The Montessori Approach to History Education

The Montessori history curriculum is quite different from traditional history studies. Coming from the Children’s House (CH) classroom with an awareness of the concept of time, the Lower Primary (LP) student begins their history lessons with the passage of time. This includes engaging lessons on telling time; days of the week; months of the year; and calendar work to name a few. The LP student gains experience with the three fundamental tenses of past, present and future which aids not only in their history work, but also in their language work.

The history studies flow to the Timeline of Life, one of Dr. Montessori’s Great Lessons. Students become young historians examining the history of the different life forms on Earth, integrating their knowledge with their zoology, botany and geography lessons. The history curriculum is at the heart of Montessori’s cosmic education, a truly integrated subject.

The LP history curriculum culminates with an introduction to Early Civilizations including Early Humans, Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, Medieval, Renaissance and Modern peoples. During these studies the students will learn more about the Fundamental Needs of Humans as described by Montessori. These needs include shelter, clothing, nutrition, communication, transportation, health, social acceptance, culture, safety and defence, religion and philosophy.

By exposing students to a variety of drawings, writings, narratives and artifacts as well as the use of story-telling, the Montessori teacher’s goal is to nourish the students’ developing interest in the past and in the world. This is the purpose of the Montessori LP history curriculum.