Trust and Familiarity We take the time to know each student's interests, passions, motivations and personality. We build relationships of trust that support each child's explorations. We recognize our students' different talents and strengths, and the varied paths they take on their journeys toward independence. We teach our students to think for themselves and to be self-motivated, confident explorers, but we also expect them to collaborate with each other. We honor more than one solution and more than one way to think about a problem, so that our students see that problems can be solved in many ways. We recognize that even the most gifted, successful child has areas in which to be challenged. Problem Solving & Practice We use inquiry to solve problems, so the child discovers the answer, rather than having the answer discovered or expressed by the teacher. We start with what the child already knows, then build on that knowledge by asking questions that challenge them to stretch their thinking. Our students see that problems can be solved in many ways. We honor more than one solution or more than one way to think about a problem. We stress the importance of breaking tasks into smaller parts and of students being responsible for their work.

Experiential Learning We believe children learn best what they experience directly. Therefore, our lesson plans often involve hands-on exploration. Our "home fun" (home work) is almost always connected to the child's family life outside of school. We create opportunities for our children to apply their learning in real-life situations. We supplement classroom activities with frequent field trips, which relate to our studies. Respect for the Individual We honor different learning styles by offering a variety of means of accessing and processing information, and we stress that we are each different and do not learn - or need to learn - in the same way. We encourage each child to accomplish "your size job" This means that each child does his/her best with a task that is appropriately challenging for him/her. These practices promote confidence by encouraging each child to develop according to his or her own timeline and developmental pathway.