Curriculum & Philosophy
k-8
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EL PANORAMA
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Habilidades del siglo XXI ā
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Nuestros estudiantes serán los que mueven y agitan su un mundo dinámico y moderno. We āprepararlos para resolver problemas del siglo XXI entrenándolos para que reconozcan y aprovechen sus fortalezas únicas.
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Creemos que la inteligencia va mucho más allá de la lectura, escritura y aritmética) de décadas pasadas. Tomamos una vista global de su niño que ayuda a cada estudiante encontrar y crecer de forma única varias formas de inteligencia. Educamos al niño integral, esforzándonos por su desarrollo holístico emocional, social y cognitivo. Esta sinergia le permite a su hijo sentirse simultáneamente apoyado, seguro y desafiado.
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¿El resultado? Niños que vuelan.
We believe intelligence goes far beyond the three R's (Reading, 'Riting, 'Rithmetic) of past decades. We take a global view of your child that embraces her as a unique individual capable of developing multiple types of intelligences. We educate the whole child, striving for her holistic emotional, social and cognitive development. This synergy allows your child to feel simultaneously supported, safe and challenged.
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The result? Children who soar.
LEARN
We want children to fall in love with the process of learning – to be comfortable in uncertainty, curious to explore and ask questions, and inspired by what they discover. We want them to digest setbacks, and integrate the lessons of failing as part of their pursuit of new possibilities. How we do this at the Terra Schools is what sets us apart.
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Tailored, collegiate-track academics: For subjects like math and world languages, students are grouped not by age, but by their ability level. This is done through a structure called “banded scheduling”, so they remain engaged and challenged in their learning. By attending to a child’s unique constellation of talents earlier than the high school level, we help them discover their interests, prepare for future pursuits, and cultivate a love of learning.
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Multilingual Spanish, Mandarin, & English education: Beginning in preschool, we immerse students in world languages in an effort to bolster critical thinking, comprehension, and neuroplasticity early in their development. Research shows that children who learn multiple languages gain critical empathy skills and the ability to understand others’ perspectives much earlier than monolingual children. After Kindergarten, students begin focused elective instruction in their chosen language. As they gain proficiency, they can work with their advisors to add a third language to their curriculum if they wish to do so.
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Experiential, project-based learning: Our inquiry-based learning approach cultivates students’ natural curiosity and celebrates personal strengths in the classroom. In every academic discipline, students take on projects that appeal to their interests and test their problem-solving skills in the real world. Faculty encourage students to tinker, experiment, explore, ask questions, and approach challenges from new angles in order to find novel solutions.
"Vine a Terra Marin porque querĆa un desafĆo en matemĆ”ticas. Ā”En Terra Marin me dan matemĆ”ticas justo a mi nivel!"
- Eliza, 4to grado
"Esta semana celebramos el Festival del Bote del DragĆ³n. Comimos tang yuan e interpretamos una canciĆ³n sobre el festival en mandarĆn".
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- Mariana, 2do grado
"En Terra Marin puedes explorar diferentes cosas, y no estĆ”s atrapado en una habitaciĆ³n aprendiendo de un libro. Para la ciencia, si tenemos una pregunta sobre algo, Mike (el profesor de ciencias) obtendrĆ” un ejemplo y lo mostrarĆ”. para nosotros, y podemos verlo, darle la vuelta, mirarlo y explorarlo".
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- Sara, 8vo grado
"El MĆ©todo Harkness es divertido. No puedes pasar desapercibido. En mi escuela anterior no levantaba la mano ni participaba. AquĆ tengo que participar y eso me gusta. Esperas a que la otra persona termine. hablando, y luego hablas".
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- NoƩ, 7mo grado
Grow
Presenting a child with an intentional environment shapes how they grow. We believe our role is to provide an environment that promotes creativity, resilience, patience, and passion in every child. Our aim is to help each child strengthen their relationship to themselves and the world by helping them step beyond their comfort zones, and develop the confidence and grit they need to live a successful life.
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Earth education & outdoor school: Students venture into the natural Bay Area surroundings with highly trained Earth Education specialists once every week. From Kindergarten through 4th grade, students spend a second day each week outside for their academic classes. Foundational core curricula combined with progressive outdoor education methods fosters a sense of awe and connection with others and nature. Students feel a sense of wonder and grounding that helps them cope with stress, remain focused, and develop a love of learning that bolsters their academic performance.
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Student-led discussions: We believe that empowering students to develop, voice, and adjust their thinking in group discussions promotes agency, empathy and respect for diverse points of view. Beginning in middle school, we give students the opportunity to direct their own discussions in accordance with the Harkness Method. This is a teaching style developed at Phillips Exeter that emphasizes active listening, speaking with confidence, respectful disagreement and creative problem solving. Learning to listen and sit with differences is vital, but we also encourage students to use their voice and advocate for their unique perspectives. This methodology helps students retain information with more detail, teach one another, and learn the soft skills of active listening, speaking with confidence, disagreeing respectfully, and seeking creative solutions.
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Arts electives: At the Terra Schools, we believe children are natural-born creators and should have abundant opportunities to bring their individual perspectives to life. Drama, Music, and Visual Art are as important as academic subjects and life skills. For example, producing a play with your peers is planning, organization, and collaboration; writing a piece of music is relaying a moment of history; composing a collage is an inquiry and stating a thesis. While teaching skills and techniques that can bring their visions to life, we emphasize the value of their creative voices–that there is no “right way” to sing a song, play a role, or draw your dreams.
Elective examples:
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2-d Studio Drawing - Graphite, Conte and Charcoal, Pastels
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Cake Decorating - Fondant textures
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Large Art Installations and Reimagining Spaces
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Vocal Collaboration Lab
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Improvisational Drama
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Make a Music Video
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Rock Band
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Handwork - Embroidery
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"Ayer en la playa pudimos tallar palos con cuchillos y escalar acantilados. Me pareciĆ³ un poco peligroso porque no lo habĆa hecho antes. Me gustĆ³ porque fue emocionante"._cc781905-5cde-3194- bb3b-136bad5cf58d_
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- Nathaniel, 7mo grado
"Ā”Lo que me gusta de esta escuela son los tres recreos!"
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- AarĆ³n, 1er grado
BELONGā
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At The Terra Schools, we believe kindness is the cornerstone of forming a safe community where each person can thrive socially, emotionally, and academically. We consider it essential to an effective education to help children generate sophisticated language for communicating with their friends, teachers, families, communities, societies, and the earth. We treat healthy relationships at all levels as key to a child’s vitality.
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Social-emotional learning: As part of our commitment to a strong community, we have dedicated an in-house social emotional learning (SEL) consultant to lead supportive efforts toward the mental health betterment of all students, teachers and administrators. Both staff and students understand that membership in a community means fortifying the internal resources of all individuals. For example, teachers and staff meet weekly with our SEL consultant about individual students who need extra support, so no student falls through the cracks and every child is given a clear path to thriving.
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Student mentorship: We pair up older and younger students as “buddies,” so older students develop a sense of responsibility and younger students feel supported by someone who watches out for them. Cross-age friendships are common at the Terra Schools, in part because of our buddy program and because of the many opportunities to cross paths during banded scheduling classes and recess.
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Family partnership: We believe it takes collaboration between students, families, and staff to foster our value of “belonging”. While all schools offer parent/teacher conferences, we take the family-school relationship a step further with social & emotional learning-focused monthly parent workshops. To foster a sense of connected community, we bring parents, kids, teachers, and staff together at our community events, such as our annual Lunar New Year celebration, the student Untalent Show, the student-produced school play, Upper School Spain trip, and Upper School Ski Trip.
āCreemos que el trabajo de nuestros maestros es encontrar el don en cada niƱo, extraerlo y nutrirlo para que pueda compartirlo con otrosā.
-Shauna Sullivan,
Asistente del director de la escuela
Aprendizaje socioemocional
El sĆ³lido programa de aprendizaje socioemocional (SEL) de Terra Marin prepara a su hijo para el Ć©xito de por vida en sus interacciones con sus compaƱeros, la familia, la comunidad y consigo mismo.
Los niƱos necesitan recibir instrucciĆ³n en competencia socioemocional, que es tan fundamental para su Ć©xito como cualquier materia acadĆ©mica. Nuestro programa SEL ayuda a los estudiantes a desarrollar habilidades en resoluciĆ³n de conflictos, autorregulaciĆ³n, toma de decisiones responsable y construcciĆ³n de relaciones positivas.
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Apoyamos completamente a su hijo, tanto emocional como acadƩmicamente, a medida que se da cuenta de su potencial individual. Creemos que cada niƱo tiene sus propios maravillosos "superpoderes", y que es nuestra responsabilidad fundamental como educadores ayudar a desarrollar estos especiales_cc781905-5cde-3194-bb3b-136_bad5cfs58d_ Por otro lado, puede contar con nosotros para apoyar y reforzar las necesidades individuales de su hijo.
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AdemĆ”s, los tamaƱos small class (mĆ”ximo de 12:1) son la piedra angular de nuestra filosofĆa educativa. Nuestras clases pequeƱas contribuyen, por diseƱo, a un ambiente Ćntimo donde su hijo es completamente conocido, supported y valorado. En este entorno, nuestros maestros pueden conocer a su hijo at his edge y ayudarlo a cultivar el coraje para superar su edges niveles de autodescubrimiento.
"Los profesores estĆ”n ahĆ para ti".
- NoƩ, 5to grado
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TutorĆa entre grados
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Las clases de Terra Marin son intencionalmente de edades mixtas. Nuestras aulas de varios grados crean una familia de estudiantes que se apoyan y cuidan unos a otros.
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Los niƱos mayores aprenden a ser mentores y a asumir roles de liderazgo. Los niƱos mƔs pequeƱos se benefician enormemente de los modelos proporcionados por sus cohortes mayores.
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En este ambiente, donde los estudiantes disfrutan una sensaciĆ³n de pertenencia segura sin juzgar, llegan a sentir profundamente que todo es posible.
āMe encanta interactuar con personas de todas las edades y enseƱarles lo que sĆ©. Me he hecho amigos con personas de todas las edades con las que de otro modo no me habrĆa hecho amigo, y ahora disfruto tenerlos como amigos cercanosā.
- Edie, 8vo grado
