Once a child turns six years of age, Montessori says that the child enters a second stage of development. Physically there are tremendous changes. The biggest difference, however, between a preschool child and the elementary child is that the elementary child explores his environment and seeks to understand the world around him by using his mind. While the young child understands and learns through his senses, the child in the second stage of development combines memory, imagination and reason instead of sensorial impressions to learn. Montessori would say that the greatest gift is the use of imagination to achieve abstraction. Now the questions become "How does it work?" and "Why?" instead of "What?"

The child in the elementary classroom is involved in building relationships with peers and adults. The 6-12 year-old child becomes engaged in the construction of a community and gradually the child will choose the group as the context for his own life. During this period, there is great social adaptation as opposed to the physical adaptation of the preschool child. Sensitivity to belonging to the group also leads the child toward a system of justice and helps the child to develop a sense of conscience.

Elementary students presenting the Historical Timeline character of their choice

Socially the child is very interested in rules and regulations as well as justice and codes of behavior. There are often discussions of classroom procedures and problem solving when infractions occur. In fact, the child often checks on the rules for his own verification. Morally, the child develops a sense of justice first for himself and then for the well-being of the group. The elementary child already possesses physical independence, so now he strives for social independence which is defined as the ability to build and maintain relationships on his own. The path to social independence is through the development of his social skills. The greater the freedom the child has to make decisions, act, and to experience consequences of his actions, the greater the perfection of those skills. The social experiences help the elementary child see another person's point of view and facilitates the development from an egocentric being into an interdependent one who is a contributing member of a classroom community.

Expectations for classroom behavior are as follows:

• Show respect for others by speaking politely, listening respectfully and following agreed-upon classroom rules.
• Show respect for the environment by taking care of my school and everything it contains.
• Be a responsible member of my community. I will be honest and worthy of trust.
• Be responsible for my own actions. When I make a mistake, I will apologize and make amends.
• Put my best effort into my work. I will do my best, whether working on my own or in a group.
• Exercise self-control by using appropriate language and controlling my body. In this way I will make my school a safe and happy environment for everyone.

Intellectually, the child moves from the concrete through the power of imagination to abstract thinking. His imagination and the knowledge acquired from the surrounding culture naturally advance him through the curriculum and he begins to apply that knowledge to the learning environment. It is for this reason that we bring the outside world into the elementary classroom, not only to expose the child to his culture, but also to the culture of others. While the preschool child will learn to read, the elementary child will read to learn.