Academic Overview
Below is a general description of the curriculum with a chart following that describes specific content and skills to be taught in main subject areas for each grade grouping.
Mathematics, 1-6: Students will use a range of Montessori materials to explore concepts extensively in concrete form before abstracting and integrating them. Montessori curriculum addresses a large majority of the Mathematics objective in the MA Curriculum Frameworks. Number Sense and Operations, and Geometry receive especially strong and effective emphasis in the Montessori curriculum. Topics such as problem solving and measurement will be further developed during the first years of the school's operation to address state standards more effectively.
Mathematics 7-8: Students will use a math textbook to guide core content skill development in relation to the MA Mathematics Framework. Students will engage in skill integration and application through in-depth project-based curriculum. The project-based curriculum will provide students many opportunities to develop and apply skills in areas traditionally underutilized in Montessori education (data analysis and problem solving, for example).
Language Arts 1-6: The Montessori curriculum stresses the interrelatedness of reading and writing and promotes an integrated approach where reading and writing occur across the curriculum. Phonemic awareness, direct instruction in phonics, grammar, and vocabulary development are essential components of the curriculum, as well as developing fluency and comprehension skills. MCAS requires strong competencies in the development of expository essays and comprehension of diverse types of reading material. As a result, topics for further development include expository writing and writing process, guided reading with non-fiction texts, comparison between texts, interpreting and using media for communication, and genre, author, and illustrator studies.
Language Arts, 7-8: The Middle School curriculum will center on the development of effective written communication skills through frequent and guided writing and critiquing experiences, in-depth investigations with classic and contemporary literature, development of research skills using text and information technologies, and refinement of effective oral presentation and communication within teamwork and public settings. Much of the students’ Language Arts work will be integral to the project-based curriculum and applied toward real audiences within these studies.
History and Social Sciences; Science and Technology, 1-8: During every level of HVM education, students will interact with Montessori’s Five Great Lessons with increasing depth. These lessons form the backbone of the History and Social Sciences and Science and Technology curricula. They are broadly engaging stories that highlight universal themes and encourage vital connections between science and human affairs. These lessons are The Story of the Universe, The Time Line of Life, The Time Line of Early Humans, The Story of Writing, and The Story of Mathematics. They serve to integrate and unify classroom-learning experiences and to inspire children’s sense of wonder, curiosity, and motivation about the world around them.
Montessori teacher-led lessons and demonstrations inspire careful observation and experimentation and provide opportunities for student-driven inquiry. HVM science and history investigations are framed by essential questions that relate to Montessori’s Five Great Lessons ("Do all things change?" or "What makes us human?" for example.) These questions serve as a guiding frame for integrated, thematic studies, individual research projects, and service learning activities. Over several years, teachers will draw from published resources, gather relevant artifacts and resources, and work collaboratively to develop more in-depth lessons and projects for a series of science and history inquiry kits. Students will apply and extend their skills and understandings in the Middle School through relevant project-based endeavors (for example, collecting Merrimack River water quality data over time, analyzing trends, and reporting findings to the Merrimack River Watershed Council, or creating a special elementary exhibit for the Haverhill Historical Society and serving as student guides).
Foreign Language, 1-6: The MA Common Core of Learning (1994) states, "All students should read, write, and converse in at least one language in addition to English," and recommends foreign language instruction begin in Kindergarten. In response, all HVM students will receive two periods of Spanish language instruction per week, integrating oral language games, songs, and activities, bilingual picture books, and introduction to written language. In addition, this instruction will serve to acknowledge the diversity in our community and provide a tool to encourage cultural understanding.
Foreign Language, 7-8: Middle School students will receive increased formal Spanish language instruction four times per week. Students will use a foreign language textbook and workbook in addition to ongoing teacher-created activities. Students may also apply foreign language skills within service learning projects in the Haverhill community.
Technology and the Arts, 1-8: The visual and performing arts will be an integral part of the curriculum at HVM. Both will provide significant access points for student understanding, opportunities for expression and creativity, and ongoing learning about diverse perspectives on the world. Meaningful arts experiences will be integrated into every classroom as activities of choice and exploration during self-directed learning and will be enriched through specific instruction and projects once per week with arts specialists.
Computers with internet and email access will be integrated into the teaching and learning of every classroom. In addition, a smaller lab space will be available for student and teacher projects. Educational software, internet access, graphic and publishing capabilities, telephones, email, digital cameras, and scanners will be available for furthering students’ skill development, research in larger communities, service learning contributions, and demonstrations of learning.
Health and Conflict Resolution Education, 1-8: HVM will be committed to the development of the whole child, therefore physical and health education are significant components of the curriculum. Children will enjoy at least one full period every day of socially based physical activity in the form of recess. In addition, students will engage in more directed physical play and development twice per week under the direction of a physical education specialist. In the Lower Elementary, students will also learn about body systems, social pressures, and human health and illness through theme-based studies and self-directed research within the classroom. In the Upper Elementary and Middle School, students will learn about human growth and development, reproduction, and sexuality, as well as substance use and abuse. Conflict resolution skills are core to the school’s learning objectives and will be taught and supported explicitly at each grade level.
