When trying to sum up Red Door, the idea of the “immersive experience” comes to mind. Through this philosophy, learning extends beyond the boundaries of the classroom, and seeps into the nooks and crannies that compose the rest of a child’s life outside of academia. Learning is not distinct from the world around them, but instead reflects it. Through all content areas, the red door philosophy embraces the world around us. We truly seek to provide meaningful learning experiences that are connected to what students are thinking about. Learning is student-driven and each child has a voice in where curriculum goes. We embrace challenge and aim to communicate that we are all learners, most of all the teachers who work at TFS.

 

Students pose and answer questions over extended periods of time, at the end of which students create their own product based on their understanding of an overarching theme. This necessitates the students ability to evaluate and analyze prior learning in order to use their imagination to create something new.

 

Students are encouraged to make discoveries for themselves, to have wonderful ideas and embrace these discoveries as their own. Through use of our school’s learning continuums, I am able to generate ideas about the skills I want students to take away, but still allow them the opportunity to create their own products. Something I think sets the family school apart is the idea that we focus on the skills, rather than getting lost in the content we want them to take away. Instead, as teachers we are able to choose content that makes sense for what our students are interested in and passionate about. Through this content, we teach the skills and big ideas we want them to grasp and be able to independently replicate on their own.

 

We truly teach students how to be a learner, and strive to give them tools and means to be successful in whatever they choose. We teach them to critically analyze, and hold them to high social-emotional standards. We think intentionally about social-emotional skills, and how to best incorporate the explicit education of them so that they are not only learners and teachers themselves, but grow up to be intentional, analytical people who are independent thinkers.

 

For more information on the multi-age classroom, please go to:

 

http://www.choosingmultiage.com/faq.php