Elementary
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Age
33 Months - 5 Years
Classes
2, 3 or 5 Mornings / Full-days
Class Size
Up to 12 children per teacher
Classes
8:50am - 11:30am / Full Day
Low Student-Teacher Ratio
The Preschool class is taught by an educator trained and experienced in early childhood education and supported by trained teacher aides, creating a 4:1 student-to-teacher ratio or better.
Preschool Program Highlights
Personalized Education
Within our personalized classrooms, each child is embraced and honored as an individual who can contribute to the community. As learning happens throughout the day, the teacher will work with your child at their level in academic readiness, and social, emotional and physical growth.
Preschool Program Highlights
Assessment
The teacher observes each child to evaluate his/her intellectual, social, emotional, and physical development. Children develop at different rates in social, emotional and cognitive areas. An individual evaluation highlights what is appropriate for each child.
Preschool Program Highlights
Planning and Individualizing
Each child’s day includes individual and group activities. Children are involved in teacher-directed as well as student-selected tasks. Planning skills are practiced each day. Children have the opportunity to learn from one another.
Preschool Program Highlights
Focus on Executive Functions
Executive functions are the cognitive, emotional and behavioral skills students need for learning. In our preschool room, we emphasize self control or the ability to stop and think before acting, and emotional control or the ability to manage feelings to achieve goals and complete tasks.
Preschool Program Highlights
The Facility
Our preschool students enjoy class in a 1,400 sq. ft. classroom and nap in an adjoining room. Gross motor skills are developed in a 4,000 sq. ft. gym, equipped with kid-friendly apparatus. Outside play happens daily on the preschool climber, in the preschool house, and in the areas for running and playing that surround the equipment.
Preschool Program Highlights
Safety
Students are carefully supervised during the day. All staff, including volunteers, undergo a criminal background check. Volunteers are parents or grandparents of students at the school. They embrace the school’s philosophy and ways of respecting children, because they have also chosen this program for their children. During the school day, exterior doors are locked. The students practice fire, tornado and other safety drills, so they are prepared for an emergency.
Preschool Program Highlights
Why do Parents and Students Choose the Elementary Program at New Morning School?
Multi-Aged, Hands on Education
New Morning School’s Elementary classroom houses a multi-age program for students in second through fifth grade. By design, students aged seven through eleven work together in one classroom. This age and ability range allows each student to find his or her niche in academic and social areas and the multi-age format fosters cooperative learning among students. Students receive the benefits of specialized staff in Science, Spanish, Music, Art, and Physical Education. Like all of our programs, elementary instruction is based on Piaget’s theories of learning as well as the most recent brain research.
Age
Typically ages 7 to 11.
Class Size
Maximum 36 students with three teachers, as well as aides and parent aides.
Classes
Monday to Friday
School hours
8:30am - 3:15pm
Extended hours from 7am to 6pm
Specials and Choice in the Classroom
Science
Science is taught outside the regular classroom. Experiments and hands-on activities support group discussion, making science fun, challenging and interesting.
Spanish
Spanish class exposes children to the oral and written language as well as cultural information.
Music
Younger students participate in vocal music while the other elementary students are taught the recorder. Performances are scheduled three times during the school year.
Art
Students experiment with various art media and techniques through weekly art instruction.
Physical Education
Physical education classes at school develop students’ large motor skills and improve their cardiovascular health.
Computer Expertise
Computer skills are integrated into the daily classroom schedule. Children use the computers for skill reinforcement and as an information gathering tool. Beginning keyboarding, word processing, spreadsheet and multimedia skills are introduced.
Museum Studies
Each winter, a student museum is developed with children choosing individual subjects of interest. Students are given the opportunity to research topics of their choice and share their findings in creative displays and multi-media presentations. Cross curricular skills are integrated as students read, write, graph, measure, draw and make models. These in-depth studies and displays are shared with families and the community on Museum day.
Field Trips
Field trips augment units of classroom study. Recent trips have included outings to the Marquis Theater, Lansing Hands-On Museum, Belle Isle Aquarium and the Detroit Science Center.
The proven benefits of vertical grouping are exemplified in our Elementary classroom. The low student-teacher ratio allows for individualized curriculum based on each student’s learning style and readiness, maximizing potential for engagement and growth. Having multiple age groups working together provides opportunities for younger students to strive towards the work of their older classmates as well as for older students to experience leadership roles.
Executive functions are the cognitive, emotional and behavioral skills students need for learning. In our elementary classroom, students are given direct instruction and daily practice developing the following skills: self-control, self-monitoring, flexibility, emotional control, task initiation, working memory, planning, organization.
Each day the students plan what they will accomplish, making choices from activities decided upon at their individual goal-setting appointment with their teacher. Their plans represent a balance of appropriate academic areas and students are accountable for the choices they make each day. This gives our students daily practice in planning, executing and reflecting on their own learning.
Informed by the work of Jean Piaget and the latest brain research, the elementary students are engaged in hands-on, minds-on learning. Students work alone and in cooperative learning groups and the curriculum is individualized to maximize each student’s potential.
A student’s learning style determines the best individualized reading approach. Every afternoon, each student reads independently, a practice that improves skills and fosters reading for pleasure. In addition, reading skill activities are completed individually and within skill groups. Writing groups emphasize skills and introduce students to a variety of writing genres. Daily writing topics include both student-selected subjects and teacher-directed assignments. Students create journals, poems, short plays and stories.
Math in the elementary classroom is taught in small groups based on student readiness, allowing for additional challenge and support where needed. Hands-on methods for concretely counting, adding, multiplying and dividing, and fractions are used hand in hand with a paper and pencil approach. Geometry, measurement, time and word problems round out the program.
Within the multi-aged classroom, children learn to get along with peers and adults and student responsibility to the group is part of the social science curriculum. Additionally, students receive instruction in geography, history, current events and map reading. The process of learning is emphasized along with the subject matter. Each year a theme is chosen, making way for project based learning throughout the year.
Elementary Program Highlights
Age
33 Months - 5 Years
Class Size
Up to 12 children per teacher
Classes
2, 3 or 5 mornings / full-days
School Hours
8:50 am - 11:30 am / full day
