Page 5 - GRADE 5 Curriculum Guide

Social

Student
Centered
Learning
Intellectual Physical
Developmental
Interactive
Approach

Emotional

WHAT IS PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION?

At Clarion, we believe in progressive education. Progressive education is dynamic, student led, and not easily
defined. Progressive education stresses the importance of experience, rather than learning facts. Students
are taught how to think, rather than being told what to think about. Our children learn through experiencing,
asking questions, and exploring.

In a progressive classroom, you will not see students sitting in desks while a teacher stands in front of the
room. Students are the focus of our classroom, and thus drive the classroom experience. This means that no
two classrooms will have the same experience. You will see hand on learning, opportunities for students to
share their ideas with support from adults and peers, so they know their ideas matter. The teacher is a
mediator in the classroom, not the leader. We take our resources from a variety of sources, often selected by
the students, rather than textbooks. Our students are not judged on external timelines, or tests, but are rather
evaluated on the products they create; we allow them to show us what they have learned, rather than us
telling them what they did not learn.

We use an integrated, themed based curriculum, following the New York State Early Learning Guidelines and
State Common Core Standards, which allows our students to see connections between concepts. Students
are encouraged to collaborate and learn from and with each other, their teachers, and parents. Our classroom
is not limited to four walls, but extends into the community, were we learn social responsibility. By
experiencing events beyond our class, we learn important social and emotional skills. We learn that mistakes
happen and ideas fail. We understand these mistakes and failures are essential to learning; it is through fixing
our mistakes that we improve. Our students become active learners, who are passionate, curious, critical
thinkers who evolve, adapt, and contribute to a rapidly changing world.

WHAT DO PROGRESSIVE EDUCATORS DO?

• Respect the child as a capable individual who is a member of a community.
• Respect the child’s work (We do not write or draw on children’s work. Our opinions of their work are
not what is important.)
• We give genuine and specific praise for growth and cooperation by naming the positive and setting
goals. (Rewards come from success and the joy of learning. No stickers, no smiley/frowny faces)
• We know that everyone makes mistakes. When we correct children’s behavior, we help them learn from
their mistakes. (It is the behavior we are correcting, not the child.)
• We guide children toward independence. (We don’t do for them.)

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