Adolescent Program

“The teachers must have the greatest respect for the young personality, realizing that in the soul of the adolescent, great values are hidden, and that in the minds of these boys and girls there lies all our hope of future progress and the judgment of ourselves and our times…if social progress is realized through the succession of the generations, then these children… will become more highly developed than their adult teachers.”

Maria Montessori, “From Childhood to Adolescence”

Montessori Education Fulfills Itself In The Adolescent Years

Adolescents need to construct themselves as responsible individuals who participate as contributing members of society. The Adolescent asks: Who am I? Where do I fit in? What contribution can I make? How can I participate? Adolescence is a time of dramatic change, including profound changes in the structure of the brain. The Adolescent Program of the Montessori School of Lake Forest addresses the challenges of adolescence as opportunities. The Adolescent Program:

• Provides a supportive learning environment;
• Offers a stimulating syllabus to meet or exceed state and local school standards;
• Allows each young person to develop their unique strengths while learning about the roles and responsibilities of adult society.

The Adolescent Program is organized around Maria Montessori’s Plan of Work and Study for Adolescents. Lessons reveal the relationship between knowledge and responsibility, and emphasize human invention and discovery. The program is situated on farmland at Prairie Crossing in Grayslake, nine miles west of the school’s main campus. The Program’s curricular offerings include:

• A full complement of challenging academics;
• An introduction to human society based on the economic imperatives of farm work;
• Fields trips and research trips to libraries, laboratories, museums, and theaters.

Adolescent Program Syllabus:

Pre-algebra, statistics and probability

Algebra 1 and Geometry (Algebra 2 if needed)

Basic skills practice and testing

Language

Classic Literature

Writing styles, techniques, and standards

Latin translation, comparative grammar and syntax

Reading, writing and performing: speeches, presentation, dramatics, poetry

Ethics/Logic

Logic and ethics in discussion of Plato, Voltaire, Rousseau

Information on types of intelligence - How humans develop throughout life

Sciences

Eco systems, biomes, biology, physics, chemistry and geology

History

Study of inventions, discoveries, and social changes throughout all of history.

Ancient civilizations; Illinois and local history; governments past and present

Art History

Prehistoric to modern times

Media literacy

Art

Drawing, painting, sculpting, photography, videography

Music

Music theory & reading music

Practical Subjects

Opportunities to apply knowledge of math, language, and the sciences.

Specific aspects of production (fields, mushrooms, chickens, greenhouse) and exchange (sales, marketing, recordkeeping) as well as in domestic roles (cooking, cleaning, repairs)