Middle School Courses of Academic Study

Maria Montessori described the middle school years as a period of vulnerability characterized by physical and emotional unrest. She also viewed it as a period of opportunity and growth during which students seek to discover both self and society in order to take their places in the adult world as contributing members.

Montessori called her program for adolescents Erdkinder, which translates as “land children,” emphasizing the interdependence of the natural world and human life. In addition to academics and the arts, a major component of Erdkinder would entail students living and working on a farm and running a store or hotel as a means for them to have a place in the social and economic life of a community.

In keeping with Montessori’s ideas about adolescence, the MSC middle school program, which serves students in grades seven and eight, includes a strong academic and arts component in conjunction with opportunities to interact with the natural world and the community in which they live.

MSC middle school students study mathematics, science, language arts, and social studies in accordance with the Georgia Performance Standards. They also have the opportunity to garden, go on a variety of curriculum-based and outdoor-education-oriented field trips, run a class business, facilitate community service projects, and participate in community internships.

The MSC middle school program is a two-year program for students in grades seven and eight. Students work at their individual levels through ongoing courses in mathematics and language arts. Social studies and science operate on a two-year rotating schedule. All courses meet or exceed Georgia Performance Standards.

Students are placed in a math textbook based on their previous math experience along with the mastery of certain concepts as demonstrated by beginning and end-of-year assessments. The following textbooks are used:

A central component of the language arts program is writing workshop. Through writing workshop, students experience the writing process of studying literary models, brainstorming and collecting ideas, researching information, drafting, conferencing, revising, editing, and publishing. Students work in a variety of genres, including personal narrative, essay, research paper, photo essay, short story, and poetry.

Literature is another key component of the language arts program. In addition to examining literature as a model for their own writing, students read for enjoyment as well as to understand, discuss, and write about the universal themes found in literature. Much of the literature in the middle school program supports the social studies curriculum

Books that middle school students read include the following: Ecology of a Cracker Childhood, Across Five Aprils, Sounder, My Brother Sam is Dead, Harriet Tubman: Conductor of the Underground Railroad, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Touching Spirit Bear, The Giver, The Outsiders, Nothing But the Truth, and Z for Zachariah.

Writing workshop and literature are supplemented with additional work in the areas of vocabulary, editing, and grammar.

With a strong background in world geography and cultures from their years in the early childhood and elementary programs, middle school students are well prepared for yearlong studies of North America and Georgia.

The two-year rotation for middle school students includes close examination of American and Georgia geography, history and government. Local geography, history and government are incorporated into the Georgia studies year. Students learn history through primary source analysis, lectures, independent research, literature, and textbooks. Textbooks include the following: A History of US 1-4-, The Georgia Studies Book, We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution, and Project Citizen.

Field trips which supplement the curriculum have included overnight trips to Colonial Williamsburg, the Okefenokee Swamp, Cloudland Canyon, Moody Forest, and Savannah. Day trips have included Etowah Indian Mounds, the Alcovy River, Bostwick Homeplace, Newton County Historic Courthouse, Porterdale, a county commission meeting, and the Lake Varner granite outcrop.

Like social studies, the science curriculum operates on a two-year rotation. Students spend a year studying life science and another studying chemistry and physical science in keeping with the Georgia Performance Standards for seventh and eighth grade.

The science curriculum introduces students to both the characteristics of science as well as specific content. Students learn that science is a way of thinking about and investigating the world around us as well as a growing body of knowledge. Hands-on, student-centered, and inquiry-based approaches are the emphasis of instruction. Also central is the relationship between science, our environment, and the everyday world.

Textbook resources include the following: Glencoe Science Life Science, Glencoe Science Introduction to Physical Science, and Topshelf Chemistry.

Middle school students have weekly classes in art and music. In both classes, students have the opportunity to explore a variety of genres and materials. An annual art and music show highlights student work.

The middle school foreign language program is a continuation of the foreign language study students begin in the lower elementary classroom with expanded work in the areas of conversation, vocabulary, grammar, and cultural studies.

MSC has contracted with the Covington YMCA to provide a weekly physical education class for middle school students. The program emphasizes preparing students for a lifetime of physical fitness.