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Program of Studies

Our core learning cycle is based on the 5E instructional model. This model is flexibly used and adjusted depending on the age of the child and the scientific problem being studied. The 5Es are a stepwise teaching and learning strategy: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate.

The 5 stages are:

  • Engage – promotes interest and connections to past understandings
  • Explore – involvement with phenomena and materials to encourage new understandings
  • Explain – communicate what has been learned
  • Elaborate – teachers and students determine how much learning has taken place
  • Evaluate – teachers check student understanding of knowledge and concepts by using rubrics, teacher observation, student interviews, projects, science notebooks, and portfolios

The advantage of an inquiry model is that it allows students to be in charge of their learning and use their teachers as guides. In collaboration with the STEM theme coach, teachers introduce, implement and evaluate students’ progress in scientific knowledge and skills. At home, parents can support the STEM theme by listening to, discovering with, and seeing the world through the eyes of their child.

The image shows a group of young children in a classroom setting, with one child in the foreground wearing an orange t-shirt with a Hello Kitty design, and other children visible in the background engaged in various activities.
A student is watering a large, lush plant growing in a raised garden bed, with a brick building visible in the background.
Two young children are engaged in a lesson with microscopes
A group of young people, including a smiling child in the foreground, are seated on a colorful patterned floor in a classroom
Two young students are working together on a science project in a classroom setting. They are examining a model or structure on the desk in front of them, with a skeleton model visible in the background.
A group of young students are seated at desks in a classroom setting, engaged in various learning activities.
The image shows a hallway with large windows overlooking a lush, green outdoor area. Several framed artworks or posters are displayed on the walls, and a person can be seen sitting on a rock formation in the foreground.