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Lower School Curriculum
Introduction
Departmental Philosophy and Goals: The Laboratory Schools provide a rigorous, creative, well-rounded education for a diverse student body. The Schools are committed to help each student master important subject matter, learn to think critically and creatively, understand the values and traditions that underlie our society, and develop a sense of personal and community responsibility. The Laboratory Schools believe that students have different needs at different developmental stages, and bring with them a variety of life styles and cultural backgrounds. Students do not learn simply by exhortation, but through active participation, and The Schools see themselves as a community of students and teachers, responsible to one another. Every teacher is a student and every student is a teacher. The Schools work in partnership with parents to support and to enhance the learning of each student. The Schools provide an environment that fosters the professional growth of a dedicated and diverse faculty as they generate for every student pleasure in learning and achievement.
The Curriculum Review Process
The curriculum writing and revision process has provided many opportunities for us to share and connect all the good things we do in school. We have taken a broad look at the definition of the word "curriculum" so that it is not just a "laundry list" of what we teach. "Curriculum is best defined as all the experiences children have under the guidance of teachers and/or school." [1] We have met as grade level teams, combined grade levels, and as an entire faculty to exchange information and to ensure the balance between coherence, consistency, creativity and flexibility in our work.
In our discussions we have shared many years of teaching experiences. We have read and reread the works of Dewey, Piaget, Vygotsky, Tyler and other icons in the field of education. We have examined national standards and curriculum guides, attended conferences and workshops, and worked with consultants. We have kept parents abreast of our work in written communication and curriculum presentations at Lower School Council meetings. Over the past two years there have been presentations on character education, reading, science and math curricula. We have learned and taught each other some wonderful lessons during this process. Learning that is solid and permanent takes time - this is no less true for adults than for children. In the end, I hope we have become even more effective as teachers, providing our students with an even better education. And this is, of course, the goal of any curriculum review. "Curriculum planning and pedagogy are inextricably linked" 2 and in our work, we have examined both. We are committed to the principles of progressive education of which collaborative work is a key component. You will note many references to this basic tenet as well as the requirements that learning should be authentic, holistic, and social; it should be democratic, cognitive, developmental, constructivist, psycholinguistic, and challenging. We cannot talk about what we teach without talking about how we teach it. The written documents we have produced reflect a small measure of our discussions and our work with children. There is no way to capture effectively, in writing, all those "eye-to-eye, person-to-person" teachable moments that make up our days. What you have before you is the "tip of the iceberg". But, it is an important "tip" because it gives current and future parents, as well as, other professionals, some insight into what we do. Beneath the surface are extensive discussions on child development, assessment, recording and sharing progress with parents, staffings, scheduling, learning styles, teaching styles -- all of which are important when you consider that we are talking about the whole, real lives of children. You will note that our Program of Studies begins with an All Schools Mission Statement and Goals. The Lower School philosophy statement and a developmental description of children, ages six to ten, then follow. A developmental description of children at each grade level is also included. It is from this vantage point that everything else follows. Curriculum areas of Math, Language Arts, Library, Computer, World Languages, Science, Art, Physical Education and Music are included. Each subject area contains a brief introductory statement with goals. Following are skills and concepts, shared activities, projects and materials for each subject area. The focus for this school year's work is Social Studies which actually began during the summer. This portion will be completed by the spring of 1998. We see this curriculum review process as one that is dynamic and involving continual refinement and revision. The format provides consistency in the presentation of information without losing individual voices and the passion so critical to what we do. It is our intention that this will be an heuristic document that will inform parents, guide new teachers, and serve as a model and catalyst for our daily and future work. Lower School Philosophy Statement The Lower School programs in first through fourth grades build on the rich background nurtured in our Nursery and Kindergarten classrooms. As children move into first grade there is a natural segue from an environment where the child is the curriculum to one in which the curriculum becomes more external. New skills and challenges are added in developmentally appropriate ways and children are eager and ready for them. At the core of Lower School education is learning structured in a manner that supports the purposeful freedom we value and includes opportunities to move about, to investigate, to inquire, to experiment and to exchange ideas. When John Dewey founded The Laboratory Schools he sought "to discover how a school could become a cooperative community while developing in individuals their own capacities and developing their own needs." We continue to be committed to the basic tenets of progressive education that make the attainment of those goals possible. Progressive education is child-centered, holistic and social. It presents students with real cognitive challenges appropriate for their developmental levels. It gives students time and opportunities to construct ideas so that their learning is solid, permanent, and provides the foundation for future learning. Collaborative projects and activities allow students to learn the importance of cooperation, responsibility, and respect for each individual's ideas while working towards a common goal. Strategies such as tiered assignments, flexible grouping, and integrated curricula are among the ways skillful teachers are able to make adjustments for differing degrees of independence and complexity for each student. A great deal of careful and thoughtful planning goes into creating differentiated classroom environments with high expectations for learning that capture a student's imagination and curiosity and help them experience joy in learning. Throughout the grade school years teachers continue to listen carefully to children's ideas, to encourage their initiative, and to guide them in productive ways. Our daily teaching is guided and informed by the following basic principles.
Developmental Overview A child's home is the earliest learning environment and parents are their first teachers. A nurturing and supportive home life that is attentive to the physical and emotional needs of a young child is the best preparation for success in all future endeavors. "A child who is in a normal sensory environment, who is raised with affection and love, is going to set up the basic sensory connections he needs to learn .........a child's brain keeps building itself by constructing meaning from environment and experience."[1] The stimulation provided by touch, language, laughter, music, and other opportunities for social interaction is essential during these early childhood years. As children move into the middle years of childhood "there is a qualitative change in the way they organize their thinking, their feeling, and their social relating..........they begin to construct a concrete world that conforms for the first time to the laws of nature, and they are interested in the limits and possibilities within that world."[2] This new found ability coupled with "an evolving capacity to grant to themselves and to others a separate mind and a distinct point of view"[3] has profound academic and social implications. An expanding view of the world continually brings into consideration more people and places, more time and more ideas. A child's success during this time can be measured, in part, by his/her ability to perceive "how they should function in these varied contexts [people, place, time and ideas] and some of the rules that govern these perceptions."[4] Peer relationships take on an added dimension and are crucial to development. Friendships contribute to the development of social identity, the sharing of norms of social behavior, the practice of social skills and the establishment of social structures. The inherent conflicts that arise enable peers to exchange different viewpoints, goals, and desires and then work together towards solutions. The success of this stage depends largely on a child's sense of competence and mastery regarding the tasks placed before him with respect to academic challenges, socialization and peer relationships. Throughout one's life, maturation and experience, temperament, and cultural factors work in concert to produce infinite variation in human beings. If there is one "rule of thumb" to keep in mind as we watch children grow and learn, it is this. There is enormous variety in development in any group of children and at every stage of development - even within the same family. Each child has the right to feel valued and respected for who they are.
"Mathematics is the study of quantities and relations through the use of numbers and symbols." Classroom practices are organized so that students have many and varied experiences with numbers and symbols. The development of a sense of number is part of the daily discourse and woven into the fabric of each classroom. Number sense can best be described as "good intuition about numbers and their relationships." It develops overtime with opportunities to explore numbers, to visualize them in a variety of situations, and to relate them in ways that are not limited to traditional algorithms. Number sense builds on students' natural insights and helps them understand that mathematics makes sense, that it is not just a collection of arbitrary rules to be applied. We have adapted five general goals from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics. The intent of these goals is to develop mathematically literate individuals who understand the role of mathematics in our daily lives. We want our students to be skillful in the application of mathematical concepts as they relate to the occupations that fashion our world and our lives. We also want them to be appreciative of mathematical principles where they are manifested in the arrangement of the petals of a sunflower, the ebb and flow of the tides, and the creation of beautiful music.
Lower School Library The lower school library program is designed to nurture children's love of literature and their enthusiasm for investigating the existing body of knowledge on any given subject of interest. The program builds skills incrementally over the years, giving students the ability to independently use and enjoy library resources. While the ability to use the library independently is encouraged, support from librarians is always available. Knowledge and skills gained through the program help to form a strong foundation for lifelong learning. The lower school library program also provides support to classroom and special area teachers and attempts to integrate library goals and objectives with their curricula when possible. Goals
Visual Arts Department The primary objective of the Visual Arts program is the development of creative and aesthetically aware individuals. Our first task in the Visual Arts program is to foster the growth and development of visual literacy in each student. Our aim is to enable students to express ideas that are otherwise inexpressible through conventional language. We encourage each child's development on a perceptual and conceptual level through individual artistic discovery. Through direct involvement in a the visual arts, students can understand, value and respond to their own emotions, perceptions and intuition. Knowledge is developed through the process of giving ideas artistic form through individual creative exploration. Students are encouraged to "discover" through a variety of media appropriate at each age level and to develop technical skills and competency. Also, the scope and sequences of classroom instruction are designed to include art appreciation. Students look at art through a variety of cultural and historical perspectives. Writing and verbal skills are complemented with the language of art and visual literacy. Only then is a student's imagination truly supported and only then does he or she reconcile the power of the emotional and intuitive self with intellectual understanding.
Lower School Physical Education The physical education program is designed to offer a wide variety of experiences and exposure to many activities for its participants. The focus is on success, a high level of participation, enjoyment and the development of cooperative skills to enable our students to work well with others and to achieve group goals. As children move into third and fourth grades sportsmanship and cooperative learning are stressed. Students participate in a wide variety of activities from individual manipulative skills to team sports. It is hoped that these activities will help develop the health and vigorous energies of the students. Social and emotional development is recognized as being an important adjunct in the educational process. A main concern is to instill a love for physical activity along with an understanding of the health benefits to be gained from involvement. The goals for the Physical Education Department are student-centered. The emphasis on each varies from one grade to another and from teacher to teacher. In general, students are expected to develop:
Computer Science Department The primary goal in the Lower School computer classes is to help the students become technologically literate. This is achieved by exposing students to a wide variety of hands-on computer experiences which includes programming, simulations, information gathering, and working with applications and subject area software. By providing a broad range of computer experiences, we help students understand how computers can facilitate learning in all subject areas. We encourage students to respect one another's learning styles and different levels of computer expertise. Cooperative learning is encouraged so that the computer is viewed as a tool, not a companion. An effective computer program provides students with the opportunity to be self-directed, to pose and pursue their own questions, to explore, construct and create. We encourage students to feel confident enough to explore and build on what they know. Goals
Homework Homework is a means of extending the learning that goes on in school by affording students an opportunity to practice and apply skills and concepts learned during the school day. It may take a variety of forms depending on the grade level, subject area, and the needs of individual students. Regular homework assignments in the Lower School do not, as a rule, begin until third grade. However, younger students are expected to practice, with their parents, reading materials sent home by teachers. There should also be time set aside for regular review of math facts. A few minutes of practice with number facts several times a week is important in developing automaticity and facility with numbers. There may be other occasional assignments for first and second graders, such as the "homelinks" that are part of the University of Chicago School Math Program (UCSMP). Third and fourth grade students will have homework assignments almost daily. Assignments may focus on a particular skill or concept development. There may also be longer tasks that encourage students to expand on ideas presented in class, while integrating skills and subject areas. Reading for enjoyment is one of the best ways to become a skillful reader and should be a part of every child's day, after school, as well as during the school day. Review of math facts should continue and parents should consult with teachers about the variety of ways to do this. The process of understanding and taking assignments home, planning time for their completion, and returning them to school on time provides the underpinnings for success throughout one's school and work life. [1] Stephen C. Clem and Z. Vance Wilson, Paths to New Curriculum, NAIS 1991. 2 Ibid. [1] Jane Healy, Early Childhood Today, "Current Brain Research", Aug/Sept. 1997, Vol.12 No.1, pp.42-43. [2] Robert Kegan, In Over Our Heads, The Mental Demands of Modern Life, Harvard University Press, 1994. [3] Edited by Greenspan and Pollock, The Course of Life , Vol.III Middle and Late Childhood, International Universities, Inc., 1991. [4] Ibid. | |
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