During the third year of the 3-year Children's House Program, the five-year-olds (and young 6-year-olds) move into the role of "oldest students" in their mixed-age Children's House classroom for one-half of each school day.

The other half of the day, they are in a dedicated Kindergarten classroom, where the program focus on honing skills is enhanced by the opportunities offered by a larger, same-age peer group.

There are distinct advantages to this kindergarten model:

½ day in Children's House:

• The chance to be the models for their younger classmates which affords them the opportunity to develop qualities of leadership, nurturing, and empathy. In this way, they also learn the important values of mentoring others and patience with those who may be less skilled than themselves.

• Another year with teachers who know them, their styles and personalities, and where they are skills-wise and socially.

• Another year with peers with whom they are connected in an environment in which they are very familiar and comfortable.

½ day in Kindergarten classroom:

• More long-term individual and group projects, extended units of study, and the time to delve deeper into subjects like science, geography and history.

• A variety of field trips which complement the curriculum.

• Continuing to work with hands-on materials even as the students are beginning to be able to deal with letters and numbers which are the abstract symbolic representations of sounds and numeric concepts.

• Introduction of French and physical education instruction.

• Classroom plays and performances related to the curriculum.

Children who complete the Children's House / Kindergarten program move on to Elementary filled with self-confidence, self-esteem and a feeling of their own accomplishments. They have a strong sense of themselves as serious learners, good friends, positive role models, and members of their school community.

All kindergarten children attend school five days a week, 9am-3pm. Extended hours are available.