Our older students who move on to public and private schools are often noted as being confident, well-rounded, academically prepared, socially adept, and enthusiastic learners. Many can be found on the CPS and NHS honor rolls, as well as on athletic teams and in artistic/theatrical productions.
Where Lighthouse differs most from conventional schools is in the early classes, especially for 5-8 year olds. The Lighthouse curriculum is designed to coincide with the developmental stages of childhood so that we are introducing information when children are developmentally ‘ready’ to make sense of it. We are committed to providing young children the time they require to develop fundamental language skills and to fully immerse themselves in the playful ‘work’ of childhood. While Lighthouse classrooms are rich in language art experiences and stories, books, poems, songs, and writing are primary features of every classroom, more formal academic lessons begin in the Primary Class, once a child is around seven years old. By the time a child is 9 or 10, curricular expectations are more in line with those set by the public schools. Today many Kindergartens and first and second grade classrooms impose academic demands and expectations for young children which contradict what developmental research tells us about how children grow, learn, and make sense of information in their early years. Since Lighthouse is committed to honoring the child with a developmentally appropriate education, our academic expectations differ for these younger students and so a transition in these early years can present challenges.
