Curriculum

Nido's Elementary School serves students from 5-11 years old and continues to build on the foundations laid down in the early childhood years. Through an inquiry-based approach, our students learn to experience the world with curiosity, become independent thinkers, and develop problem-solving skills that build character and help them thrive in an ever-changing world. Our teachers deliver an integrated and interdisciplinary curriculum that connects the various subjects of study, providing students with a seamless learning experience and encouraging them to discover connections between school work and the other parts of their lives. Each grade level also offers age-appropriate service learning opportunities for students to grow as individuals and serve local, national, and global communities.

Physical education, music, art, computer instruction, and Spanish classes complete the core curriculum in literacy, math, social studies, and science. Though our standards are high, each child is encouraged to progress at his or her level of readiness, with a gradual increase of responsibility as the child goes through the different stages of development. Our students learn to embrace change and diversity by actively managing transitions and sharing each other’s cultural identity, beliefs, and customs.

Elementary classes have no more than 22 students per class, allowing for both rich interactive engagement and individual attention. Kinder 2, Grade 1, and Grade 2 classes have both a lead teacher and an assistant teacher. Each grade has a Team Lead to ensure coherent and coordinated curriculum planning across the grade, but our teachers and assistant teachers enrich their individual classes with their own unique teaching styles, backgrounds, and interests. Nido's Elementary School uses a standards-based teaching and learning model to emphasize that learning is a process in which the goal is for each child to grow steadily in knowledge, ability, and confidence.

Our curriculum is delivered through the following teaching and learning beliefs:

Classroom culture sets the tone for learning and shapes what is learned.
Choice is essential for engagement.
Learning is a collaborative and social process.
Learners need descriptive, timely feedback.
Goal setting, reflection, and revision are essential to learning.
Risk-taking, mistakes, and productive struggle are necessary and valuable to the learning process.
Learners construct knowledge, skills, and understanding based on previous knowledge and experiences.
Learners construct knowledge through authentic exploration and creation.
Learners benefit from making connections across and within disciplines.
Learning occurs at different rates and in different ways.

Courses

Mathematics

Nido students are actively engaged in experiences that stimulate curiosity, joy, and risk-taking, develop a problem-solving mindset, and lead to a deep understanding of mathematics. They learn to communicate ideas, make connections, and apply mathematical thinking through authentic learning opportunities that inspire action and the pursuit of interests.

We believe …

Mathematicians build understanding by moving from the concrete to the representational to the abstract.
All students can learn math to a high level.
Making sense of problems, thinking creatively, making connections, and communicating effectively are at the core of mathematics.
Multiple strategies and representations allow students to grow their thinking.

Language Arts

Through our Language Arts program, students actively engage in literacy experiences that stimulate curiosity and joy, foster independence, and lead to deep understanding. They learn to make meaning of texts and communicate ideas through authentic learning opportunities that inspire action and the pursuit of interests.

We believe …

All children are readers and writers.
Oral language is the foundation for reading and writing.
Writers learn to write by writing for generous amounts of time, and readers learn to read by reading for generous amounts of time.
Readers and writers need to experiment with and be exposed to a variety of genres.
Writing is a process through which writers communicate ideas, feelings, and information.
Reading is a process of making meaning.
Balanced literacy supports learners in reading with accuracy, fluency, and comprehension.

Science

Nido’s Science program is designed to actively engage students in experiences that stimulate curiosity and a sense of wonder that leads to a deeper understanding of science. Learners are inspired to take action through authentic learning experiences. Our students construct knowledge through a science curriculum that balances interests, inquiry, investigation, effective communication, collaboration, and the exploration of issues and concepts through an interdisciplinary approach.

We believe …

Science instruction should relate to the interests, curiosities, and life experiences of students and be connected to societal or personal concerns that require scientific or technical knowledge, and, when appropriate, to encourage the student to take action with that learning.
Learning science is a key tool for understanding and investigating more complex ideas and communicating clearly the solutions to complex problems.
Science is teachable and learnable over multiple grades at increasing levels of depth and sophistication; that is, the idea can be made accessible to younger students but is broad enough to sustain continued investigation over years.
Science instruction has a broad importance across multiple science or engineering disciplines and can be a key organizing principle within a single discipline.

Social Studies

At its core, Nido’s Social Studies program engages students in experiences that stimulate curiosity and teaches them over time to think critically about human behavior and social issues through authentic learning opportunities that inspire action and the pursuit of interests. Students construct knowledge through a Social Studies curriculum that balances inquiry, investigation, communication, and collaboration around issues and concepts through an interdisciplinary approach.

We believe …

Students learn best when they engage in real-world problem solving through interdisciplinary projects or investigations.
Knowing the past, engaging in the present, and impacting the future will foster active, empathic, and responsible citizens.
Students gain a stronger understanding of human behavior when they are asked to think critically about how issues are connected among the global, national/regional, local, and personal realms.

Spanish

The aim of the ES Spanish program is to develop linguistic and communication skills through reading, listening, writing, and conversing. Students learn to establish authentic interactions in their social, historical, and cultural contexts, which contributes to their broader spiritual, personal, and academic learning.

We believe …

Language allows students to construct their personal world and contribute to society.
Students have different ways of learning.
Learning is achieved when students are exposed to real and significant experiences.
Language learning is achieved by exposing the student to different types of written, oral, and visual texts.
A balanced program combines reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
The writing process must be developed with a strong consideration for audience and purpose.
The writing process must be meaningful for the student.
Grammar and language conventions enhance communication.
Reading instruction must ensure that students feel motivated, enjoy the process, and understand what they are reading.
Students must read various types of texts that are meaningful to them.
Spoken language is fundamental to communication and to the development of other linguistic skills.
Multiple and differentiated evaluations of learning processes provide opportunities for students to show what they have learned.
Common assessments should be based on expected learning goals and objectives.

Castellano

El Departamento de Castellano de Básica tiene como tarea primordial fortalecer el desarrollo de la competencia lingüística y comunicativa: leer, escuchar, escribir y hablar. De esta forma, nuestros alumnos podrán establecer una auténtica interacción en su medio social, histórico y cultural, contribuyendo con ello al enriquecimiento espiritual, personal y académico expresado en la misión educativa del colegio.

Creemos que ...

El lenguaje permite a los estudiantes construir su mundo personal y contribuir a la sociedad.
Los alumnos tienen diferentes estilos de aprendizaje.
El aprendizaje se logra cuando los estudiantes están expuestos a experiencias reales y significativas.
El aprendizaje del idioma se logra al exponer al estudiante a diferentes tipos de textos escritos, orales y visuales.
Un programa balanceado que combina lectura, escritura, oralidad y expresión y comprensión oral.
El proceso de escritura debe desarrollarse teniendo en perspectiva la audiencia y el propósito.
El proceso de escritura debe ser significativo para el alumno.
Las convenciones del lenguaje escrito favorecen la comunicación.
La enseñanza de la lectura debe combinar la motivación, el goce y la comprensión.
Los alumnos deben leer una tipología variada de textos y de significancia para ellos.
El lenguaje oral es fundamental para la comunicación y desarrollo de otras habilidades lingüísticas.
La evaluación formativa múltiple y diferenciada de los procesos de aprendizaje da oportunidad para que los alumnos demuestren lo aprendido.
La evaluación común será en base a los aprendizajes esperados y con indicadores de logro.

Technology

Information Communication Technology prepares students for a rapidly changing world. Our program engages students in designing, creating, and innovating. Students acquire skills to be independent learners and problem solvers. Technology is used to augment, modify, and redefine core learning experiences.

We believe …

Students are naturally motivated by digital tools.
The application of technology enables us to perform tasks effectively by choosing the appropriate tool.
Nido students are active learners who use technology responsibly to solve problems and communicate ideas ethically.
Students must develop digital literacy.
Technology is a powerful learning tool that, when properly integrated into a challenging curriculum, improves learning and fosters student success.

Music

Nido’s Elementary School music program aims to instill a love and appreciation for music within every child. The music curriculum was designed to create a classroom climate that fosters a lifelong love of music-making in the students. A diverse range of pedagogical approaches are used in the classroom, including the Orff, Kodaly, and Dalcroze methods. We prepare our students for concerts throughout the year in September, December, March, and May, as well as prepare them to continue with the Nido music program in Middle School and High School.

We believe …

Every student should have the same musical opportunities in Elementary School, regardless of their level of talent.
Student choice is essential to encourage full engagement, including repertoire selection.
It is beneficial for our students to learn from many different pedagogical approaches, and they will be challenged with authentic exploration and creation.
Having performance opportunities is important for a child’s music-making experience as a collaborative and social process. Performance allows students to take risks and experience productive struggle.

Art

Nido’s Elementary School visual arts program gives students opportunities to create art based on aesthetic appreciation, emotional response, and to express and symbolize their feelings and thoughts in a free manner, in accordance with their own age.

Students learn skills, knowledge, and understanding from the content of units, and the outcomes reflect the standards of the art curriculum. Children acquire an aspect in life essential to learning, as the arts bring knowledge and enrich the soul. The arts offer and provide a deeper meaning, and for some students a stronger motivation and perhaps future career. The Elementary School art program considers every child as a unique human being with a natural urge to create and recognizes that every individual should have the opportunity to express themselves creatively through a wide variety of materials.

We believe …

Students learn to explore and express their unique language using different techniques and media such as printing, sculpture, painting, drawing, photography, digital art, and animation.
Students should learn that they are capable of creating meaningful art projects and have the chance to do art projects that connect with other subject areas.
Students can discover their own identity via the arts and express themselves via aesthetic language.
Students learn through touch and the senses using various materials, textures, color, and mixed media.
Students learn when exposed to reading and visual material, field trips, and experiences within the classroom where they acquire knowledge about techniques, national and international artists, art movements, and different forms of expression.
Every student should develop an understanding and knowledge of line, shape, form, texture, pattern, space, and color.
Students develop a wide variety of cognitive and artistic skills as they independently work through a step-by-step process.

Physical Education

The Physical Education program at Nido is designed to empower all students to take lifelong personal responsibility for engaging in health-related physical activity and to recognize the intrinsic value of being active in ways they enjoy.

We believe …

Physical education at Nido is a sequential education program based on the acquisition of knowledge and skills that are the foundation for engaging in physical activity and sports.
Students in our program are learning in a supportive atmosphere in which teachers encourage managed risk-taking. Teachers give students appropriate challenges and opportunities to be successful in a variety of physical activities, regardless of their ability or experience.
Physical Education programs contribute to students' physical, social, intellectual, and emotional well-being. The spontaneous demands of the activities presented in the physical education setting require students to be alert and responsive individuals.
Students develop decision-making skills, along with a sense of fair play and sportsmanship, while working cooperatively with others.
The development of a healthy lifestyle should be a fundamental concern for all individuals in our modern society. The student who is sound in body and mind is better prepared to deal with physical and socio-emotional stress inherent in an ever-changing global community.