“The purpose for being seven is to be seven, not to prepare to be eight.”
Derived from a favorite educational quote.
The school program at Spectrum is based on our Continuum of Learning. The purpose of the Continuum suggests a broad overview of skills, is a general guideline for teachers, allows for tracking individual progress over time, and shows a large overlap of academic skills to be expected between levels. Spectrum School Continuum of Learning Overview Derived From: Piaget Association of Supervision and Development Standards State Education Goals Multiple Intelligences Theory High/Scope Early Childhood Philosophy Spectrum Teachers/Facilitators
Implementation:
Each child has a continuum for mathematics, communication and social skills. Except for the social skills continuum, which is begun anew each school year, the continuum follows a child throughout his/her career at Spectrum School. A child’s first year as a full-day student is the beginning point for the Spectrum Continuum. First evidence of a skill is dated and understood as developing. Second and third observations of a skill must be recorded in different school years in order to ensure consistency.
How is this communicated? Parents may see their child’s continuum at the May conference. Posters of the Mathematics and Communications continua are displayed near the school entrance. Teachers and the Education Coordinator are available to answer questions about the continuum at anytime.
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Student Progression and Placement Multi-age Groups At Spectrum School, children are grouped in classroom families of mixed ages. This is done, with proven success, so that children can have an opportunity to learn naturally from each other. As suggested by Piaget’s theory for effective learning, they are encouraged to accept both challenge and responsibility within the classroom group. In order to promote its commitment to individual progress and development, Spectrum does not use traditional grade level designations. Placement Criteria The criteria for determining the classroom group in which a child will learn includes: cognitive development, social compatibility, overall math and language arts achievement, and chronological age. Typically, ages of children in a classroom are within a three year range. The length of time a student remains with a classroom group is variable since children develop and learn at very different rates. Class placement for an individual child is made in consultation with the parents and is based on recommendations by staff, Education Coordinator, teacher observation and assessment, current class criteria, and formal testing if necessary. Throughout the child’s progression in the Spectrum curriculum, the goal is to help children be happy, self-confident, independent, able to think, act and rationally assess their actions – both in school and throughout life.
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