Emergent Curriculum

Emergent curriculum means that what and how we teach is dynamically coordinated with what our students want to learn and their skill level at each developmental level. Our teachers tap into children’s innate curiosity about the world to wrap curriculum around topics of interest. The project approach allows teachers to weave curricular goals and skill development into a large-scale, hands-on experience.

 

At The Children’s School, curriculum is a fluid, responsive entity. Within a framework of important skills and ideas at each developmental level, teachers enjoy the freedom to mold the specifics of their curriculum to meet the needs of the unique group of children before them.

 

For example, in a classroom studying Native American history, students might:

• explore local geography and geology to understand how people lived on the land prior to European settlement

• read primary and secondary sources documenting contact and conflict between groups

• research traditional foods of the indigenous peoples of the Midwest in order to prepare for a class feast

​

This approach to learning is very exciting for children as well as for teachers. It fosters deep understanding as topics are explored through multiple lenses and in a context that is meaningful to children. Teachers weave skill development into thematic investigations to scaffold students' academic and personal growth.

 

It also means our teachers are fully engaged with each student and each year's class group. Why? Because no 2nd grade, 4th grade, or any grade level class year is taught the same way twice. The year's curriculum emerges experientially, unfolding dynamically as the teacher guides students in real time.