History and Social Sciences: Ages Six to Nine
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World History, Political and Economic Geography
When children first enter the Montessori environment prepared for children from six to nine years of age, they are introduced to the study of history through a series of Great Stories. This is fitting, as history is in essence a series of ‘stories’. In Italian one word, storia, is used for both history and story, that is, for the retelling of events unfolding over time.
Five Great Stories, or cosmic fables, are presented to the children:
the formation of the universe
the story of the coming of life
the story of the coming of humans
the story of communication in signs
the story of numbers
Each fable is like one act of an unfolding drama. Each act links back to the last, and foreshadows the next, each introducing another area of study.
The fable of the formation of the universe opens up the geography curriculum.
The story of the coming of life begins the biology curriculum.
The story of the coming of humans introduces the study of prehistory.
The story of communication in signs enhances the study of language.
The story of numbers enhances the study of mathematics.
Together, the last two stories in the series provide a point of departure for the study of civilisations.
Although these fables are presented as part of the history curriculum, they reveal the overlap and interplay between all the subject areas, in this way exemplifying the concept of cosmic education. The sequence of the fables follows our understanding of the process of evolution, from the formation of the universe, to the coming of life, the coming of human beings and then the coming of civilisation. To present these concepts in this order builds children’s understanding incrementally, helps them become aware of the inter-dependence of life, and prompts questions such as the following:
Could humans exist if there had been no life?
Could life exist without the formation of the Earth?
The children, however, are never asked questions such as these directly. Instead, their orientation to the universe, and their place in it, and the questions they ask about it develop through independent exploration.
In the story of the coming of humans, emphasis falls on the work and service of early humans. Unlike conventional history, there is less reference to the deeds and exploits of famous individuals, but rather a focus on the nameless and faceless ordinary humans, the uomini senza volto, who in their efforts to survive and make life easier for themselves, contributed to the progress of all the peoples of the world, and to the benefits we have inherited. To help children explore this ‘everyday history’, they are given a chart of the fundamental human needs as a guide to explore the lives and contribution of humans in different places and different periods of time.
When children eventually reach the study of human civilisations, they are introduced to the coming of civilisation through the advent of written language and numbers. These momentous human inventions are presented to the children as gifts passed down from ancestors, an inheritance representing many generations of work.
The human story is one of constant change involving many inventions and discoveries brought about by the restless and inquiring nature of the human mind. It is important that children use their imaginations to think about the difference these discoveries have made to the everyday lives of people in all times and places. There are of course many inventors, who will remain nameless, anonymous benefactors who, whether or not they or we are aware of it, have had a remarkable impact upon our lives. For example, it is impossible to know who discovered how to make and control fire, agriculture, shelter, or who first thought of the wheel or the needle, and yet without these discoveries and inventions human life would be very different indeed.
Studying the human story in this way enables children to see themselves as a part of the whole, a protagonist in the drama of the earth. Children are able to see that even if they do not become famous or a powerful public figure, their actions will nonetheless have an effect, as an ordinary person, not as a passive player but as an actor who can influence the world in positive ways, and that in this way everyone counts. Despite all the war, tragedy, horror and despair that children find out about in their study of human history, are confronted with daily in the media, and, sadly for too many, experience in real life, they will be able to appreciate that there is still much to admire in human achievement and feel gratitude for those who came before them.
There is another theme that emerges from the levels of work revealed in the great fables. This is that the work undertaken by all non-living and living things, including humans, in order to meet their basic needs, has the potential to lead to a wonderful by-product. All this work has the potential to contribute to the wellbeing of the whole earth and all life on earth. In the process of working from the whole to specifics in this way, children come to the history of their own nation.
In the study of history, children in the Montessori environment for six to twelve year olds examine the concept of migration. Various human groups have built up large banks of knowledge in order to meet their physical and spiritual needs in their particular region of the earth. The way this knowledge has been shared, until recently, has been through migration. This sharing is now possible through modern modes of communication.
In an Advanced Montessori Training Course held in Kodaikanal, India, in March 1944, Dr Maria Montessori described the Montessori approach to the teaching of history in the following way:
We have to show a different side of history to the children, where history is understood as the documentation and testimony of mankind. Man the worker who transformed the initial desolate landscape, the world in its primordial state into the present Garden of Eden. Man the provider, the generous, the tireless worker, and the one who possesses the great spirit of self-sacrifice. Those are the men who are god’s chief agents on earth for continuing the work of creation, all of us.
The Study of Australia
In Montessori learning environments prepared for six to twelve year olds, the cosmic education curriculum introduces children to the study of the universe, the earth and life on the earth. Through this study they come to understand themselves more fully, as well as the contributions they can make to life on earth and human society. Building on this foundation, children also study their homeland, Australia. This work builds on early experiences with Australian Studies presented to children in the Children’s House.
The study of cultural and economic geography in the Montessori cosmic education curriculum shows children how the physical configurations of the earth contribute to the history of humans. Children discover how everything, including non-living things such as the air, rocks, water, wind and sun, as well as living things, the plants and animals explored in the study of biology, are interconnected and interdependent, everything working together to make up the ecological whole. Children discover that each non-living element has an important role to play, and that each obeys that set of natural laws that lead to the formation of the universe. The study of physical geography becomes the basis for the study of economic geography, which shows the interdependence of all human beings. In this way, children discover how the physical configuration of the earth contributes to the history of all people who live on the earth.
As in all other areas of the Montessori cosmic education curriculum, the cultural and economic geography lessons presented to the children are merely a starting point for learning and discovery. The study begins with concrete experience, first-hand observation and participation. As often as possible, children go out into the field to experience and research areas of the curriculum for themselves.
Australian History
the history and culture of First Peoples of Australia (pre- and post-European settlement to the present)
European voyages of discovery
European colonies and life
Australian Federation
Australian migrants and multicultural Australia
Cultural and Economic Geography
plant and animal life, and ecological systems of Australia
people’s connection to the land
resources of Australia
Australia’s neighbours
populations, wealth and health
Civics and Citizenship
three tiers of Australian government
elections, voting, laws and bills
Democracy
History and Social Sciences: Inquiry and Skills 2.HS.010
Knowledge, Skills and Understanding
Typically, children will:
.01 Develop and Pose questions:
about the past and present in regard to objects, people, places and events
to guide investigations in regard to people, events, places and issues
.02 Collect, sort and record information and data:
from observations
from sources provided
unscaled, scaled and annotated timelines
labelled and annotates maps and models
.03 Interpret information and data displayed in a variety of different formats; from observations and provided sources, including the comparison of objects from past and present.
.04 Explore, examine and discuss points of view and perspectives related to objects, people, places and events:
from stories about significant events and special places
to identify perspectives
.05 Draw conclusions and make proposals based from:
in response to questions
discussions
observations
information from pictures and texts
maps
an analysis of information
an issue or a challenge
considerations of possible effects of actions
.06 Reflect on how to care for places and sites that are significant
.07 Present understandings, observations, information and findings related to the passing of time and to describe direction and location:
using sources and terms about the past
using sources and terms about places
orally
in graphic forms
in written forms such as narratives, descriptions, explanations
non-digitally and digitally
＋ Materials and Activities
Activities include: Inquiry and skills can be found in the studies of History and Social Sciences 6-9:
- Time:
- Time: first knowledge
- Measuring time: day
- Measuring time: week and month
- Measuring time: year
- Measuring time: century
- Human History:
- Fundamental needs of humans
- The coming of humans
- Society and civilisation
- Australian History:
- Our Nation to Our Local Communities
- Cultural & economic geography: the work of humans Inquiry and skills can be found in the studies of the Earth in the Physical and Life Sciences 6-9:
- The Earth:
- Globes to maps
- Continents and countries: first knowledge
- Landforms
- Maps and plans
- The creation of the Universe
- The formation of the earth
- Geography: first classification
- Movement of the Earth
- Biology and Ecology
- The coming of life
- The evolution of life
Resources include:
- A variety of historic and geographic sourced objects
- unscaled, scaled and annotated timelines
- labelled and annotates maps and models
- stories about significant events and special places
- historical texts
- maps
- historical and geographical images
＋ Links to Australian Curriculum (ACv9)
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Time: First knowledge 2.HS.020
Knowledge, Skills and Understanding
Typically, children will:
.01 Explore ways to represent the passing of time
.02 Sequence and record major events of own life in timeline format
.03 Explore stories of families and past events
.04 Explore the concepts of past, present and future
＋ Materials and Activities
Activities include:
- recording the passing of time in informal ways
- demonstrations and exercises for exploring ways to represent time spatially e.g., on a timeline
- experiencing historical stories through photographs, artefacts, books, oral histories, digital media and Going Outs (e.g., museums, etc.)
- activities and games for establishing the importance of a standard measurement of time
- creating personal timelines with illustrations and writing e.g., My Life in months/years; My Family in years
- creating a family tree to represent interconnected relationships over time
- transforming a class ‘diary’ into a timeline
- activities for exploring how the three fundamental tenses (past, present, future) are expressed in language.
- activities to develop skills to pose questions about past and present objects, people, places, and events.
Resources include:
- personal timelines outlines
- photographs and drawings; family members
- digital camera
- the three fundamental tenses card material.
＋ Links to Australian Curriculum (ACv9)
Measuring time: Day 2.HS.030
Knowledge, Skills and Understanding
Typically, children will:
.01 Understand concept of a day
.02 Measure, estimate and compare time across a day in hours, minutes and seconds
.03 Read analogue and digital clocks (hour, half hour, quarter hour, minute)
.04 Read digital clocks (24-hour time)
.05 Research the telling of time in different times and cultures
.06 Understand the link between the rotation of the earth and am/pm notation
.07 Use am/pm notation in own work
.08 Use knowledge of am/pm to explore time zones around the world
＋ Materials and Activities
Activities include:
- parts of the day demonstrations, games and exercises
- learning units of time that subdivide the day, spelling and etymology of their names, abbreviations
- creating My Day booklets for hours and fractions of hours (e.g., half past, quarter to) and minutes
- lessons and exercises to learn how to tell the time (spoken), accompanied by notation (words and symbols)
- recording the timing of daily routines
- reading and creating timetables and itineraries e.g., for the class or school, for an excursion or going out; television and public transport timetables
- grace and courtesy e.g., telling the time or estimating time needed to be punctual for a lesson or meeting, or to meet a deadline
- collecting data and information through observation and research activities
- researching the telling of time e.g., the way people told the time in the past; the link between astronomy, navigation and time; Greenwich mean time
- imagining how people might tell the time in the future.
- demonstrations and exercises to link earth’s rotation with am/pm notation
- activities to explore etymology of terms ante meridian and post meridian
- making My Day booklets for am/pm time
- research projects e.g., comparing time zones in two or more parts of the world, time zones and air travel.
Resources include:
- the parts of the day card material
- teaching clocks with moveable hands and card material
- clock stamps
- different types of instruments for telling the time e.g., clocks, watches, a sundial, candle and water clocks
- command cards; word problems
- reference and research materials (paper-based, digital, web-based, multimedia).
- day and night chart
- models of globe and sun
- time zones work chart
- command cards; word problems
- reference and research materials (paper-based, digital, web-based, multimedia).
＋ Links to Australian Curriculum (ACv9)
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Measuring time: Week and Month 2.HS.040
Knowledge, Skills and Understanding
Typically, children will:
.01 Understand concept of a week
.02 Sequence and name the days of the week
.03 Learn etymology and spelling of day names
.04 Understand concept of a month
.05 Sequence and name the months
.06 Learn etymology and spelling of month names
＋ Materials and Activities
Activities include:
- stories, demonstrations and lessons about the history and etymology of the names of the days and the months
- rhymes, games and exercises to learn about the days of the week and months of the year e.g., sequence, number of days in each month
- using small moveable alphabets to explore spelling patterns in the names of the days and the months
- research projects related to the days and months.
Resources include:
- card material
- two small moveable alphabets in different colours
- reference and research materials (paper-based, digital, web-based, multimedia).
＋ Links to Australian Curriculum (ACv9)
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Measuring time: Year 2.HS.050
Knowledge, Skills and Understanding
Typically, children will:
.01 Understand concept of a year
.02 Measure time across a year in months and weeks
.03 Use a calendar
.04 Understand sequence and duration of events across years
.05 Understand the counting and notation of the years
＋ Materials and Activities
Activities include:
- the Year and its Parts demonstrations, games and exercises
- counting and notating years e.g., of own life span, family birthdays and life spans
- creating a Family Chart to compare ages of all family members
- creating a timeline of My Life
- creating a personal calendar
- creating charts and booklets
- converting a calendar to a timeline
- using a calendar or diary to record and/or plan events.
Resources include:
- the parts of the year card materials
- calendar and card materials
- photographs; family members
- golden bead number cards
- command cards; word problems
- reference and research materials (paper-based, digital, web-based, multimedia, such as voice memo software on a digital device to collect data or stories for timelines of child’s life).
＋ Links to Australian Curriculum (ACv9)
Measuring time: century 2.HS.060
Knowledge, Skills and Understanding
Typically, children will:
.01 Understand concept of a century
.02 Measure human history in centuries
.03 Understand the terms BC and AD, and BCE and CE
.04 Compare the time since the coming of humans to the history of the earth
＋ Materials and Activities
Activities include:
- BC/AD stories, demonstrations, games and exercises
- extending concept of BC/AD to BCE/CE
- student presentations and research projects.
Resources include:
- BC/AD timeline and card material
- timeline of millennia
- long black line
- reference and research materials (paper-based, digital, web-based, multimedia).
Fundamental needs of humans 2.HS.070
Knowledge, Skills and Understanding
Typically, children will:
.01 Recognise and build understanding of the fundamental survival needs of humans, both spiritual (religion, arts/culture, adornment) and material (food, clothing, defence, transport, shelter)
.02 Understand history in terms of humans attempting to meet their fundamental needs across time and place
.03 Track the development of ways humans have met each fundamental need across time (vertical study)
.04 Review the ways humans met all their fundamental needs at one point in history (horizontal study)
.05 Use the fundamental needs taxonomy to guide/scaffold exploration of customs and practices of family and local community (e.g., commemorative events)
.06 Use the fundamental needs taxonomy to guide/scaffold exploration of different cultures in terms of their settlements, demographic characteristics and lifestyles in different times and places
.07 Explore how plants and animals are grown for food, clothing and shelter
＋ Materials and Activities
Activities include:
- fundamental needs of humans demonstrations, lessons and discussions
- activities with timeline of millennia and picture material e.g., transportation or communication technology through the ages (vertical); how people met their fundamental needs in Europe in the Middle Ages (horizontal)
- going out, excursions and guest speakers
- making timelines, charts and models, artwork
- student presentations, collaborative discussions, debates, factual and creative writing, drama
- explore points of views and fact from opinion.
- collecting data and information through observation and research activities for interpretation and drawing conclusions
- research projects using the fundamental needs taxonomy as guide/scaffold e.g., history projects, researching the needs and roles of people (parents, teachers, doctors, fire fighters, farmers, bakers, police) and social institutions in the local community (home, school, library, clubs).
- activities to develop skills to pose questions about past and present objects, people, places, events and issues
- consider the differences between needs and wants
Resources include
- Fundamental Needs of Humans Charts 1 and 2
- Timeline of Humans 1
- Timeline of Millennia
- card material: pictures, labels and written descriptions for how each human need was met at different points in history
- artefacts
- reference and research materials (paper-based, digital, web-based, multimedia)
- Economics and Financial Capabilities presentations (Montessori Australia)
＋ Links to Australian Curriculum (ACv9)
The Coming of Humans 2.HS.080
Knowledge, Skills and Understanding
Typically, children will:
.01 Build understanding of the coming of humans on earth
.02 Build understanding of the expanses of time before and after the arrival of humans on earth
03 Build understanding of the links between the changing surface and climate of the earth (e.g., ice ages) and the development of humans
.04. Build understanding of relative length of time humans have been on the earth
.05 Gain some understanding of human ancestors, the world they lived in and their special characteristics: adaptable mammals walking upright with free hands, opposable thumbs; ability to think, reason, imagine, love, migrate, communicate
.06 Explore how early humans in Palaeolithic times learned to meet their fundamental needs
.07 Recognise the difference between pre-history and history
＋ Materials and Activities
Activities include:
- great story: the coming of humans
- linking the timeline of humans with the clock of eras, the long black line and the timeline of life
- the hand chart activities and discussions e.g., the significance of opposable thumbs
- tracing the ages of humans from the Palaeolithic to the present
- exploring how Palaeolithic humans met their fundamental needs
- etymology lessons for the names of early humans and the ages of humans
- making timelines, charts and models, artwork
- student presentations, collaborative discussions, factual and creative writing, drama
- going out, excursions and guest speakers e.g., First Nations Australians language speakers, members of different communities, museum visits
- collecting data and information through observation and research activities for interpretation and drawing conclusions
- research projects e.g., creation stories from different times and places used to explain the coming of humans to the earth; human ancestors; early humans
Resources include:
- long black line
- timeline of life
- timeline of humans
- the hand chart
- fundamental needs of humans charts 1 and 2
- card material
- reference and research materials (paper-based, digital, web-based, multimedia).
＋ Links to Australian Curriculum (ACv9)
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Society and Civilisation 2.HS.090
Knowledge, Skills and Understanding
Typically, children will:
.01 Use the fundamental needs taxonomy to guide/scaffold exploration of how different civilisations have met their fundamental human needs
.02 Build first knowledge of some ancient civilisations e.g., First Nations Australians cultures, Mayan, Polynesian, Babylonian, Ancient Egyptian, Ancient Greek, Roman
＋ Materials and Activities
Activities include:
- presentations, lessons and collaborative discussions
- making timelines, charts and models, artwork
- student presentations, debates, factual and creative writing, drama
- going out, excursions and guest speakers e.g., First Nations Australians language speakers, members of different communities, museum visits
- explore points of views and fact from opinion.
- collecting data and information through observation and research activities for interpretation and drawing conclusions
- research projects.
- activities to develop skills to pose questions about past and present objects, people, places, events and issues
Resources include:
- fundamental needs of humans charts 1 and 2, and card material
- timeline of millennia
- timeline of civilisations (from 4,000 BC)
- reference and research materials (paper-based, digital, web-based, multimedia).
＋ Links to Australian Curriculum (ACv9)
Cultural and economic geography: the work of humans 2.HS.100
Knowledge, Skills and Understanding
Typically, children will:
.01 Build first knowledge of the economic work of humans and the products humans make and use by exploring questions such as:
Who are the workers who produce the products we use everyday?
Where do food and clothes come from, who produces them and how do they reach us?
What do workers need so they can produce the things we use everyday?
What do different workers produce? e.g., the farmer, the baker
.02 Develop gratitude for the work of others and how their work benefits us
.03 Develop an awareness of the origin of place names, including First Nations Australians origins:
personally (home)
locally (suburb, town, district)
regionally (state)
nationally (country)
.04 Develop awareness of the significance of places based upon cultural, historical, community and personal experiences, and the importance of caring for them, including First Nations Australians connections to particular Country/Place
.05 Identify the difference between natural, managed (farms, parks, gardens) and constructed (roads, buildings) features, how they change and how humans care for them
.06 Identify the types of human activities within places and the reason for their locations (retail, medical, education, police, waste management, farming, etc.)
.07 Develop an understanding of how people are connected through places, locally, across Australia and globally
.08 Recognise that people visit various places and the frequency of these visits are affected by purpose, distance and accessibility
.09 Identify how familiar products, services and environments are designed and produced by people to meet personal or local community needs and sustainability
.10 Generate, communicate and evaluate design ideas, and use materials, equipment and steps to safely make a solution for a purpose
.11 Explore and describe how forces and the properties of materials affect movement and function in a product or system
.12 Use materials, components, tools, equipment and techniques to safely make designed solutions
＋ Materials and Activities
Activities include:
- demonstrations with real products, charts and card material
- locating where products come from and exploring why
- reflecting on ways to care for places of significance or importance, or to respond to issues or challenges
- observation in the environment
- going out, excursions and guest speakers
- making artwork, models, maps, drama
- student presentations, collaborative discussions, debates, factual and creative writing
- explore points of views and fact from opinion.
- collecting data and information through observation and research activities for interpretation and drawing conclusions
- independent research projects e.g., where different products come from, what different producers make; explore the work of those in service industries e.g., nurses, doctors, police, teachers.
- activities to develop skills to pose questions about past and present objects, people, places, events and issues
- presentations and activities related to: making, saving, and spending money, paying taxes, giving back, trade, imports and exports, economic inequality
- developing, making and marketing a product
- running local and community market stalls
- donating money to local non-profit organisations
- studies of the UN Sustainable Development Goals
- Be The Change program from UpSchool
Resources include:
- economic geography card material
- objects and artefacts
- reference and research materials (paper-based, digital, web-based, multimedia).
- fundamental needs of humans charts 1 and 2, and card material
- Economics and Financial Capabilities presentations (Montessori Australia)
- The Money Game
- The Savings Game
- Other financial board games – e.g., Monopoly,
- MoneySmart.gov.au
- Upschool.co
- Gapminder.org/dollar-street.
＋ Links to Australian Curriculum (ACv9)
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Australia: Our Nation to our local communities 2.HS.110
Knowledge, Skills and Understanding
Typically, children will:
.01 Build knowledge of the span of the civilisation of First Peoples of Australia on the Australian continent
.02 Build understanding of relative length of time non-First Peoples of Australia have lived on the Australian continent
.03 Build first knowledge of key periods and events in Australian history, their significance, and how they are commemorated
.04 Use the fundamental needs taxonomy to guide/scaffold exploration of how Australians have met their fundamental needs at different times in their history
.05 Build a first knowledge of the natural resources used by Australians to meet their fundamental needs over time
.06 Understand the use of ‘Acknowledgement of Country’ and ‘Welcome to Country’ at ceremonies and events to recognise that the traditional custodians of the land, sea, waterways and sky are acknowledged
.07 Build an understanding of local community history over time, the diversity of its people, and the significance of how they met their fundamental needs, it’s places and their social, cultural and spiritual significance
＋ Materials and Activities
Activities include:
- lessons, activities and exercises to introduce key understandings and topics
- building timelines, models, charts
- learning history/etymology of place names e.g., Australia = land of the south; Great South Land
- working with artefacts and primary sources
- exploring the ways Australians have met their fundamental needs at different times reading/viewing cultural works related to Australian history e.g., poetry, stories, films
- explore significant days and weeks celebrated and commemorated in Australia (Australia Day, ANZAC Day, National Sorry Day)
- researching local First Nations Australians, their concept of country/place, history and languages
- research the history of a significant person, building, site and/or part of the natural environment in the local community and what it reveals about the past
- spoken presentations, collaborative discussions, debates and drama; dance, singing and music-making
- factual and creative writing, artwork, multimedia composition e.g., historical recounts and biographies
- going out, excursions and guest speakers
- explore points of views and fact from opinion
- collecting data and information through observation and research activities for interpretation and drawing conclusions
- reflecting on ways to care for places of significance or importance, or to respond to issues or challenges
- research projects
- activities to develop skills to pose questions about past and present objects, people, places, events and issues
Resources include:
- Australian history timelines e.g., timeline for First Nations Australians, timeline of Australia since European settlement and/or Federation
- artefacts, age-appropriate Australian literature and factual writing, artefacts
- fundamental needs of humans charts 1 and 2, and card material
- timeline of humans
- timeline of millennia
- timeline of civilisations
- artefacts and natural materials
- reference and research materials (paper-based, digital, web-based, multimedia)
- local First Nations Australians Elders or community members who can share local histories and stories