We set the curriculum; students drive the study

Children's Community School's curriculum prepares children for citizenship in a democracy. And so at every step, we relate study to life. We believe that children, just like adults, learn best when they are active participants in the world around them. We therefore begin each study with the children's knowledge and their questions.

CCS teachers begin every unit -- be it history, biology, multiplication or creative writing -- by asking students what they know about the subject. That inevitably leads to spirited classroom discussions from which the teacher compiles a list of student-generated questions.

This list forms the basis for the unit itself: the children's own questions drive the study.

And once we head down a path of study, we employ many forms of expression that encompass our students' diverse learning styles. Our children write essays and give speeches; they paint, weave, and mold clay. And they perform, sometimes in costume, everything from dances, songs, and stories, to sophisticated dramatic presentations.