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The structure of the curriculum is designed to both stimulate and
support the developing child. From the imaginative world of fairy
tales to the sophisticated and complex concepts operating in modern
times, all the academic subjects are taught from the perspective
of historical and cultural origins. Kindergarten is devoted to the
cultivation of imagination. From this stage the students progress
through the eight grades from ancient civilizations to the modern
world with an understanding of the connections between individual
human effort and the development of culture. The continuity of the
curriculum, whether in mathematics, science, language arts or history,
gives the student the capacity for perspective and an ability to
exercise judgment responsibly.
Our primary goal in the first three grades is to develop
the innate human capacities of each child through a holistic approach
to learning. Through rhythmic movement, artistic practice, and mental
picturing, we stimulate the forces of will activity, feeling sensibilities,
and imaginative thinking
The goal of the main lesson curriculum in the first five years
is literacy and a creative appreciation of language and usage. Mathematics
begins with the study of the quality as well as the quantity expressed
by numbers, and goes beyond mere answers and computations skills
to connect with the imagination. In the third grade, the curriculum
presents each area of activity- academic, artistic, and athletic-
in ways that address the profound change in the child. The nature
studies of the first two grades become the study of house building
and farming in the third grade, then zoology and botany in the fourth
and fifth grades. Folk tales and legends branch out into mythology
and history.
The children in grades four and five should have an awakening ability
to more clearly see their place in the world, an active curiosity
about the world and the will to act upon that curiosity, using observation
and increasingly clear thinking. They should be able to articulate
an experience, an observation, a story, and their own thoughts and
begin to express these in writing. Becoming more conscious of themselves
as members of an ever-widening community, the children begin to
develop the ability to recognize the needs of social situations,
and through their actions to further harmony in the social realm.
We expect them to have an appreciation of art in many forms, a desire
to create beauty, and respect for nature with a desire to care for
it. Integrated in the flow of each class and the entire day, the
middle grade student should show an increasing independence in following
through with activities and responsibility in use of materials,
based on the habits built up from the Kindergarten and early grades.
Beginning in the 6th grade and continuing through the 8th
we hold an increasing expectation for the students’ sense
of self-direction and responsibility for personal behavior and learning.
It is hoped that the young person will have a sense of him/herself
as a unique individual within the stream of developing human consciousness
and will desire and feel able to make a significant contribution
to the classroom and school community. Furthermore, and most importantly,
our intention has been to prepare the students to bring full forces
of feeling and will to bear to meet the intellectual expectations
of the high school curriculum.
With the sixth grade, the self-discipline and work habits developed
in the lower grades become the social and academic standards that
will prepare the student for high school. In this stage, the curriculum
sharpens observation, gives voice to emotions, develops balance
in judgments, and directs the child’s will to purposeful productive
activity. From the subtle precision of a geometric construction
to the resistance of wood beneath a chisel, the student’s
whole being is challenged to meet the demands of thought and material
substance. The activities chosen for this time are aimed at the
pre-adolescent’s extreme sensitivity and need for accomplishment
and self-esteem.
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