Our Curriculum

Practical life is the core of the Primary curriculum. These are exercises that explicitly teach necessary life skills, and give children time and patient practice to feel competent, and therefore confident, in daily life. Some examples of practical life activities range from  learning to wipe their own nose, to offering a cup of tea to a friend, to stating a personal need clearly. Practical life covers self-care lessons, such as dressing oneself, environmental care, such as watering a plant, social skills, such as inviting a friend to play, and fine & gross motor skills, such as maneuvering small objects with hands or tools, the fundamentals of sewing, or carrying a heavy chair. In the practical life area, children also practice all aspects of food preparation: peeling, chopping, scrubbing, mincing, washing dishes, etc. One of the most important skills we hope children will leave Three Chairs with is in honing their concentration, which is nurtured through practical life exercises. Learning to sew a button takes perseverance and focus, and when those two meld, pride is born! 

Sensorial materials support solidifying a strong foundation for mathematical understanding. As children further organize, understand, and refine their senses, they grasp a stronger hold on the world around them. Children six and under are concrete and sensorial learners, and the teacher’s job is to provide children with a secure, rich, and intricate trust in our world.

Children 3-6 years of age experience what are called “sensitive periods.” These are times where their developing brains are more susceptible to learning a new skill. This is especially true for language acquisition throughout these three years of growth. For even our youngest children, early literacy and writing are embedded into our practical life curriculum., For example, learning to hold and transfer water with a spoon helps children acquire the hand formation to hold and control a pencil. Children practice phonological awareness, letter sounds and symbols, writing, reading, grammar, and word study with hands-on materials and real life experiences. Language learning is entwined with social skill learning, which we practice daily at circletime. This can often take the form of what we call "Grace & Courtesies," the explicit teaching of appropriate, kind, and thoughtful interactions. These may look like practicing how to ask for space, how to give & receive compliments, or how to correct someone on your name's pronunciation.

The primary math curriculum is grounded in concrete, tactile learning. Children learn numeral to quantity association, linear counting, and then are introduced to the decimal system, as well as mathematical operations: addition, multiplication, subtraction, division (even six year olds can be capable of division!) All of these concepts are taught with physical, manipulative materials, so the young children have a robust understanding of what these all mean!

The cultural and science curriculums rotate over the three years children are in our primary classroom. Children encounter a wide range of subjects: anatomy, botany, zoology, astronomy, geology, and physical science. We rotate through a continent study each semester, learning both the geography of and cultural practices present in each continent. We will learn songs, cook recipes together, and make art inspired by craft traditions. We will also study land and water forms and political geography (states, countries, and capitals.) Family participation is important at Three Chairs, and we invite loved ones in to share their favorite foods, holidays, and traditions with us at circletime.