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Schedule at glance
7:30 – 8:25 a.m.
Extended Day Arrival
8:25 – 8:35 a.m.
Upper School Arrival/Start of Classes Journal and Math Warm-Up
9:00 – 9:30 a.m.
Group Lesson
9:30 – 11:30 a.m.
Work Time**
11:30 am – Noon
Group Lesson
Noon – 1:00 p.m.
Lunch/Recess
1:00 – 3:00 p.m.
Work Time**
3:00 p.m.
Upper School Dismissal/Start of Extended Day Care
Up to 5:30 p.m.
Pick-up for Extended Day Care children
**In addition, students receive instruction by specialists in Spanish, physical education, art, music, movement and computer skills.
 
Brooksfield encourages children to develop maturity, confidence, independence, responsibility and a mastery of broad areas of study and social skills. Mixed-age groupings, small class sizes and a personalized curriculum stimulate students to take advantage of the ability to work at grade level and beyond. We believe that excelling in various subjects provides students with the opportunity to instruct, share knowledge with peers and lead the exploration of knowledge. Areas of study for students in the Upper School include the following:
Language is comprised of four different components: reading, writing, listening and speaking. The Brooksfield Montessori environment provides the child with a wide variety of materials throughout the day in order to experience language. The children are given opportunities to practice their decoding and encoding skills every day. In addition there are a variety of materials designed to help children further develop their comprehension skills. Grammar and word studies are also presented over the course of the three-year cycle, allowing the children to begin to understand and appreciate the complexities and details of language. The children always complete a written follow-up after each work is completed. Children are encouraged to write daily, whether during journal time, writer's workshop, or work time. Children are motivated to do research and write reports to enhance the units of study. In addition, children share what they have written with their peers and receive feedback, while listening and learning from a variety of other presentations including puppet shows, poetry, creative writing and research reports. Back
The study of mathematics is abstract for children. The goal of the Montessori curriculum is to take these abstract concepts and make them concrete. Through the use of didactic manipulatives such as the golden beads, the stamp game and the racks and tubes, students initially explore math in a hands-on manner. This practical approach allows them to gain a concrete, interactive experience which in turns leads to an abstract, conceptual understanding. The range of Montessori materials begins with the concrete golden beads, where a child can visually see and kinesthetically feel a unit, ten, hundred and thousand. The materials become less and less concrete and more and more abstract until finally the student is able to work with pencil and paper. Lessons on quantity and symbol, the four operations, geometry, money, time, graphing, measurement, fractions and decimals provide a range of interest, experience and knowledge. Mathematics is truly a universal language that children at this level of development understand and embrace .Back
(Biology, Geography, Physical Science)
"Since it has been seen to be necessary to give so much to the child, let us give him a vision of the whole universe. The universe is an imposing reality and an answer to all questions. We shall walk together on this path of life, for all things are part of the universe and are connected with each other to form one whole unity. This idea helps the mind of the child to become fixed, to stop wandering in an aimless quest for knowledge. He is satisfied, having found the universal centre of himself with all things."
— Dr. Maria Montessori, To Educate the Human Potential
Maria Montessori believed that in order for the earth to become a more peaceful and healthy place, children need to learn the history of their planet from the very beginning. As a result, children are introduced to the concept of how the universe was created, scientific theories, creation stories and the timeline of life. This philosophy of teaching is referred to as the cosmic curriculum. Children at this stage of development find themselves as a minuscule part of the greater whole of the universe. This approach allows the child to find a place within, as well as a responsibility for, the community. Children are invited to ask questions and are encouraged to find the answers for themselves. The result is a classroom of inquisitive, knowledgeable, adventurous world citizens. Back
The Montessori classroom allows a vast array of practical life experiences. Grace and courtesy is integrated in the classroom throughout the school year. At the start of each school year, the child is given the responsibility of caring for and maintaining the classroom environment. As a group they write "classroom guidelines," choose jobs and preserve cleanliness and order within the classroom. The child learns to greet visitors appropriately and with a handshake. The child operates with his classmates, a school store at the completion of the money unit. The child learns how to collect money and order pizza. In addition, community service plays a major role in the classroom. Each month, the Upper School students donate sandwich supplies and make sandwiches for a local homeless shelter. Brooksfield students have also built a lemonade stand and host lemonade sales throughout the year to raise money for cancer research. Back
• Computers Computers are used on a weekly basis in the Upper School classroom for word processing and Internet research. In addition, all students participate in a weekly computer class where they focus on keyboarding skills, graphic art and Internet research. They learn the parts of the computer as well as how to navigate it. Back
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