The Great Lessons Part 1

The Great Lessons are an important and a unique part of the Montessori curriculum. They are the underpinning to Montessori education in the second plane of development.

These lessons are designed to awaken imagination and curiosity. Unlike the Casa children, who are introduced to “small” ideas first, the elementary child is introduced to large concepts – the beginning of the Universe being the largest. Smaller ideas are all shown into the larger framework. It is astounding to see how children can retain information, and when presented with engaging and exciting stories, their desire to learn increases.

伟大的课程是蒙台梭利课程的一个重要而独特的部分。它们是蒙台梭利教育在第二个发展阶段的基础。

这些课程旨在唤醒想象力和好奇心。与Casa儿童不同的是，他们首先被介绍“小”概念，而初级儿童则被介绍到大概念中——从最大的宇宙的开始讲起。较小的想法都被展示在大框架中。让人吃惊的是，看到孩子们如何能保留信息，当他们看到引人入胜、令人兴奋的故事时，他们的学习欲望就会增加。

There are Five Great Lessons.

·   Beginning of the Universe

·   Coming of Life

·   Coming of Human Beings

·   The Story of Writing

·   The Story of Numbers

有五个伟大故事

·   宇宙的起源

·   新生事物

·   人类的到来

·   写作的故事

·   数字的故事

The First Great Lesson: Beginning of the Universe

This is probably the most memorable one. The Beginning of the Universe is a deliberately awe-inspiring lesson. It takes us from a time where there was nothing, through to the beginning of our solar system and earth. It includes stories, demonstrations and experiments that surely spark children’s imagination. Every year we hear different and interesting questions, from new and old students. The potential to explore is huge, and the possibility to open our eyes to the wonders of our existence is limitless.

第一课：宇宙的起源

这可能是最难忘的一次。宇宙的起源是一个故意令人敬畏的教训。它把我们从一个什么都没有的时代，一直到太阳系和地球的开始。它包括故事、演示和实验，肯定能激发孩子们的想象力。每年我们都会听到新老同学提出的不同而有趣的问题。探索的潜力是巨大的，让我们看到我们存在的奇迹的可能性是无限的。

This lesson leads to the study of Astronomy (solar system, constellations etc.); Meteorology (winds, erosion, water cycle etc.); Chemistry (states of matter, reactions, elements, atoms, molecules, lab work); Physics (magnetism, electricity, gravity, energy, light, friction, motion); Geology (types of rocks, minerals, volcanoes, earthquakes, tectonic plates, ice ages, eras) and Geography (maps, globes, latitude/longitude, climates, land/water, continents).

This past week our students explored the states of matter, build their own planet, made stories, and got into chemistry with some “explosive” experiments. The Upper Elementary students improvised a show about The Norse Creation Story*, surprising the whole class with an insightful performance. This offered us a different perspective and definitely a new, rediscovered and deeper appreciation of the Method.

Imagination does not become great until human beings, given the courage and the strength, use it to create – M. Montessori.

*The Norse Creation Story, or cosmogony. References: Daniel McCoy, The Viking Spirit, An Introduction to Norse Mythology and Religion, 2016 and www.norse-mythology.org

这节课将学习天文学（太阳系、星座等）；气象学（风、侵蚀、水循环等）；化学（物质状态、反应、元素、原子、分子、实验室工作）；物理学（磁学、电学、重力、能量、光、摩擦、运动）；地质学（岩石、矿物、火山、地震的类型，构造板块、冰期、时代）和地理（地图、地球仪、纬度/经度、气候、陆地/水、大陆）。

上周，我们的学生探索了物质的状态，建造了自己的星球，编了故事，并通过一些“爆炸性”实验进入了化学。高年级的学生们即兴表演了一个关于挪威人创造故事的节目，以一个有见地的表演使全班同学感到惊讶。这为我们提供了一个不同的视角，绝对是一个新的，重新发现的和更深入的欣赏方法。

只有当人类有了勇气和力量，用它来创造时，想象力才会变得伟大——蒙台梭利。

*挪威的创世故事，或宇宙形成论。参考文献：丹尼尔·麦考伊（Daniel McCoy），《北欧神话与宗教概论》，2016年和www.norse-myothy.org

The Second Great Lesson: Coming of Life

This lesson revolves around the Timeline of Life, a long chart of pictures and information about microorganisms, plants, and animals that have lived (or now live) on the earth. The great diversity of Life in emphasized, and special care is paid to the “jobs” that each living thing does to contribute to life on earth.

This lesson leads to the study of Biology (cells, kingdoms, dissection, observation); Botany (plants, taxonomy, parts of plants, types of plants); Habitats (location, characteristics, food chain, symbiosis, adaptation, ecosystem, conservation); History (the concept of Time, Ears of Earth, evolution, extinction); Animals (classification, needs, human systems, nutrition, hygiene); Monera, Protista and Fungi Kingdom; Math (yes, we calculate time!).

第二堂课：生命的降临

这节课围绕生命的时间轴展开，这是一张关于曾经（或现在生活）地球上的微生物、植物和动物的图片和信息的长图表。强调了生命的巨大多样性，并特别关注每种生物为地球生命所做的“工作”。

这节课将引导我们学习生物学（细胞、王国、解剖、观察）；植物学（植物、分类学、部分植物、植物类型）；栖息地（位置、特征、食物链、共生、适应、生态系统、保护）；历史（时间的概念、地球的耳朵、进化、灭绝）；动物（分类、需求，人类系统，营养，卫生；莫内拉，普罗蒂斯塔和真菌王国；数学（是的，我们计算时间！）。

The Second Great Lesson is truly an impressionistic lesson. The Concept of Time is introduced with the Long Black Strip. Students and teachers unfold the Black Strip. The Strip visually represents the time following Earth’s Creation. It is an exceptionally long strip (46 meters) that is unrolled together. When the end of the strip is reached, there is a narrow, red line that represents the time Humans spent on Earth. This is a precursor to the Third Great Lesson: Coming of Humans.

Needless to say, amazing questions arise every time this lesson is presented, and participation is at its highest. All children are engaged, curiosity and thirst for knowledge reaches the highest level.

This is what Cosmic Education is about. The term Cosmic in Montessori is used to imply a phenomenal interconnection to the World around us. We each relate to one another; we matter in the big picture. We must contribute to improve the World. This is a big work! This is our life’s work! This is the ultimate reason why we learn Math, Reading, Science etc. The reason is the Cosmic Big Picture!

第二个伟大故事是非常让人记忆深刻的。时间的概念是用黑色长条带引入的。学生和老师展开黑带。这条长条在视觉上代表了地球诞生后的时间。这是一个非常长的条带（46米），被展开在一起。当到达狭长地带的尽头时，会有一条狭窄的红线，代表着人类在地球上度过的时间。这是第三个伟大故事的前奏：人类的到来。

不用说，每次上这节课都会出现令人惊讶的问题，而且参与度最高。所有的孩子都很投入，好奇心和求知欲达到了最高水平。

这就是宇宙教育的意义所在。蒙台梭利的“宇宙”一词被用来暗示与我们周围的世界有着惊人的联系。我们每个人都是相互联系的；我们在全局中很重要。我们必须为改善世界作出贡献。这是一项大工程！这是我们一生的工作！这就是我们学习数学、阅读、科学等的根本原因。原因是宇宙的大局！