| The Canadian Montessori Academy (CMA) Middle School Program integrates the Ontario Ministry of Education requirements of essential curricula, the newest research on the developmental needs of adolescents, the Montessori philosophy, the state of the art in current learning theory and the predictions of the skills needed for a productive life in the twenty-first century. The seventh and eighth grade years encompass a time of rapid growth and change in the early adolescent. In response to the developmental needs of this age group, Canadian Montessori Academy is implementing a model for both Montessori and public middle school programs. At the upper elementary level, the students from fourth to sixth grades cross the bridge between learning by hands-on experiences and the abstract understanding of concepts. At the seventh and eighth grades, new thinking brings a growing sense of membership in society. The CMA middle school program seeks the empowerment of adolescents by encouraging both individual "response-ability" and cooperative skills. All subjects are interrelated, and large blocks of thinking time allow for the emerging cognitive ability to explore possibilities and ideas. Curricula are interdisciplinary. Applications to life are emphasized in each subject area. The curricula and instruction are designed as a three-year program in which students acquire all required competencies but at their own individual pace. Students prepare monthly progress reports for parents and plan and initiate parent-student-teacher conferences three times a year. They evaluate themselves in 3 areas: academic growth, individual "response-ability," and group "response-ability." Students must demonstrate a 90% mastery of each area of study through presentations as well as test scores. Two independent study projects are required each year as well as one elective per month in order to address the adolescent need to explore new ideas. Cooperative skills are enhanced through community service, community building activities and cross-age teaching. A key aspect of the CMA middle school Program is the ‘work of the Hand? All ages work with their hand and their minds at the same time. In the Montessori Middle school system ‘the work of the hand?includes rural and urban community activities. Ideally, children have access to the land. All activities are performed by the children: budgeting, cooking, shopping, marketing, reporting, proposal writing etc. The adult is there to provide support, guidance and supervision. Because of the amount of work that is being done in the classroom daily, several outdoor activities are incorporated into the schedule, which allow the students to experience the world as well as deal with the academics. | 
