Our daily programs offered at The Canaan Ridge School for both Nursery, Pre-K and
K-1-2
include Science, Music, Art and Crafts, and Physical Education.
Science
Canaan Ridge's science program consists of hands-on, inquiry-based programs: Workshops,
Explore the Excitement of Science Ourselves, Our Earth and Our Universe. Each is a
10-week session. Units of Animal life, plant life, sea life, discovering the world
through the microscope and age-appropriate science experiments are included.
In the Spring, the children enjoy growing their own plants from seed in our special greenhouse.The Private Eye is another exciting program for the children. It is the wonder of looking closely at the world through the Loupe magnifying lens. A natural curiosity evolves from exploring their environment in this manner. Thinking skills and creativity are accelerated.
Physical Education
Our program consists of a daily exercise routines for all ages: balance beams,
tumbling mat, stretching and dance routines, parachute play, Chinese ribbon
sticks, rhythm hoops, yoga and playing team games. Our sports field is used
by the Pre-K and K-1-2 children for team sports, including soccer, T-ball,
kickball, relay races and calisthenics.
Music
Music is an integral part of our school. All classes play background music
continually during their session. We find that music has a calming influence
on the children and creates a love of music forever.
Our daily music program consists of music appreciation, instruments of the orchestra, and learning
about musical terminology, rhythm, tone and timing. There is daily group
singing with the guitar and digital piano, dancing, Montessori bells, a
glockenspiel band (for our multi-age class), and recorder (for 1st-2nd grades)
and our little "Schroeder" piano group.
Nursery rhymes and poetry are put to musical expressions. Children are shown
how to make their own musical instruments. Music CDs of the children singing
are produced at the school during Holiday time and at the end of the school year.
Arts and Crafts
Our daily Arts and Crafts program includes painting, pasting, clay work
pottery with our kiln, puppetry, woodworking, cooking, experimenting with a
variety of art media and bringing story time characters to life through creative
art projects. There is a definite emphasis on creating nature crafts.
Our older children learn all about famous artists through the “Learning to Look”
program and our “Meet the Masters” program, comprised of matching cards and
small-scaled art reproductions. Trips to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of
Art and local galleries help to expand the children’s enthusiasm for art by
showing them paintings on a grand scale.
Weekly Programs
Additional weekly programs for our multi-age class (K-2) include Chess, Spanish,
Photography and Drama Class with Act One from London, England.
In addition, several after-school programs (3:15pm-4:15pm) are offered each year in 6 to 10
week sessions. These include, but are not limited to: Martial Arts, Ballet,
Seasonal Sports, Baking, Magic and Etiquette. A speech therapist is also
available for our children when needed.
Yearly Schedule
In the beginning of each school year, a theme is chosen (Native American, Africa, the rainforests, sea life, space…). This theme is carried out into all academic areas including math lessons, writing and into our music and art programs. All teachers integrate the theme into their programs and lesson plans. From the month of January on through April, all children enjoy our International Program. Each week brings another country and its culture, customs, crafts, music, language and foods. International lunches go along with each country studied. April ends our International Program with a Mexican Fiesta and Hawaiian Luau and in May all the children enjoy putting on the Annual Canaan Ridge Review, filled with the music and dance.