All Grades | Preschool | Kindergarten | After-School Care, Arts and Summer
The elementary program:
- Helps nurture a love for learning that encourages the innate curiosity of children
- Emphasizes the acquisition of solid academic skills in the areas of reading, writing, mathematical processes and research
- Develops children’s unique writing styles through daily writing experiences and research projects
- Integrates units of study allowing for hands-on, experiential learning with an emphasis on expressing themselves through writing
- Provides the setting for inquiry-based learning projects, applying skills from all curricular areas
- Encourages the children to develop a respect for self and others and to enable children to find within them an acceptance needed to live in today’s world
- Exposes children to many forms of music, art, fine literature, poetry, and physical movement
- Provides a local and global awareness and an appreciation for the environment
- Encourages self-motivation, self-reliance, and the ability to complete and critically evaluate tasks and projects
- Provides access to Harmony’s fun summer program for elementary-age students which features fun activities such as swimming, hiking trips, African drumming, plus reinforces practical classroom tasks such as reading and creative writing.
The elementary school day features two main learning clusters: uninterrupted work time and integrated project work.
The mornings are spent engaging in uninterrupted work time, following individual work plans and meeting with teachers in small groups to acquire reading, writing and mathematics skills. The curriculum utilizes a number of manipulatives, traditional texts, a classroom library, literacy circles and technology.
Afternoons are spent doing integrated project work with students conducting in-depth experiments and researching projects in science and social studies.
A wide variety of field trips, community speakers and parent volunteers support these studies. Students are encouraged to share their findings with the group to further students’ critical analytical skills and public speaking.
