What You Will See in the Classroom

• Problem solving is a clear focus of the program.
• Children have extended work time.
• Teachers guide children in identifying questions and problems to work on.
• A wide variety of materials are available to play/work with during work time. They are available for several days in a row.
• Most of the materials in the room are related some how. This encourages children to experience the physical attributes of the objects in many ways and then to form relationships between the materials.
• A unit of study permeates all activities and parts of the day.
• The curriculum incorporates processes and broad concepts into the content.
• Children and teachers discuss the records they make of ongoing work on a daily basis.
• Cooperation and responsibility to the group are built into the day.
• Units of study last several months.

CSS Scope and Sequence: A Sampling of Units Taught

These are some, but not all, of the units we teach.

KINDERGARTEN

Water
Lines and Mapping
Lifecycles with butterflies and other crawlers.

FIRST GRADE

Water habitats
Balls and ramps
Simple tools
Rocks and minerals

SECOND GRADE

Newspaper
Weather
Habitats: Owls and the Northwest Forests

THIRD GRADE

Africa
Portland
Ocean
Rocks and minerals
Botany

FOURTH GRADE

Oregon geography
Castle technology
Native Americans
Human body
Lewis and Clark
Pioneers

FIFTH GRADE

Explorers
American history: settlement, the building of our nation, and the American Revolution
Northwest Ecosystems
Microworlds
Earth and space