Our Approach
Our scholars develop a lifelong passion for learning through a unique curriculum that builds critical social-emotional and academic skills. Our curriculum is designed to align with the Goodwin University Magnet School System Pathways, providing students with early exposure to Business and Administration, Computer Science, Health Science and Nursing, and Manufacturing and Engineering. We bring these pathways to life through play-based learning in Pre-K through Kindergarten, and project-based learning in grades 1-5. By prioritizing inquiry, student voice, and hands-on discovery, we empower our scholars to lead their own learning. This allows students to follow their natural curiosity to investigate real-world fields, building the critical thinking skills and passion for exploration that will serve as the foundation for their academic and career journeys through high school and beyond.
Building Project Work with Scholars
Projects are regarded as adventures into learning, and they can last anywhere from one week to the entire school year! These projects help to build the foundations of study and independent research in young children, through topics founded by their own curiosity and our district pathways. Teachers prepare and encourage activities related to these topics, and use the learning and documentation results as building blocks for further projects. Children decide what direction the project may go in, and how and what the group will produce as a result.
Applying Representational Development Teaching Techniques in the Classroom
This means that teachers will incorporate drama, art, constructing, reading, music, outdoor activities, and speech into each day of learning. Using the arts and expressive opportunities, teachers ensure that each child’s individual way of absorbing information will be touched upon. Whether they are visual learners, non-verbal learners, or active learners, there are techniques to make sure that all learning styles are incorporated into the curriculum. Riverside Magnet School uses the arts to benefit children cognitively, linguistically, and socially.
The Importance of Collaboration
The transition from child-directed play-based learning in Pre-K to project-based learning in grades 1–5 would not happen effectively without positive collaboration between children and adults. At Riverside Magnet School, we use group work to include different approaches towards the same investigation, so that all children have an access point and are given the opportunity to share that with others. Through discussion, critique, comparison, negotiation, and problem-solving, children express their opinions and ideas within small and large groups.
The Teacher Comprises Several Roles in a Reggio Emilia Approach
But you may be asking, “if children lead the learning process, what exactly does the teacher do”? Well, in a traditional educational approach, we can visualize the instructor at the head of the classroom in front of a blackboard, children lined up neatly at desks with books and notebooks stacked, and pencils at attention. The Reggio Emilia teaching style is a bit different. At Riverside Magnet School, you may see co-teachers (multiple instructors) on a circular rug, at the same level of children, who are engaged in group work with each other. There are multiple tools for learning, including paint, instruments, objects from nature, blocks, and other construction activities. In Reggio Emilia-inspired elementary schools, teachers hold the role of a researcher. They guide children’s learning through careful listening, observation, and documentation of work as they engage with one another and develop a classroom community.
Using the Environment as the Third Teacher
Education is explorative at RMS; children use their hands, noses, eyes, ears, and taste buds as comprehensive tools for learning. Providing an environment rich in opportunity for children to engage is what our school community is all about. Whether with activities inside the classroom or using the gifts of the outdoors, Riverside Magnet School offers learning opportunities both within its walls and beyond them.