Curriculum & Instruction

INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAM OVERVIEW

• Curriculum Design Goals:

  • A curriculum shall be developed or chosen that will:

1. meet the needs of the individual child by providing activities and experiences that will enhance the physical-motor, perceptual-cognitive, speech and language, and emotional and social development

2. recognize each child as an unique individual with different abilities, interests and learning styles, and thus provide activities that are responsive to those differences

3. provide activities and experiences that will enhance the development of the child's self-esteem and instill positive feelings towards learning

4. utilize a thematic approach which integrates subject areas

• Instructional Goals

  • The environment shall be developed, prepared, and organized so that it: 

1. reflects the philosophy that children are active learners who learn by interacting with their environment

2. invites and encourages a child to investigate, explore, create, and imagine through the use of a variety of materials and learning centers

3. allows for children to utilize a multi-modality approach to learning

4. empowers the child with a sense of responsibility for enhancing his own learning and further pursuing knowldge and interests beyond that introduced in formal classroom instruction

5. enhances problem-solving and creative thinking skills

All of our elementary classes focus on the language arts, math, science, and social studies with a cross-curricular approach.  The curriculum also includes handwriting, with a focus on cursive in the 3rd-5th grades.  From Pre-K 4 through 5th grades, all students receive weekly specials that include: gym, art, music, spanish and TRIBE, which is a class that focuses on character development and conflict resolution.  A typical sequence of middle and high school courses can be found in our parent handbook.