Independence Day and Cosmic Education Activities for the Montessori Classroom

The philosophy of modern history lays emphasis on the meeting and mixing of peoples, groups with tendencies to merge into larger groups, nations at last to start organizing the unity of humanity. – Maria Montessori, To Educate the Human Potential.

Independence Day in the United States celebrates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776 in Philadelphia. Each year on July 4, many US citizens mark this national holiday with picnics, parades, speeches, and fireworks.

This year you can celebrate Independence Day (see links below for ideas) and use this national holiday as a springboard for exploring Independence Days and National Days in other countries with your Montessori students and children. With Independence Day as a theme, you and your Montessori students can have a whirlwind tour of the globe and world history.

Independence Day and Cosmic Education Activities for the Montessori Classroom

Depending on the age of your Montessori students, you can provide students with a list of countries to choose from for research. For younger students, you can provide the basic information of the national holiday for a specific country. Another option is to share information during a group circle time and then discuss, compare, and contrast together. See the links below for ideas, and incorporate cultural geography, history language arts and visual arts into your discovery and exploration.

Challenge your students to create a visual of Independence Days throughout the world. A student may choose to create a globe or label a commercially-made globe with each country’s celebration date. Elementary Montessori students may want to create a large timeline that shows the significant events attached to all of the world’s days of independence and nationality. Another option is a concept map or visual organizer that shows the connections between different countries’ celebrations. All physical renderings of your study can be displayed in your Montessori classroom.

Many books are available on specific countries histories and holidays. This study can lead to very interesting discussions about patriotism and national pride.

Celebrating your own Independence Day in the context of global citizenship is a great way to nurture Montessori Cosmic Education and Peace into your child’s learning. Happy Fourth of July!

Resources
Here are a few websites that offer information about Independence Days around the world. Feel free to find your own by searching the internet, or visiting your local library.

• http://www.squidoo.com/independencedayaroundtheworld
• http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0907876.html
• http://www.yankeedoodles.net/independencedayaroundtheworld.htm
• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/02/independence-day-celebrat_n_222582.html

Related NAMC blogs to give you further activity ideas and information:

• Exploring North American Independence in the Montessori Classroom
• Fourth of July Celebrations
• Celebrating American Independence Day

NAMC’s curriculum manuals offer many activities to promote a lifelong love of learning in your Montessori students.

As much as possible, NAMC’s web blog reflects the Montessori curriculum as provided in its teacher training programs. We realize and respect that Montessori schools are unique and may vary their schedules and offerings in accordance with the needs of their individual communities. We hope that our readers will find our articles useful and inspiring as a contribution to the global Montessori community.
© North American Montessori Center - originally posted in its entirety at Montessori Teacher Training on Thursday, June 24, 2010.