• Curriculum Overview
• Afternoons
• Events and Celebrations
• Service Learning and Partnerships
• Special Assemblies
• Mini Courses

The social studies curriculum for all age groups at The School in Rose Valley includes four elements: content, skills, experiences, and perspectives and values. Through the curriculum content, the program conveys to children both specific knowledge, such as basic facts about U.S. history, and familiarity with general concepts, such as how governmental and economic systems work. The program teaches children skills such as map reading, and how to use specific approaches and methodologies that they will need to continue learning throughout their lives. A variety of experiences and activities, from doing research to community service projects, makes the curriculum interesting and meaningful. The program helps children develop an understanding of perspective, such as noticing points of view or historical context, when evaluating information. It also encourages children to adopt certain values, such as non-violence and celebrating diversity, that the school believes are essential to the future of the world.

Preschool - Three- and four-year-olds are just beginning to emerge from a world that is centered around themselves and their own needs and desires. Being in school with other children is a challenge, and is the focus of the preschool social studies curriculum. Taking responsibility for their actions, becoming more independent, learning to share, being able to ask for what they want, and learning to be interested in others are all parts of the daily work of preschoolers. Preschoolers are also ready to begin to think about other people, and how they are the same and different. The social studies curriculum introduces them to other cultures in concrete ways that are meaningful to them - in person and through tangible artifacts such as different kinds of food and clothing.

Kindergarten - By Kindergarten children have mastered many basic self-help skills and are gaining the ability to see others' needs and perspectives. Helping the students learn about themselves as they grow into thoughtful, caring members of a group, and consciously building classroom community, are major focuses of the social studies curriculum. Kindergartners are also ready to learn more about people of other cultures. Focusing on what engages children of this age, the curriculum exposes them to different kinds of families, stories, traditions and celebrations.

Primary Years - During first and second grade, children are increasingly able to function as independent individuals and responsible community members. Much of the social studies curriculum at this age is dedicated to practicing these skills. Six and seven year olds are also able to see and appreciate more of the world that is beyond them and their experiences. Studying another culture at this stage, they can begin to appreciate different people's mythology, art and games. In geography, they are able to learn and understand where they live relative to neighboring and distant places. In history, learning about and comparing the lifestyles of previous inhabitants of this area (local Native Americans, colonists, Rose Valley, etc.), and particularly about how these people adapted to their physical environment, captures their imaginations.

Middle Years - Students who are eight to ten are concerned with issues of fairness, belonging and fitting in. They are ready to become members of broader communities and to take community service to a new level. The issues of fairness and fitting in are paramount in their studies in history of the peopling of the Americas by Native Americans and immigrants from other continents, including Africa, and these are compared with another historical incidence of human movement or resettlement somewhere else in the world. In geography they begin to see the relationships between the environment, resources, wealth and power. An introduction to governance, and specifically to the workings of democracy, gives the students an understanding of how political systems do and do not include the voices of their people.

Older Years - Fifth and sixth graders are on the brink of many changes and transitions. Pre-adolescence, with its physical, emotional and social issues, is a major focus of the social studies curriculum. In their studies of modern cultures, students of this age can tackle abstract issues such as different values, religions and standards of beauty. They are introduced to the basic tenets of economics. Other aspects of the curriculum connect what the students have learned about the environment, resources and political systems and apply them globally. In history they study the rise and fall of civilizations, and times of radical change (social or political movements or revolutions). The themes of power and change are emphasized as they learn about responsible global citizenship and taking political action in governance. They are encouraged to envision a better future, and are taught how to go about realizing their vision.