K-2 Curriculum for the 2009-2010 Academic Year
The curriculum at Speyer Legacy School is designed to educate the mind, body, heart and spirit of our community of advanced learners with respect, responsibility and rigor. Our meta-cognitive approach to education encourages students to think about their thinking and to carefully consider the relevance of their learning. This disposition to reflection will be the engine that drives the curriculum and energizes our students. Our studies will provide our eager learners with experiences to move them in the direction of mastery and understanding of a range of disciplines and will help them to recognize and appreciate the myriad relationships between and amongst them. The classroom curriculum will be enriched by the participation of experts, adjunct instructors and visiting scholars. A focus on social responsibility and an awareness of global issues will provide a context for meaningful learning.
Literacy
Each classroom will offer a literature-rich environment where children are surrounded by books. Our students are literature driven and will have access to a well stocked library to provide fuel for their passionate engagement with books. Direct instruction of reading, writing and comprehension will be integrated into the units of study being undertaken in other disciplines. An initial literacy focus will be participation in the systematic creation of a school library and a consideration of the variety of styles of writing that are available. Literacy explorations will include author, genre and comparative studies, along with elements of the reading and writing workshop method. Our literacy investigations will examine the origins of language and the influences that contribute to its ongoing evolution.
Technology will be woven into our literacy program as naturally as it is woven into the lives of today’s students. Each classroom will be equipped with Smartboards to facilitate instruction, and the children will have access to laptop computers. Teachers will guide students in the development of critical thinking about information acquired though a range of media and responsible use of technology. The teachers will use various digital and electronic media and available technology to enhance problem solving, research skills and written work.
Mathematics
Mathematics at Speyer will be taught with a view toward today's technological society. The focus of the curriculum will be to cultivate and improve students' analytical skills, problem solving abilities, and technological skills, as well as to develop an understanding and appreciation of the reasoning skills employed in logic. The meta-cognitive approach to mathematics will encourage the children to recognize that there is a range of approaches to all mathematical concepts and operations. We will utilize one or more standard mathematics curricula and adapt those programs to the needs and abilities of our students. Initial math projects will relate to the design, construction and outfitting of classrooms as the students are actively involved in the creation of our school.
Foreign Language Forum
We believe that our students acquire language easily and the find the process fascinating and fun. Therefore, we will begin daily foreign language instruction in kindergarten. Initially, children will be immersed in Spanish through conversational instruction during and following “Language Lunch.”
Science
Young children are natural scientists who view the world through a lens of fascination and exploration. We will provide a range of scientific investigations related to our units of study that are designed to foster intrigue with scientific study. Our initial approach to scientific learning focuses on the function of science in society through such topics as life science, earth science, environmental studies, ecology and science for the future. An important ongoing mission of our science curriculum will focus on the plan to create the permanent home of The Speyer Legacy School as a green school.
Visual and Performing Arts
The Speyer Legacy School students will have access to the best visual and performing arts instruction that the city has to offer, both in their classrooms, where a range of artistic materials and experiences will be available to them daily, and through interaction with adjunct instructors who personify the best and most innovative practice available. The children will benefit from collaborative interaction with each other and with practicing experts in music, art and dance. We plan to take advantage of our proximity to a variety of performance venues to expose the children to art forms with which they may be unfamiliar.
History and Humanities
The history of education, from early forms of writing and communication all the way through to the development of organized learning will be an important focus in the early years and is consistent with the interdisciplinary study of the creation of a school. The humanities curriculum will focus on cultural ritual and the development of one’s own community. This is an especially important focus as the school will be developing its own place in a new community. Our studies will begin on a small scale, through discussion of an individual family’s own unique rituals, move outward to the rituals of the immediate community then expand to encompass rituals and customs from our country and throughout the world.
Chess
The students at Speyer Legacy School will participate in a full curricular chess program designed to foster higher-level thinking skills such as pattern recognition, spatial visualization, analysis and strategic thinking and problem solving. Renowned chess coach, Sunil Weeramantry, will design a custom program for Speyer that integrates technology and explores the history of chess and its great masters.
Optimal Health: Mind, Body & Spirit
Beyond wellness lies Optimal Health. It is our goal to familiarize our students with the range of systems that constitute good health and to explore with them the attitudes and practices that constitute their optimal health. We will address nutrition, physical education and fitness, time management and stress management. Utilizing our own gym space, the rooftop playground (under construction), and neighborhood recreational facilities, our students will have opportunities for physical exertion in the form of play, dance, fencing, group games and strength/stamina building activities. We are partnering with Health Barn USA to stimulate the children with in-depth studies of research-based nutrition, sustainable agriculture, and physical activity that will empower children confidently to take ownership of their own health and well-being and to become enthusiastic about living strong, energetic lives.
