The kindergarten program is play-based and nature-oriented in keeping with the awakening capacities of the young child below the age of seven.The curriculum includes indoor and outdoor free-play periods in which the children imaginatively and creatively self-direct their play.The play times are interspersed with circle time (languagearts, movement,and music), artistic activities (which vary daily and include painting, drawing, and beeswax modeling),snack time and story time.

First graders come to school with a sense of wonder and a longing for something more. Now the world of literacy beckons and formal teaching begins. Gradually thefirst grader moves away from the dreamy days of kindergarten. The child still perceives themself as one with the surrounding world. First grade teaching preserves that unity by moving gently from the whole to the parts.

Much of what is done in the second grade year builds upon the groundwork laid in the first grade, increasing the repertoire of knowledge and skills developed in the previous year. The second grader’s learning through imitation is still prevalent and their thinking is still very pictorial. Thus the teacher continues to present lessons through story, images, and activity. However, a new element in the second grader’s awareness comes forth; their experience of the world as aparadisal wholeness gives way to an inner awareness of duality in the world.

Third graders love to work! Their self-esteem grows with accomplishment and the mastery of wonderful challenges. In this year the curriculum explores the practical aspects of life on earth:the cultivation of food, the building of shelters, and the manufacture of garments. Class activities are enhanced by gardening and building projects outside the classroom. Mathematics studies serve practical needs with the study of measurements (time and distance) and money, while continuing practice in the four operations.

As fourth graders emerge from the “nine-year change” they are sturdy, self-confident, and robust. One can picture each student standing at the crossing point of two universal coordinates. From this vantage point the study of geography begins looking outward in ever widening circles. Every possible opportunity is given to meet these oppositions in quite unexpected ways, ways in which the child can have the experience of crossing, and at the same time be led towards a wholesome resolution.

Fifth graders arrive at a balance in the middle years of childhood. Development of the individual as separate from the world is acknowledged and celebrated. Now it is possible to direct the gaze outward into the world while becoming ever more conscious of the world within. In this year the students transition from myth to history and discover its emphasis on the individual. the children develop a greater consciousness of the interrelatedness of life and environment – particularly in the study of botany and geography.

Sixth grade is a year of transition from childhood towards adolescence. The sixth grade curriculum offers students the opportunity to use their developing understanding of causal relationships and to sharpen skills already developed in previous grades. Experiments provide students with a direct experience of the phenomena studied. The sixth graders are then challenged to exercise objectivity in recording their observations. They discover for themselves the natural laws underlying their observations.

Daily life in the seventh grade has its moments of turbulence, discovery, and (of course) humour. As students assert their independence, they look for examples of earnest striving in the adults around them. Teachers guide seventh graders toward the recognition of their own talents and capacities. History lessons explore the dramatic shift in human consciousness from the concept of an earth-centered universe to that of a planetary system with the sun at its center.

If the seventh grader is said to be on a voyage of discovery, the eighth grader can be thought of as a revolutionary. Revolutionary periods are studied in history, the world in geography, the short story in Language Arts and the platonic solids in Geometry. Anatomy and Physiology add to the student’s knowledge of themselves, and Meteorology enhances their understanding of the greater world. Students continue to find artistic expression in chorus, playing an instrument, and working with their hands in sewing and woodwork.

The ninth grade curriculum asks students to observe, question, and imagine alternatives. Developmentally, they are poised for analytical thought and academic rigor,yet often they see the world in black and white. Therefore, the course work in ninth grade explores polarities and contrasts, mirroring the physical and emotional changes that occur at this stage of adolescence and laying the foundation for nuanced and abstract thinking.