Programs
The school grows with the child. What a class does in the morning changes as children do, and the people stay familiar.
A morning with a rhythm: free play, a story, a song, and a snack chopped or baked in the room
Watercolor, beeswax and wool, and a nature table that changes with the season
Time outdoors every day, in the yard, the garden and the edge of the woods
Letters arrive through stories, pictures and songs, and each child sets the pace
Kindergartners meet their first-grade class teacher in the spring. The two teachers and the family talk before the move, and it happens in the fall.
Main lesson: two hours each morning on one subject, for a few weeks at a time, drawn and written in a book the child makes
Form drawing, knitting, recorder and a second language
Fables, legends and tales from many lands, told aloud before they are written
Gardening, baking and a class play
A class teacher begins with the class in grade 1 and stays with it. Specialists teach music, language and handwork.
Main lessons in science, history and geography, with experiments done by hand
Woodworking, sewing and a long class project
Subject teachers join the class teacher, who stays close
A spoken report and a class play in eighth grade
Grade 8 ends with a project each student presents to the school. The office helps each family look at what comes next.
Sample levels.
Classes
Every stage keeps the same mornings. Afternoons and after care are for families who need them.
Ages 3 to 6
Nursery and kindergarten share a mixed-age room.
Grades 1 to 5
Fridays end at 12:30 p.m. for every class.
Grades 6 to 8
Afternoons are for woodwork, sewing and the class project.
Sample programs.
What children make
Every main lesson ends in something a child has made: a drawing, a book, a model, a loaf.
Children write and draw their own record of each block, in place of a textbook.
Wet-on-wet watercolor in the early years, then form drawing and perspective.
Knitting and sewing, then woodwork, from a first spoon to a stool.
Songs and recorder, then a class chorus, with circle games and folk dance.
Planting, harvesting and baking, with the seasons as the calendar.
Tales told aloud, then acted, then written, in every grade.
The rooms
The early childhood room has low shelves, a rug, a loft for quiet reading and a table that holds whatever the season brings in. Nursery and kindergarten share it, so younger children watch the older ones and older ones look out for the younger.
Book a visit, or write to the office with your child's age.