All Merriam School curriculum meets the APS curriculum guidelines. School have considerable leeway to go beyond these objectives to determine the appropriate sequence of learning experienøces and to select and use the most effective methods and materials. Merriam teachers work together to shape the curriculum and make decisions so that the teaching and learning is comprehensive and responsive to the needs of their students.

"In hands-on museums, youngsters have the opportunity to explore rich environments and to play out their emerging understandings in meaningful contexts. On-the-job training, mentoring relations, and the involvement of professionals in the schools are all mechanisms for reducing the gap between the 'agenda of school' and the 'agenda of life.' And introduction into the classroom of meaningful projects, cooperative forms of interaction, and process-folios that document student progress can all sensitize students to their own thought processes and to the ways in which their conceptions mesh or collide with disciplinary knowledge." (The Unschooled Mind by Howard Gardner.)

Teacher-Generated Curriculum

Teachers collaborate to create units, projects and themes that combine personal ideas, student interests, grade level expectations, and selections from existing trade resources. Service learning and themes also serve as curriculum vehicles and provide interactions which unite the school community.

Cooperative Learning

Specific lessons guide students in small group work: Students learn group roles, responsibilities and strategies for working together. This grouping strategy supports academic learning. Depending on each other to reach group goals necessitates individual responsibility. Students learn to respect and appreciate differences in learning styles. As content area objectives are met and the classroom environment is enhanced, children are learning the team approach to problem -solving that is used in so many work settings nowadays.

School and Community Service

As a school we value and encourage students to think about and do for others. Through school and community service, all Merriam School students learn to contribute to a community and experience a sense of commitment, responsibility and pride. Service responsibilities are designed to provide age appropriate, curriculum-rich experiences. Past service has included: school store, post office, recycling, messengers, school newspaper, disabilities puppets, conservation work, museum exhibit and program support, and nursing home visits.

Cross-School themes

Merriam School creates school-wide themes or theme days to enhance ongoing community building, cross-grade interactions and curriculum investigations and projects. On theme days, students engage in learning experiences with their family group members. Those experiences often include arts, drama, music, construction, and writing. Some of our our yearly themes have focused on Change, Growth, Community, Architecture , and Building a New School.

All School Field Trip

An All School Field Trip is a curricular event in which the entire school community participates together. An example is the annual hike to Nobscot. Children are grouped in multi-age groups, grades one through six and participate in a field trip together.

Project-based learning

Project-based learning is a teacher-generated approach to curriculum that is organized and planned to be integrated, hands-on and authentic when practical. A project may be short term or long term. The Merriam School staff believes that experiential, hands-on studies provide the richest opportunities for the development of students' skills, self confidence, sense of responsibility, and enthusiasm for learning while supporting various learning styles. For this reason, whenever appropriate, the Merriam School offers a project based curriculum. All students participate in a variety of projects over the course of a year. Math, science language arts, social studies, and the arts are integrated into interesting, challenging, student driven projects.

Much instruction is done within the contexts of these projects. Other explicit instruction and experiences are provided as well, to introduce, reinforce, complement, and enhance student learning. Examples of Projects around Merriam School are provided on this site.

"What is a project? A project is an in-depth study of a particular topic that one or more children undertake... Work on a project might extend over a period of days or weeks, depending on the children's ages and the nature of the topic... Projects usually involve children in advanced planning and in various activities that might require several days or weeks of sustained effort. This approach emphasizes the teacher's role in encouraging children to interact with people, objects, and the environment in ways that have personal meaning to them. As a way of learning, it emphasizes children's active participation in their own studies... An overall aim of this approach is to cultivate the life of the young child's mind. In its fullest sense, the term mind includes not only knowledge and skills, but also emotional, moral, and aesthetic sensibilities." (Engaging Children's Minds: The Project Approach) by Lilian Katz and Sylvia Chard

Return to the Merriam School Structures and Strategies page.