Our goal is to make learning in literature, social studies, and science available and enjoyable to students who have reading and writing skills below grade level and are often resistant to school. Most of our students have had little success in school and often have very little carry over of information or skills from their previous schools in these subjects. Each year new students enter the program from many different schools and programs. Students' background information and interests are usually determined by what they have experienced with their families and on television. We feel that the best learning takes place when teachers are free to teach topics of their own interest and expertise and are free to develop lessons based on the interests of the children present. Although there is no set curriculum guide to determine the chronological or geographical areas to be studied in social studies, the books to be read in literature, or the topics to cover in science, there are strong, unofficial expectations of the classes in each area.
In literature, the goal is to help the children love books and become compelled by the exciting possibilities in them. Books are read to the students, some of whom follow along in the text, some volunteer to read aloud, and some need to draw or move about the room to remain focused. Questioning and guided discussion, illustrating in two or three dimensions, journal keeping, and dramatizing parts of books are ways of helping engage the students and extending their comprehension. While some students may have difficulty grasping the chronology of plot and remembering the setting, others may be able to discuss questions and ideas suggested by the theme or behavior of characters. Creative writing is often introduced in literature classes. By the sixth grade, most students will have been introduced to basic literary terms and genres.
Geography and chronology are revisited in every social studies class as they are two areas of ongoing difficulty for many of our students. Through video and film, field trips, reenactments, costumes, artifacts, construction of models, and stories, students are guided to experience, wherever possible, the "way it was" for people who lived in other times and places and to make appropriate connections to their own lives. In some years the topics covered in literature and social studies are coordinated and interdisciplinary projects are undertaken. Among the skills practiced at every level are those of formulating questions, researching, understanding and articulating narratives, and working both individually and in groups towards specific accomplishments, such as giving a videotaped presentation to the class or putting on a skit for a school assembly.
The elementary community spends a portion of the winter term immersed in a chosen culture or country. Every class engages in activities linked in some way to that culture. currently, this program extends to three weeks prior to Spring Vacation and culminates in a feast presented to the students and faculty by their parents. Recent areas of study have been India, Italy, and Brazil.
In science classes, students learn how observation and experimentation lead to answers (and even more interesting questions) about their world. Classes take advantage of the resources presented by our 450 rural acres that include fields, woods, streams, and a pond. Students are taught to use simple microscopes and other tools, to record observations and data in scientific notebooks, and to gain practice with measurement, estimation, and following directions.
