Curriculum Guide

Lessons are taught to build skills in:

• Care for self includes dressing and undressing, self-feeding, toileting, personal habits, work habits 
• Care for environment includes food preparation, setting and clearing table, cleaning, care of living things
• Grace & courtesy is modeled by calling child by name, saying please and thank you, and asking child if they need help

Lessons are taught to build or reinforce developing skills in:

• Care for self includes personal habits, dressing frames (for advanced dressing skills), snack preparation
• Environment care includes cleaning, use and care of classroom materials, care of living things, using tools, and sewing
• Grace & courtesy focuses on care for others through polite interactions

At this level, practical life becomes part of the everyday routine. Lessons are taught to build new skills with the community in mind:

• Life skills & environment care includes all aspects of caring for their environment, tool usage, handiwork, food preparation though voluntary or rotated student jobs 
• Grace & courtesy focuses and identifies care for others, self-control, appropriate manners

Practical life is part of the routine and new skills are developed with the individual or the community in mind:

• Life skills & environment care includes all aspects of caring for their environment, tool usage, handiwork, food preparation though voluntary or rotated student jobs 
• Grace & courtesy focuses and identifies care for others, self-control, appropriate manners
• Organizational skills & time management focuses on necessary steps using clock, calendar, checklists, work plans, and actions including plan ahead thinking, chunking tasks, and personal responsibility
• Cultural awareness focuses on communicating, sharing, and feedback to raise level of understanding

At this level, practical life, essential part of everyday life, takes on the added focus of developing individual and community understanding/skills for use in high school and beyond:

• Life skills
• Time management
• Organizational skills
• Cultural awareness
• Planning & budgeting
• Use of tools
• Kitchen tasks & cooking
• Student-run business

Lessons are taught to build skills for movement and large / gross motor and fine motor development.

Lessons are taught to build skills in large / gross motor and fine motor development as well as during P.E. classes.

At this level, lessons are taught to build further motor skills and physical development as well as develop good sportsmanship.

At this level, lessons are taught to build further motor skills and physical development as well as develop good sportsmanship.

At this level, lessons are taught to continue skill and physical development as well as sportsmanship.

Lessons are taught to build skills in relating to others and self-control.

Lessons are taught to build skills in relating to others and self-control.

Lessons continue to support foundational self-control and social skills needed for relating to others and to the world/community around the student, such as:

• Personal responsibility
• Engagement
• Relating to others

Lessons continue to support intermediate social skills for self-control and relating to others as well as to the world/community around the student, such as:

• Personal responsibility
• Engagement
• Relating to others

Lessons continue to support self-control, and to build social skills for relating to others and to the world/community around the student, such as:

• Going out
• Personal responsibility
• Table manners
• Being a good friend or community member

Lessons are taught to build understanding and skills in both community and individual peace efforts.

Lessons continue to advance understanding and skills in both community and individual peace efforts.

Lessons continue to advance understanding and skills in both community and individual peace efforts.

The CLMS peace curriculum comes full circle with the knowledge and understanding that "Peace comes from within." Lessons and practice promote peace in our community when we lead by example. Inner peace, challenging to achieve, requires perspective, calmness, self-respect, and grace. Tolerance and inclusion require a delicate balance of becoming aware and accepting of our differences while still maintaining our core values and respect. They can only be fully achieved by developing peace, goodwill, and curiosity within ourselves, enabling us to truly appreciate those around us.

Lessons are taught to build receptive and expressive language development in listening and speaking.

Lessons are taught to build beginning skills and support in reading, understanding literature, listening and speaking, language development, and writing through daily practice.

Lessons are taught to build intermediate skills and support in reading, understanding of literature, listening and speaking, language development, and writing through daily practice. 

Lessons are taught to build and advance skills and support in reading, understanding of literature, listening and speaking, language development, and writing through daily practice.

Mastering language is both an art and a science. Lessons are taught so students learn to recognize and apply optimal communication strategies to effectively interact in the world by practicing the various forms in the appropriate contexts beyond the classroom. For example, résumés enable students to capture relevant skills and experiences for the purpose of presenting themselves for internships, employment, and advancement. Book reviews are a mechanism of informing prospective readers of what they might expect in a given piece of literature. Essays and debates allow students to more formally organize and defend thoughts. Reading is the root of writing, and students read both individually and as a group. Reading provides a window into the world and human experience, while simultaneously laying an internal linguistic keel.

Lessons support the development of object permanence, spatial awareness, hand-eye coordination, fine and gross motor development through exploration using the five senses, manipulatives such as puzzles, and sorting activities

Lessons support the improvement of the I/T concepts with greater focus on defining and interacting with the environment using the senses:

• Color box
• Mystery bag
• Sound cylinders, bells
• Thermic, tasting, smelling bottles
• Cylinders, rods, prisms
• Geometric solids
• Geometric shapes
• Binomial & trinomial cubes

Skills and language gained in Early Childhood provide the foundation for Geometry:

• Shapes (2-D, 3-D)
• Points, lines, planes, solids
• Line study introduction
• Angle study introduction

Skills and language gained in LE are the basis for expanded Geometry study and problem solving:

• In-depth line study
• In-depth angle study
• Study of triangles, quadrilaterals, polygons
• Perimeter and area
• Volume of rectangular prism
• Drawing shapes
• Congruent, similar, & equivalent shapes

Included in Math

Lessons are taught to introduce foundational skills for mathematics.

Lessons are taught to support developing skills in mathematics:

• Counting & cardinality
• Number & operations in base-10
• Operations & algebraic thinking
• Measurement & data

Lessons are taught to build skills in mathematics:

• Numbers in base-10
• Operations & algebraic thinking
• Fractions
• Measurement & data

Lessons are taught to support intermediate skills in mathematics:

• Numbers in base-10
• Decimals
• Operations & algebraic thinking
• Fractions
• Measurement & data

Lessons are taught to advance mathematics skills in and using real-world experiences:

• Number system
• Expressions & equations
• Statistics & probability
• Ratios & proportions
• Functions
• Geometry
• Math thinking

Read aloud from books is used to build vocabulary.

At this level, lessons are taught to introduce and build skills as well as heighten awareness and spark interest in:

• History and the concept of time
• World, continents, land & water
• Cultures of the world

Lessons are taught to build understanding, skills, and spark interest in:

• History
• Physical geography
• Political & social geography
• Research and inquiry

At this level, lessons are taught to build understanding, skills, and spark interest in:

• History
• Physical geography
• Political & social geography
• Research and inquiry

Lessons chronologically cover key historical centers as a continuation of the Great Cosmic Story by which man came to be. These centers mark key advancements in human history and as a starting point for debates and discussions drawing from a variety of sources and perspectives. Individuals who have had a profound impact in the world are studied. At the core of history is reading, enabling students to vicariously experience moments in history through the eyes of those who lived it. Off-campus travels to visit historical sites inspire related units of focus. For example, a trip to Washington, DC is preceded by a study of America’s founding documents and events.

The natural world and read aloud from books are used to build sensory experiences and vocabulary.

At this level, lessons are taught to introduce, build observation skills, heighten awareness, and spark interest in:

• Botany
• Zoology
• Physical science

At this level, lessons are taught to build understanding, skills, and spark interest in:

• Botany 
• Zoology 
• Physical & chemical science
• Scientific thought processes

At this level, lessons are taught to build understanding, skills, and spark interest in:

• Biology
• Botany 
• Zoology 
• Physical & chemical science
• Scientific thought processes

At this level, science is everywhere. From cooking and baking to gardening and building, students constantly seek opportunities to turn implicit science into explicit science by discussing how and why things work the way that they do. Examples include a spontaneous lesson in surface area while grinding coffee or making ice, or a lesson on fertilization and pollination during the planting of a butterfly garden for our toddlers. Serendipitous science, however charming, is not always complete, so it is supplemented with more structured studies of physical science during one middle school year and life science the next all while using a variety of sources, especially for hands-on labs. Recognizing the considerable overlap between sciences, opportunities are seized to make those connections. Periodically, there are serendipitous opportunities for unique science lessons or mini-units linked to the pedagogy of place experiences, availability of remarkable scientists to visit our classroom and even simple connections with other aspects of our environment. Such moments warrant a pause in the curriculum to take advantage of the opportunity in the spirit of following the child.

Modeling is used to teach simple lessons in showing care for others (being helpful) and the environment (turn off water, recycling vs. trash).

Environmental study takes the form of lessons on:

• Reduce, reuse, recycle
• Care for plants / animals
• From where products come
• Earth Day celebration
• Participation in school community service projects

Stewardship lessons (ties in with Peace lessons) focus on how the individual and the group / community can make a difference in our world in both environmental and human terms:

• Reduce the need, use, quantity
• Reuse or repurpose
• Best recycling practices
• Care for plants / animals 
• Earth Day celebration 
• Champion school-wide community service projects

Stewardship lessons (ties in with Peace lessons) focus on how the individual and the group / community can make a difference in our world in both environmental and human terms:

• Question the need
• Reduce the need, use, quantity
• Reuse or repurpose
• Best recycling practices
• Find alternate solutions 
• Care for plants / animals 
• Earth Day celebration 
• Champion school-wide community service projects

By taking ownership of their environment and contributing to the larger community, students develop an intuitive and lasting sense of stewardship. Students learn to repair and repurpose components of their environment, rather than disposing and replacing. The emphasis is on reducing the quantity of products and packaging consumed, and both composting and recycling to reduce waste. While stewardship lessons offer a starting point, positive daily habits are the core to lifelong awareness and stewardship.

Exposure to another culture through:

• Sing songs
• Learn numbers
• Learn colors
• Listening to and producing oral language

Awareness of another culture is supported through:

• Sing songs
• Learn numbers
• Learn colors
• Play games
• Listen to books
• Calendar activities

Basic lessons taught to:

• Promote deeper culture understanding through focused studies
• Expand vocabulary through listening and speaking
• Cultural exploration of the way of life in various Hispanic cultures

Intermediate lessons taught to:

• Build deeper culture understanding through focused studies
• Expand vocabulary through listening and speaking
• Celebrate Hispanic cultures' holidays
• Compare Hispanic cultures 

Advanced lessons taught to:

• Further develop deeper culture understanding through focused studies
• Expand vocabulary through listening and speaking, as well as reading and writing
• Celebrate Hispanic cultures' holidays
• Compare cultural products, practices, and perspectives

Lessons are taught to develop artistic expression:

• Chalk / crayon drawing
• Painting at easel
• Play dough
• Scribbles on paper
• Rubbing with crayons
• Watercolor painting

Lessons are taught to develop artistic expression:

• Drawing with chalk, crayon, marker
• Painting at easel or table
• Playdough
• Rubbing with crayons
• Stencil use
• Create using natural materials (apples, leaves, bark, etc.)

Lessons are taught using basic techniques to promote artistic expression:

• Paint (watercolor, tempra, acrylic)
• Clay
• Ink / pencil
• Printing / stamping
• Collage
• Papier-mâché

Including discussions of famous artists, techniques, and human connections to art

Lessons are taught using intermediate techniques to develop support expression:

• Paint (watercolor, tempra, acrylic)
• Clay
• Ink / pencil
• Printing / stamping
• Collage
• Papier-mâché

Including discussions of famous artists, techniques, and human connections to art

Lessons are taught using advanced techniques to support artistic expression:

• Paint (watercolor, tempra, acrylic)
• Clay
• Ink / pencil
• Printing / stamping
• Collage
• Papier-mâché

Including discussions of famous artists, techniques, and human connections to art

Lessons are taught to support music and movement:

• Musical instruments
• Sing songs
• Finger play
• Movement with music
• Books on tape

Lessons are taught to introduce and build music awareness:

• Instruments
• Sing songs
• Dance
• Composers

Lessons are taught to:

• Build basic understanding of music theory, world instruments, music performance
• Promote dramatic skills in memorization, song, and dance through improvisation games

Lessons are taught to:

• Build intermediate understanding of music theory, instruments, music performance, world composers
• Practice dramatic skills in memorization, song, and dance
• Play an instrument (recorder)
• Optional: band instruction

Lessons are taught to:

• Build advanced understanding of theory, instruments, performance, composers
• Practice dramatic skills through scene study, song, and dance
• Develop individual music composition skills
• Play an instrument (ukulele)
• Optional: band instruction