PRESCHOOL CURRICULUM

The goal for our preschoolers (ages 3-5) is to set the foundation for their future educational experiences. Students learn what it means to be part of a group or class, how to communicate their needs and wants appropriately. They learn about nature, cooperative play, and develop key language skills. The preschool benchmarks develop skills in a child’s cognitive, language, social/emotional, and physical capabilities. Children come in with little or no experiences and are introduced to tasks/activities which specifically move to strengthen their total body and mind. The students all achieve substantial success with our benchmark goals.

GRADES K-1 CURRICULUM

The early elementary years are a beginning foundation for ones academic journey. The goals in the Kinder through 1st grade classroom are setting children up to have a deep love for learning, be able to problem solve, have interpersonal communication skills with others, be conscientious and sensitive to our planet, and to be able to think for themselves. Our setting provides a daily rhythm that begins with story and academic experiences in both language arts and mathematics. The afternoon hours of our day are dedicated to right brain thinking including Art classes, Physical Education, Gardening, Singing/Music/Ukulele, Building/Creating, Play, and Yoga. Throughout the day, conversational Spanish is used in the classroom to allow the students a solid foundation in a foreign language.

GRADES 2-4 CURRICULUM

The 2nd – 4th grade classroom builds on foundations established in the K-1 years. The program utilizes previously learned skills and scaffolds into more abstract learning. Third to fifth graders work to become organized and responsible students, while seeking the answers to questions about the world all around them. Students are encouraged to set goals for themselves and to use multiple intelligences in developing projects and completing assignments.

Daily Schedule:

Most mornings begin with core Mathematics and English/Language Arts classes, followed by Science, History, and Social Studies thematic units in the early afternoons. Students have the opportunity to study material that is of interest to them and to apply their knowledge through a variety of hands-on projects, presentations, service work/study in their community, and special events.

GRADES 5-8 CURRICULUM

In addition to preparing students in grades 4th through 8th for the next step in their academic careers, we are committed to supporting middle school students in the transition from childhood to young adulthood. We believe that the needs of middle school students are best served within/in our small, multi-age class setting.

Traditional school models, divided arbitrarily into age, grade, and isolated subjects, cannot address the richness and complexity of life. An integrated, project-based approach to education is learning for the real-world; addressing the whole child, creating learning experiences that are tailored and relevant to students, enhancing engagement and providing a greater depth of knowledge, cultivating the academic and social skills needed to succeed in the classroom and in life.

Project-based learning favors depth and application of knowledge over breadth. Focusing on real-world challenges, multiple subjects are integrated into a single unit of study.