In the Level III Atrium we began our day with the Scripture from Psalm 118:27a, "The Lord is God and has enlightened us." What does it mean to say, "The Lord is God!" What does "enlightened" mean? After discussing the meaning of this passage the children were invited to bring a material that has helped them know that the Lord is God or that has helped them to grow in His Light. The older the children were, the more materials they wanted to bring...!! The children have returned!! The Children's House (Level I) Atrium felt so peaceful this week, filled once again with little ones eager to share their love and joy with all they meet. It was such a gift to see their smiles (and experience a few hugs!) as they reentered this space they have come to know and love...or to be welcomed into it for the first time. One of the most beautiful gifts is to see the children returning to work that has brought them deep joy in the Atrium. Enjoy!! The Level II Atrium was also filled with returning children who had work in mind when they arrived! After a time of exploring the space and recalling the gifts of the Atrium, they filled their day with the quiet buzz of their work.
I have recently received a number a questions regarding the size of the Atrium space and the number of children that can be served during an Atrium session. This is such an important topic that posting on it seemed wise. Dr. Montessori advocated for 28-35+ children ages three to six within a Primary Montessori environment. This large number allows the growth of independence and interdependence to occur as the community of children unites in a beautiful way. Because of licensing requirements and because we are often serving children who have some special needs related to the impact of our current cultural age, many Montessori environments have no more than 20 children in one space. I have had experience in a Primary, Children's House, environment with 26 children and it was beautiful. However, much of the success was made possible by the presence of a strong, capable guide (not me!) and a unified set of expectations shared by both the guide and assistant facilitating the space which resulted in purposeful, joyful work. The Atrium environment, while based on Montessori principles, is a different space and serves the child in a different way. The Direct Aim of the Atrium is to lead to prayer and the prayer of the youngest child is primarily spontaneous, material-based, and individual. The need for silence and independent work is essential to this young child. Preparing and facilitating THIS environment includes setting up individual work spaces and ensuring that the number of children in the space is conducive to an individual, focused, concentrated, non-interrupted time of listening and speaking with the Good Shepherd. In addition, because so many of the materials require adult assistance even in their repetition (lighting candles, inviting to prayer, reading Scripture, etc.), the number of children must be smaller than that of a Primary Montessori Environment. For example, the child who moves the pieces of the City of Jerusalem from the 3D map to the mute map repeatedly, but never hears the names of these places after the initial presentation, is denied the fullness of this work. In contrast, when, after moving the pieces to the mute map, he asks the adult to light the candle that marks Jesus' resurrection from the dead, the adult has the opportunity to lead the child in re-telling the movements of Jesus during His last few days in Jerusalem, an essential component of incarnating this journey in the child's memory. The Level I Atrium at The Way of the Shepherd is approximately 20'x20' in area and has served up to 12 children in one session. The National Association recommends that no more than 12 children be present in the Level I Atrium environment at a time and these 12 children should be of mixed ages. Gianna Gobbi, a 0-6 trained AMI Montessorian and co-founder of CGS, never had more than 8/9 children in the Rome Level I Atrium. This is because the materials in this space are meant to serve 3/4 children of each age in the three to six year age range. The limiting of the materials serves to provide the opportunity to develop the will as the child waits for what is good...but to expand the number of children provides, instead, opportunities for frustration. In addition, larger numbers reduces the ability of the catechist to provide individual presentations. Moving toward small or large group presentations because of the number of children in the Atrium reduces the ability of the catechist to serve as "matchmaker" between the child and the material which leads them to conversation with Christ, Himself. In a similar way, while 12 children is the maximum number of children in this space at one time, this number must be understood within the context of a mixed-age group of children. Thus, 12 kindergarteners in this space at a time will present challenges not inherent in the method but sparking from an implementation of it that is less than ideal. This applies, as well, to a new Atrium. Ideally, a new catechist would begin with a group of mixed three and four year olds, of around 8 in number. Again, the limits of the materials prohibit more than 4 of a particular age in the Atrium at one time, but beginning with just three year olds reduces the possibility of mentoring, interdependence, and the beauty of a multi-age environment. The Level II and Level III environments have the potential for a larger number of children in each session. The recommendation for these groups is to have no more than 15 children of the mixed six to nine year age range and the mixed nine to twelve year range. The reason more children can be served in this environment results from the fact that the characteristics of the elementary child include an expanding social dimension which moves the catechist from the individual presentations given to the Level I child to small and large group presentations in the Level II and III Atria. In addition, while the number of materials is still limited, the children now repeat in small groups and repeat with variety, following up on the presentation in many different ways which employ reading and writing as befits their newly awakened reasoning mind. The Level II and III Atrium at The Way of the Shepherd is almost double the size of the Level I space, around 20'x40'. This size change is fitting for the larger numbers and the growing bodies of the children in this space. In addition, the larger materials (charts, timelines, synthesis work) necessitate a larger space. As in Level I, the recommended numbers in Level II and III are based upon a multi-age environment with no more than 5 or so children of each age in each group. The elementary child, however, has more ability to adjust to larger communities and thus modifications to these recommendations are not as detrimental as those at the younger age. For a new Level II or III catechist, however, it would be best to begin with no more than 15 children over the full recommended age range. In the Elementary Montessori environment there is only an artificial distinction between the child of six to nine and the child of nine to twelve. Dr. Montessori spoke of Cosmic Education as serving the child of six to twelve and did not split children of this range into lower and upper elementary as is often done in modern Montessori environments. Fittingly, in the Rome Atrium the child did not stay in the Level II Atrium until the age of nine. Rather, the "mark" of moving from Level II to Level III was the reception of the sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist. All of the Level II materials are focused on sacramental preparation, and thus, once the child has received these sacraments they are ready to move into the Level III materials for mystagogy and the unpacking of these beautiful gifts. As a result, in the elementary Atria at The Way of the Shepherd, children ages six to eight are served in the Level II Atrium while children ages eight to twelve enjoy Level III. This shift recognizes the dignity of the child, the power of the sacraments, and the unity of the Second Plane of Development of the child ages six to twelve.
In preparing for a new school year, I have also had the gift of resetting our Elementary Atrium! Last spring, I moved everything out of the space and that gave me the gift of freedom, in returning, to reevaluate the set-up. Previously, the prayer table was arranged in a way that I was not able to see the whole room if I was working with a small group in that area, a space used frequently for typology studies, meditations, Bible studies, etc. In addition, I had left most of the center of the Atrium open in order to allow for timeline work. I was also able to acquire several more tables and wanted to make additional spaces for those. While leaving the History of the Kingdom of God timelines and shelves along the same wall, almost everything else has changed. Enjoy! |
Carolyn Kohlhaas
CGS Catechist and Formation Leader (Levels I, II, and III) Categories
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