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PRIMARY COHORT
1st - 3rd Grade
Our primary program offers a relaxed, yet constructive, learning environment where students enjoy a balanced day of hands-on academics, projects, and plenty of time for socialization.
THE PROGRAM
Our primary cohort consists of students in 1st - 3rd grade. We provide two days of in-person instruction in our hybrid programs. Families also receive two days of *home study curriculum to complete at home.
We believe that the primary years deserve to be cherished as precious moments in "early childhood" and their learning program should reflect their natural curiosity and innate need for experiential and hands-on learning. We have a relaxed, but constructive, approach to teaching and learning and believe that a reduced-stress, "quality over quantity" approach better serves the emotional, mental, and academic needs of our students.
Our daily schedule includes a balance of direct instruction, guided learning, independent activities, free choice, and ample social breaks. Our theme-based curriculum includes the core subjects of English Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies. We integrate literature, games, songs, multi-sensory experiences, art, and more into our daily lessons. Work pages are used constructively to help to build skills and solidify concepts.
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*Home study curriculum reflects our philosophy of "quality over quantity" and can generally be completed in 1.5 - 2.5 hours per day, depending on the child's working speed, their engagement in any given subject, and parental participation.
DAY IN THE LIFE
Upon arrival, our students enjoy a few minutes to settle in through relaxed morning activities such as playing with friends, building with lego, reading a story, etc. Students then gather for group time. During this short period, students engage in discussions about the current theme, receive an introduction to new concepts of the week, enjoy a story, or participate in songs or games. We then break into our small group learning cohorts for core subject rotations. Our morning schedule begins with math. Following a snack and outdoor break to burn off energy, we move into ELA rotations, which include phonics & spelling, and then literature & composition.
After an enjoyable lunch and outdoor play break, students explore science and social studies concepts through literature, projects, crafts, and more! Our day concludes with a social period where students build friendships through free play, games, art, and more!
CURRICULUM OVERVIEW
As a hybrid program, we carefully select all of our resources to match our unique set-up of two days of in-person instruction and two days of home study. Many curriculum programs on the market are either geared to a 5-day, teacher instructed program (i.e. private or public school) or are written for traditional homeschooling that serves a single-student, parent-led model. As such, we meticulously create and curate resources, materials, and worktexts that align to a school-to-home partnership that supports collaborative learning in school, meets state and national standards, and provides genuine learning experiences at home without overwhelming the student or family.
Many students in our program enjoy rich and engaging extra-curricular activities or value time with family. Therefore, our align our home study curriculum to meet the work-life balance our families desire.
MATH
Mastery in math is a key element in our program, and as such, we strive for deep learning in this subject. In our primary program, we use a curriculum that includes hands-on fluency activities, games, small group work, manipulatives, cut-and-paste activities, and work pages to reinforce key skills.
This program includes both a teacher/parent guided plan and a self-directed, interactive online plan. Families will choose which path to follow based on the path that would better serve their child or family circumstances on home study days. On class days, the teacher instructs the given lesson to the group. During the independent work period, students using the digital plan will complete the digital lesson, along with workbook pages. Students using the directed plan will complete their workbook pages along with additional fluency activities.
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Parents opting for the teacher/parent directed path will be responsible for teaching their child two lessons per week using the lessons outlined in the *teacher manual and assisting as needed with problem sets. Parents opting for the digital path will monitor their child's online progress and then assist as needed with the problem sets.
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*Parents using the directed plan will be required to purchase the teacher's manual. A free copy is also available for download.
READING INSTRUCTION
(PHONICS, SPELLING)
Our teachers are all trained in the Orton Gillingham approach; thus, we implement a multi-sensory, Orton Gillingham aligned curriculum for teaching targeted reading skills such as phonemic awareness, phonics (sounds), sight words, fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, penmanship, and spelling. Students are placed in leveled groups for this academic work session in order to meet them where they are and progress their reading skills as best as possible. This means that regardless of age, a student will be placed in the reading group that will best target their needs. As a mixed-age program, students are comfortable working within any group, and are taught to not only understand, but respect, that each child has their own rate of learning in each subject.
LITERATURE & COMPOSITION
Literature and composition are introduced in our Core 4 program, but are fully instructed in the Deep Learning Track.
Our goal is to create a passion for reading and writing that simultaneously develops a wide knowledge base in a variety of interesting topics, ranging from animals to cultures, and everything in between! For this reason, we dedicate a full learning block to enjoying quality literature and understanding how to effectively glean information from informative texts. Using a theme-based approach, these books serve as a springboard for learning about a variety of topics, while also learning about story structure, setting and characters, themes, lessons learned from literature, analyzing text for information, and more. We also use these books as a tool for informing students on grammar concepts, effective writing techniques, word usage, etc. Finally, these topics provide interesting and meaningful platforms for developing competent writing skills. By the end of third grade, and with individual abilities always in mind, students will be able to effectively write any one of the common paragraph forms, including narrative, expository (informational), argumentative (opinion/persuasive), and descriptive.
SCIENCE
INVESTIGATION & EXPLORATION!​
Our science curriculum is fully aligned with NGSS to encourage student-driven learning and encourages students to build a keen sense of inquiry as they learn about their world through the scientific process. Students will love reading about new science concepts and participating in weekly hands-on investigations, experiments, and explorations!
SOCIAL STUDIES
We believe that Social Studies is so much more than the study of history. Therefore, we integrate meaningful, hands-on explorations in world cultures, geography, conservation, global issues, local and global economics, US history, and more! Similar to our science curriculum, we use an investigative, student-driven learning model where students are challenged to work through questions and concepts by conducting authentic research and investigation and participating in an array of projects that range from writing experiences to cultural art projects.
