journey.

The Great Lessons cannot just remain a story and then disappear. The lessons need to be touched on throughout the year.

We Montessorians have a truly huge charge outlined by Montessori in To Educate the Human Potential:

The teacher’s task is no small or easy one! He has to prepare a huge amount of knowledge to satisfy the child’s mental hunger ... He has to acquire a reasonable acquaintance with every subject, and even then only the outer shell of the problem will have been pierced.... Let us give the child a vision of the whole Universe ... for all things are part of the Universe and are connected with each other to form one whole unity. This helps the mind of the child to become fixed, to stop wandering in an aimless quest for knowledge. If the idea of the Universe is presented in the right way, it will do more for him than arouse his interest, for it will create in him admiration and wonder, a feeling loftier than any interest and more satisfying. .. life of all kinds form a whole in relation with each other and so close is this relation we cannot understand a stone without some understanding of the great sun! No matter what we touch, an atom, or a cell, we cannot explain it without knowledge of the wide Universe.

Barbara Dubinsky teaches at Park Road Montessori school in Charlotte, NC.