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Curriculum
Our unit study curriculum runs from September through May, offering a rich, structured learning experience. During the summer, we switch things up with a more flexible program featuring engaging weekly themes.
Our Forestry unit study takes students on an exciting adventure into the world of forests. They’ll explore all kinds of forests like rainforests, coniferous, and deciduous forests, learn how to identify trees, discover forest layers, ecosystems, and even how forests impact our everyday lives.
It’s packed with hands-on activities, nature walks, art projects, and fun facts about everything from foraging to forest fires. Designed to spark curiosity and help kids connect with nature in meaningful ways. This unit will act as an introduction to our outdoor classroom, and safety.
Wolf Spiders, Crickets, and Moths, Oh My!
In this unit, students will explore the fascinating world of tiny creatures that play a big role in keeping our ecosystems healthy. We’ll explore the importance of insects, their incredible adaptations, camouflage, and more. They will get to focus on their favorite bugs and bring their learning to life through creative projects like digital presentations, sculptures, graphs, and hands-on activities.
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Along the way, we’ll uncover neat topics like the Father of Taxonomy, Carl Linnaeus, the story behind the discovery of the color red from cochineal insects, and explore classic fables like Aesop’s The Ant and the Grasshopper.
In this fun and secular unit, students will step into the world of mystery and investigation. From solving the Case of the Stolen Emerald to learning about fingerprints, DNA, and secret codes, kids will sharpen their observation and critical thinking skills.
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We will enter the world of Sherlock Holmes, write our own mystery stories, and create detective-inspired art like composite sketches and facial reconstructions. We’ll explore maps, British culture, disguises, and even the science behind forensic music.
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With hands-on projects like cracking codes, matching animal tracks, building plots, and revising their own detective stories, kids will have plenty of chances to play, create, and think like real investigators.
We will welcome Winter by learning about what it takes to live and thrive in one of the world’s most extreme environments. From learning about Arctic animals and their survival skills to studying the Northern Lights, sea ice, and climate change, students will discover what makes the Arctic so unique.
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Along the way, students learn about the cultures of Arctic peoples, explore Alaska and the Arctic Circle on the map, and create art inspired by wildlife, landscapes, and ice patterns. Hands-on projects include building timelines, simulating ice core samples, making whale calls, creating Aurora Borealis art, and even playing Arctic math games.
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It’s a creative, cross-curricular journey designed to spark curiosity and help kids connect with the frozen wonders of our planet.
In our Human Body unit students will learn what makes the human body tick. They’ll see how bones, muscles, and organs work together, and imagine what life might be like without them.
From building models of lungs and eyes to testing how blubber insulates or how footprints tell a story, this unit brings anatomy and nature study to life.
Along the way, students will discover medical inventions like x-rays and stethoscopes, study Greek culture and Hippocrates, and create art inspired by skeletons, hearts, and the brain.
There’s plenty of hands-on fun, with projects like body percussion music, neurographic art, persuasive writing, and math mysteries with skeletons and bandages.
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We will journey into the animal kingdom and discover what makes creatures big and small so incredible. They’ll learn how zoologists study and classify animals, investigate vertebrates and their unique traits, and find out what sets birds, reptiles, and amphibians apart. Through experiments, creative labeling, and interactive activities, kids will think like young scientists while exploring the wonders of the animal world.
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Students will get to know extraordinary animals like elephants, learning about their adaptations, family life, communication, and memory. They’ll build models, try fun challenges, and create projects inspired by what they’ve learned.
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They’ll also discover exciting animal stories from history, like the Great Migration, wild mustangs of North America, and the work of famous animal champions Jane Goodall and Steve Irwin.
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In our paleontology unit, students will embark on an adventure to uncover the secrets of ancient life by studying fossils and the science behind them. They’ll learn how to classify fossils, reconstruct ancient environments, and compare prehistoric creatures to animals living today.
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Students will also explore the Ice Age world of woolly mammoths, their adaptations to harsh climates, and how they lived alongside early humans.
Throughout the unit, children will build their vocabulary with themed reading and writing activities, while developing research and report-writing skills focused on paleontology topics. They’ll also meet famous fossil hunters from history and discover the global locations where fossils are found.
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In our ornithology unit we will learn what makes an animal a bird, study bird anatomy and life cycles, and investigate how birds fly and migrate. Through hands-on activities like egg dissections, building birdhouses, and observing real birds, students will deepen their understanding of bird behavior and adaptations.
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They will explore owl habitats and hunting adaptations and take part in guided nature observations. Students will have opportunities for creative and reflective writing through bird journals and stories, and study historic bird myths and famous ornithologists.
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Cultural and geographic lessons will highlight places like Costa Rica and introduce students to global bird diversity. The unit also connects to music by exploring bird songs and their influence on composers, while art activities encourage students to create bird-inspired works that emphasize anatomy, habitats, culture, and conservation.
Our junior Aviators will explore the fascinating world of flight, beginning with the forces that make flying possible and learning about the different parts of airplanes and safety systems. They will reflect on our last unit and study birds and their wings more in depth, drawing connections between natural flight and human inventions.
Students will engage with stories and vocabulary related to aviation, practice writing travel-themed reports, and learn about important milestones in the history of flight, including early gliders, the first powered flights, and the contributions of women aviators.
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They will also develop map skills focused on a key aviation region, explore musical sounds inspired by flight and wind, and create art projects inspired. This well-rounded experience encourages curiosity, creativity, and a deeper understanding of flight’s role in both the natural world and human innovation.