Look at the Leadership Years: Spotlight on 3rd Grade

Third grade is an exciting and important year in the Montessori three-year cycle as the culminating year of Lower Elementary program. Developmentally, third graders are just dipping their toe into what it means to be intellectually independent. This is a time when children start to think about their own sense of identity within the context of a larger group. They begin to think of themselves as individuals, and lean into their strengths and their own interests - the things that make them unique. At this age, children also become very attentive to social cues and learning the rules of social interactions in larger groups.  In a Montessori elementary school environment, this developmental stage is intentionally supported through independence, leadership opportunities, and collaborative learning experiences.

This is also a phase of development where kids try a lot of new things, how to challenge themselves and take healthy risks in order to grow. As with all new things, mistakes are part of the process, and third graders need the chance to be a little messy - literally and figuratively - to build these new competencies. 

Leadership development is a cornerstone of Montessori elementary education, and third grade serves as a pivotal year for cultivating independence and responsibility. At Brooklyn Heights Elementary School, our third grade curriculum is designed to give students a safe and supportive space to try things out and practice these big new skills. Some specific examples of how we nurture this in our third grade students are:

Leadership Class

Third graders participate in a Leadership Class where they are asked to think about their own identity and what makes each of them unique. As part of this exercise, students choose and reflect on their core values.

Third grade students’ reflections on their core values. 

Another area of focus in Leadership Class is the brain. Students learn about how the brain works and the parts of the brain that control emotions, decision making, and self-control. Relatedly, students also explore digital citizenship and think about how to make good choices online and navigate the internet in a responsible and positive way. 

The final component of Leadership Class is the Third Grade Debate, which is a capstone of the third grade year. The debate asks students to practice advocating for a position that is not necessarily their own. This ability to think outside of their own perspective is a new skill for students at this age and the debate is an opportunity to consider other points of view and expand their frame of reference. Experiences like this reflect how our Montessori elementary program intentionally develops critical thinking, empathy, and perspective-taking as core academic skills.

Service Learning As Part of the Montessori Philosophy

In third grade, students begin to do service outside of their classroom. Students choose a person or a function within the school that they would like to learn more about and spend time each week doing tasks or projects that contribute to the overall wellbeing of the school community. This gives third graders a chance to form meaningful relationships with adults outside of their regular teachers while also making a valuable contribution to their bigger community. Service work also helps children establish their own developing identity - giving them a chance to explore interests they may not have yet encountered.

As leaders in our Montessori elementary community, third graders take on mentorship roles with younger students. Another way third graders experience service in the school community is that in the second half of the school year, they each get matched with a Preschool “reading buddy” - a younger student that they meet with each week, read books with, and mentor over time. The Reading Buddies program asks third graders to be real role models to the younger children and helps reinforce their responsibility to be leaders in the community. This cross-age mentorship is a hallmark of Montessori philosophy, where multi-age learning strengthens leadership and empathy.

Experiential Learning Through Special Trips

Experiential learning is an essential component of Montessori elementary education, and our third grade year is intentionally framed by two transformative off-campus experiences at the beginning and end of the year. In the fall, third graders take a trip to Boundless Adventures, an outdoor adventure park designed to physically and mentally challenge participants. This trip intentionally pushes students out of their comfort zone a bit - on ropes courses, zip lines, and obstacles courses, students need to work through challenges, both individually and as a group. One reason Boundless Adventures is a great partner for this experience, is that they, like BHMS, root their programming in the CASEL Social and Emotional Learning Framework.  These types of challenges support resilience, executive functioning, and collaborative problem-solving - skills that are foundational in the third grade Montessori age range.

At the end of the year, students travel to The Yard on Governors Island. This is another opportunity for students to connect physical exploration with navigating mental challenge, collaboration, and teamwork - all without the direct guidance of adults.

This balance of freedom and responsibility reflects the structure of a Montessori education, where students are trusted to make decisions within thoughtfully prepared environments. These experiences are not enrichment add-ons, but integrated components of our Montessori elementary curriculum designed to build confidence, independence, and leadership.

Bridging Into Upper Elementary

A defining feature of Montessori elementary curriculum is that it is designed as a cohesive six-year journey, rather than isolated grade levels, with an intentional transition between Lower and Upper Elementary.

To help students begin to feel comfortable in the Upper Elementary space, the Elementary Team facilitates frequent visits and opportunities for third graders to be in the 4th-6th grade classrooms. Leadership Class also takes place in the Upper Elementary suite for this reason. By physically being in the Upper Elementary space, students not only start to become familiar with the environment, but they also form and maintain relationships with their older peers in the program – all supporting their smooth transition into Upper Elementary. By the end of third grade, students are not just prepared academically, but confident leaders ready for the next stage of Montessori elementary education.