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SummerlandSummerland Schoolhouse

Our Vision

Our schoolhouse is all about these 5 simple and proven educational methods

1

Child-led Learning

Children are naturally curious and child-led learning acknowledges this curiosity and builds on it. This method is about letting children take ownership of their own education through learning at their own pace as well as pursuing their interests and passions. Rather than forcing a topic, educators take the position of a guide and allow the child's natural curiosity to engross them in an activity that they have created and, in doing so, they will likely be more receptive and invested in new associated ideas.

Child-led learning also encourages children to think critically. How so? If the child has chosen an activity themselves, they are more likely to also create a plan to figure out how to complete that task on their own. Building solid relationships with peers and working through problems such as conflict resolution are also naturally interwoven during these child-led activities.

Young girl

2

Small Multi-Aged Classes

We're going back to a simpler, more natural time when children of all ages helped each other grow. Studies have shown that not only do learners in multi-aged classrooms do extremely well academically, but they tend to do better than single-grade classrooms with regard to social learning 1. The reason? Younger learners are encouraged to seek out older learners for guidance. They are also learning how to interact and negotiate with people of varying ages, something much more akin to daily life. Within our microschool, we also value individualized attention and a personalized approach, which is why we keep our classes small with a student to teacher ratio of 10:1. This intimate environment, wherein the same educator guides learners for not one, but multiple years, fosters a place of trust and familiarity for children, both of which help ensure happy and thriving learners.

Laughing Kids

3

Hands-on and Project-based Learning

Project-based learning or PBL is all about building collaboration and teamwork, and is different than your average project in a school. PBL taps into a learner's creative thinking and problem-solving skills by trying to find solutions to an authentic problem or challenge as a group. This type of learning is meaningful because children need to acquire the knowledge and skills as they move forward through the project in order to solve the issue. As an approach, it has been proven to help a learner's educational satisfaction as well as long-term retention and skill development. Traditional schools tend to focus on short-term retention activities needed for standardized testing. We prefer to overlook testing and ensure that children are set up for life, not just trivial information retention for academics.

Children coloring

4

Socratic Discussion

Fostering a fun, open-ended discussion circle every day is about more than just talking. Even at a young age, children who feel that they can express their thoughts are not only actively strengthening their critical thinking and problem solving skills, but they are also learning that their voice counts, both in the schoolhouse and in the real world.

How can this type of discussion happen with young children? Oftentimes, we incorporate it without even knowing we are doing it. Children ask a lot of questions. Instead of directly providing an answer, following up with an open-ended question can be used to drive the dialogue forward and allow the child to come to their own conclusion.

Children and Teacher in Kindergarten

5

Entrepreneurship

Fostering an entrepreneurial mindset in children empowers them to believe in themselves and teaches them that they have agency in their own lives. Helping children blossom their entrepreneurial spirit is life changing. It teaches them at an early age that their thoughts, their decisions, their risks, their mistakes and their successes are all important, valued and supported by the adults in their lives. It teaches them that the sky is the limit, and that the solution to a problem is just one thought or one action away. It teaches them to own their own decisions and, more importantly, to own their own change in this world.

Interwoven in our project-based learning is the idea that children should be encouraged to nurture this entrepreneurial side of their personalities. We strive to provide an environment rich with inquiry-building and problem solving activities from an early age, which in turn helps foster that independence and confidence needed for entrepreneurship. Older grades, of course, will be much more exposed to this entrepreneurial side of learning through our activities, but we start planting the seed at a young age through those PBL activities.

Ecology Gardening Tour

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Summerland Schoolhouse

SummerlandSchoolhouse

Summerland Schoolhouse

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