Curriculum
Philosophy
The lower school program:
- Encourages children to apply learning to their world
- Challenges them to think critically and to consider multiple perspectives
- Promotes creativity through student driven inquiry
- Differentiates to meet the needs of all students
- Strives for continuous growth in an environment in which children experience the excitement of learning.
At ASL, the curriculum is designed to help children to become independent thinkers and lifelong learners, while fostering concern and commitment to the group as a whole. We strive to accomplish these goals through the ASL Portrait of a Learner.
Lower school classrooms are characterized by a stimulating, caring and relaxed atmosphere. Students learn to take risks and explore their world through concrete experiences. Because young children learn best when they see the connections between subjects and when their work directly relates to their own lives, the lower school integrates the activities of the school day as much as possible.
ASL is a standards-based school, and the lower school uses the following standards in line with the rest of the school:
- Common Core English Language Arts
- Common Core Mathematics
- AERO Social Studies standards
- Next Generation Science Standards
- National Core Arts Standards
- ACTFL (World Language)
- SHAPE (PE)
- ASL TILM (Technology, Information Literacy, Media)
In addition we use the following programs and philosophies:
- Responsive Classroom
- Reggio Emilia
- Wilson Fundations
- Teachers College Reading and Writing Units of Study
- San Francisco United School District math units
- TERC Investigations math units