written by Bailey Taylor, Otter Tail Guide
Great River’s mission ‘world peace through Montessori education’, is the result of Cosmic Education, the work that Maria and Mario Montessori envisioned for the elementary child. They observed that second plane children wondered and reasoned about ‘hidden realities’ of the universe, and cosmic education was born. The universe with all its intricacies is the gift we must give to the six to twelve year old. Cosmic education is an exploration of the interconnectedness of all things and the ultimate appeal to the reasoning mind. But what does that look like in practice?
Let’s think first of the elementary child who is innately called to explore the reasons for things, who has discovered the power of her own imagination, who is immersed in the social fabric of her community, who loves big work, and who is building her own system of values. These are the characteristics that make Cosmic Education so appealing to the elementary child.
Dr. Montessori writes about the second plane child:
“Psychologically, there is a decided change in personality... and there is an unusual demand on the part of the child to know the reasons for things. Knowledge can best be given when there is eagerness to learn, so this is the period when the seed of everything can be sown, the child’s mind being like a fertile field, ready to receive what will germinate into culture.”
- Maria Montessori, “The Six-Year-Old Confronted with the Cosmic Plan,” To Educate the Human Potential
Cosmic Education mirrors the development of the second plane. Young children want to know a little bit about everything, and as they grow, so does their interest in sophisticated details. Our brains organize new information in relation to what we already know, and we want to support this child as she works to make sense of the world and create order in her mind. In cosmic education we put each lesson in context with what came before. There are five Great Stories that open the door to all the work that follows. The first is the Story of the Universe, where the children hear that all particles have laws to follow, and it is because of these laws of nature that everything we know came to be. The second is the story of plants and animals, The Coming of Life. The third, is the Story of Human Beings and their special gifts of intellect, love, and hands for working. The last Great Stories are about the achievements of human intelligence, the Story of Writing, and the Story of Numbers.
These Great Stories are the context for each and every subsequent lesson the child receives and she understands that no idea stands alone. For example, children exploring scientific classification of plants based on their leaf shapes, understand that those different shapes are strategies that plants developed to meet the same needs, to ‘eat’, grow, and make more like themselves. These are the laws they know all life is called to follow because of the story of the Coming of Life. The children engaging in complex conversations about migration know that all human behavior is based on meeting universal fundamental needs, which in turn is a part of the laws governing all life as well.
Of course, these interdependencies support the organization of the child’s mind and, perhaps more powerfully, the child’s development of morality and justice. Cosmic Education fosters reverence for nature and humanity, and cultivates gratitude and respect for the gift of the work done by those who have come before us. What could possibly be more humbling and simultaneously empowering than to understand that you and everything around you have a place in the cosmos. Elementary children beautifully articulate this nuance and it is a reminder that we must never underestimate their intellect.
Like building the frame of a puzzle and filling in missing pieces, the children find joy in the picture of their world that is revealed. When the child has the freedom to focus on understanding in her own way, rather than memorizing lists of details, there is no reason that learning wouldn't be joyful and exciting. Cosmic education transforms learning into an engaging exploration that is never limited to one environment. This is, without a doubt, the greatest gift we can give to our children. It is much deeper than joyful work in the classroom, when we can present the universe to the children in this way it offers unlimited inspiration and resources to fuel their natural curiosity. It reframes the unfortunate idea that learning is something that happens in a specific environment with specific expectations, rather than a state of mind that is fundamental to human nature. When we embrace the child’s love of information and introduce them to tools that will help them learn, they will need no external incentives. The universe is irresistibly interesting.
The child who has the freedom to explore her interests within the supportive structure of Cosmic Education will have an intrinsic sense of responsibility for the world, and an endless respect for it. She will find joy in her work, and the sense of peace knowing her place within it all.