Progressive Teaching

Since its founding in 1922, Orchard has utilized progressive teaching methods.

In a nutshell, progressive teaching engages the natural curiosity of children through their construction of knowledge and understanding by creating an active, child-centered, experiential learning environment.

Teachers challenge students at their individual level, monitoring the match between students and learning and making adjustments as necessary.

Essential progressive tenets at Orchard include:

• A well-rounded education, emphasizing academics and arts and physical education
• Development of the whole child--social, emotional, and academic
• Children constructing their own understanding
• Children developing ownership of and responsibility for their learning and behavior
• Children developing critical thinking, creative thinking and problem solving
• Emphasis on process of learning, not just final product

Progressive teaching strategies used at Orchard include:

• Active, hands-on, experiential activities
• Cooperative, collaborative learning
• Integrated and interdisciplinary activities and units
• Flexibility in grouping and scheduling
• Differentiation of content (what students learn), process (how students make sense of ideas and information), product (how students demonstrate what they have learned)