At age six, the child moves to what Montessori calls the Second Plane of Development, which encompasses the years from 6 to 12. There are enormous changes in the needs of the child from those of the First Plane, the years from birth to 6. The child is no longer centered on himself and his family but now has a great need to explore society and the world. If the First Plane is the age of "what," this Second Plane is the age of "why," "where," "who," "when," and "how." The child of this age wants to know how everything came to be. In the Montessori elementary classroom, we give the child the history of the universe, the world, the coming of plants and animals, and the emergence of humans on Earth.
The core curriculum in the Elementary Program consists of Language, Mathematics, Science, Geography, History, and Spanish.