CURRICULUM
The child … is the curriculum.
- Rudolf Steiner
Emergent Curriculum:
A Weaving Process
With a student-centered, emergent curriculum, our teachers weave curriculum strands together with student interests, resulting in rich interdisciplinary fields of study and thematic lessons that are relevant, engaging, and exciting to the children at Springwell. We also honor independent learning and provide daily time to support ongoing individualized skills development in the traditional academic content areas, such as math and language arts.
We follow the Common Core State Standards when assessing and planning academic progress for our students for math and English Language Arts. For our reading instruction, we use Wilson’s Fundations for early readers. All work is adapted to meet students where they are at, regardless of grade level or age.
Since we follow our students’ interests, the curriculum guides are just that, guides. The actual classroom work evolves as our faculty and students evolve and adapt together.
A curriculum that lives and breaths — adapting to student interests.
Please note: at Springwell, we do not strictly adhere to a set traditional curriculum each year. The Springwell curriculum lives and breaths, adapting to student interests as learning evolves.
Our teachers and students adapt actual curriculum together in real-time, while following common core state standards in Math and English Language Arts. As our classrooms and our student body changes, our curriculum naturally adapts as well.
Our Ethos: Academic Musings
Our Inspirations
Our innovative curriculum combines elements of progressive models of education including Reggio Emilia, Montessori, and Waldorf approaches to education. We balance whole group and individual student-led learning activities, with carefully trained staff who engage students in learning activities, then observe, document, reflect, and plan new ways for students to explore their developing understandings on a daily basis.
Reggio Emilia.
We incorporate Reggio Emilia's deep exploration of thematic units based on student interest. Teachers actively support student agency, honoring all learners and learning styles by using the "Hundred Languages" of children, engaging in interdisciplinary study of rich topics over a sustained period of time, and requiring ongoing documentation and reflection from carefully-trained teachers.
We support student documentation as central to our constructivist approach. Each of our three academic sessions features a gallery walk: showcasing final projects by the students.
Montessori.
Montessori, with its beautifully designed hands-on curriculum materials, is a method that is over 100 years old and its efficacy has been well proven. Created by Dr. Maria Montessori, the first woman pediatrician in post-war Italy, these math and language arts materials allow students to continue their personal academic pursuits while working at their own pace in a structured environment. Our daily schedule incorporates independent time for these explorations.
We also honor the Montessori approach through our mixed-age classrooms, which present each child with the chance each day to be both an apprentice and a mentor.
Waldorf.
The natural unfolding of children's capacities is respected and never rushed. The awareness and space created for play as a way of learning is also an influence from Waldorf, as is our emphasis on students creating their own portfolios documenting their learning. For progress reports, we believe in portfolio assessment, student-led parent conferences, and end-of-year deeply thoughtful narratives written by the caring staff who guide your child's learning every day.
Please note, we are not a Waldorf school and do not follow Waldorf curriculum.
As founder of Springwell, I deeply contemplate — on a daily basis — what students (and humans) need in order to thrive, not just in the future, but right now, in this very moment.
In my early youth, I was an excellent student, an identity that led me to Harvard Law. I learned to out-perform within controlled environments.