St Aidan's School | Curriculum

Our Curriculum

We have developed an experiential curriculum designed to promote growth through play and exploration. With sensitive guidance, children are encouraged to evaluate, predict and record the how's and why's of their work and activities. Such skills as these are the foundation of mathematics, science and language. All programs include music, art, storytelling, science, cooking and various indoor and outdoor activities.

Developmental Program

kids At Saint Aidan's we have a developmental education program. Such a program provides learning experiences appropriate to each child's individual developmental needs.

Each child is recognized as an individual.
Each child is growing in five areas - social, emotional, physical (gross & fine motor), cognitive and spiritual.
Not all of the children of the same age develop at the same rate in these areas at the same time.
The classrooms are set up with a variety of centers that can fulfill each child's growing needs in each of these areas.
The children are free to select the area in which they play.
Children learn through their play and hands-on experiences.
The children are grouped homogeneously by age. We recognize the value of heterogeneously grouped children, but feel that much smaller groupings or extra adults are necessary to take care of the differing needs of the different ages.
There is a basic curriculum for each age level, and at each age level the teachers do lesson planning based on the individual's and group's needs.
We also recognize the natural curiosity of children to learn and to explore other than the topic on the lesson plan. We respect this often spontaneous and joyous thirst for learning and in so doing, can say that our program is also child initiated.
There is a consistent schedule in each classroom. Children do best when they know what will take place next. It gives them a sense of control, confidence and understanding of their day.

Spirituality

Our program includes a prayer before meals, stories from the Bible and a weekly visit in the chapel with Rev. Joyce Stickney. There the children share a story, sing, ring the bell, light the candles, talk with Katrina (a puppet), and respond to questions such as, "where does God live?" Rev. Joyce is the Rector of St. Aidan's Episcopal Church and her daughter, Grace, graduated from Saint Aidan's School.

Garden

Each week, the children meet with Kathy Cook in the Tipashumawish garden. Here they learn a variety of earth sciences through hands-on experiences, including composting, gardening, and growing vegetables.

Daily Activities

Each classroom has a schedule of daily activities. The schedule is different for each class, providing activities and durations suitable for each specific age group. This is an example of the 4 year old schedule.

9am - 10am: Outdoor Exploration: Fine and gross motor activities, turn taking, cooperation, and negotiation.
10am - 10:15: Bathroom / Wash Hands: Self help skills, turn taking, and three step motor planning.
10:15 - 10:45: Cognitive Group: Identifying names and name tags, counting (one to one correspondence), and math with unifix cubes.
10:45 - 11:30: Exploration: Self help snack, manipulative's, dramatic play, science, art, and pouring & measuring.
11:30 - 11:40: Clean up: Responsibility, organizing, planning, and following directions.
11:40 - 12:00: Music and Movement: Following directions, large motor skills, learning about sound and rhythm.
12:00 - 12:20: Lunch: Self help skills and socialization.
12:20 - 12:45: Multi-age Outdoor Exploration: Fine and gross motor activities, turn taking, cooperation, and negotiation with children of other ages.
12:45 - 1pm: Literacy: Comprehension, alphabet and vocabulary.