Caraway Learning Community
Caraway is an Alternative and Progressive K-9 public school program in Edmonton AB. We follow an Edmonton Public School Board schedule. What makes us different is how we deliver the materials.
21st Century Learning focuses on the 4 C's:
Critical Thinking
Collaboration
Communication
Creativity
...and Caraway works to leverage these essential foundations.
The big ideas of the curriculum are covered in:
a project based model, in a hands-on environment, in multi-age classrooms.
We give particular attention to social-emotional learning.
Caraway focuses on developing creative risk-takers with passion and global responsibility for a rapidly changing world.
Project Based Learning
Our program believes in project based and child centred learning. This allows students the opportunity to gain deeper knowledge through exploration, real world challenges and problem solving.
Parent Involvement
Parental involvement is a cornerstone to the Caraway program. When parents become involved in their children’s schooling in a real way, they are better able to understand their child as a result. The knowledge, abilities, hobbies and experiences of the parents are also essential in adding breadth to the school environment. Providing support to the school, staff and students in the Caraway Community through active facilitation reduces the traditional barrier between home and school.
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Hands-on Learning
Like all animals, children explore their world with their entire bodies. Being immersed in meaningful activities brings the curriculum alive and engages the mind as it engages the senses.
Social/Emotional Learning
In addition to teaching academic skills, the intent of the program is to help the students develop both emotionally and socially. Nurturing the children to become Emotionally Intelligent enables them to become more responsible for their individual behaviour and the ability to develop empathetic feelings for others and their problems and to be able to risk caring for others.
Democratic Process
Our students and staff work collaboratively and democratically while each individual is considered and respected. Making decisions becomes a group process and the students and teachers are responsible for solving problems together as they arise. Group problem solving techniques relating to the classroom order and management are more likely to result in students feeling personally responsible and committed to maintaining that order. Through a social justice lens, our students learn to become advocates and co-creators in the larger world.
Forest School
Nature exploration is vital to the goals of the Caraway Program. Being in nature builds our understanding of connection to the land, personal resilience, problem solving, collaboration, and risk taking. Nature teaches us about systems and interconnections, and also helps our children retain improved mental health, autonomy, and stewardship over our earth.
Striving for equity, we acknowledge that outdoor education can be inaccessible and unaffordable for many families. We provide an opportunity for children to engage with the outdoors through land based learning and exploration as well as a rescue farm that Caraway is affiliated with. Our program incorporates nature based storytelling, risky play, and Indigenous Ways of Knowing whenever and however we can, uplifting Indigenous voices and experiences when possible. Students are encouraged to learn about "Treaty People", Truth and Reconciliation, and acknowledgement of the land they live and learn on.
Social Justice
At Caraway, we strive to co-create a safe, cooperative, and dynamic environment for children to develop in a modern world. We believe that by fostering a culture of social justice and equity, we can create a better future for all of our students, and in turn, the community and larger world around us.
MULTI-AGE CLASSROOMS
Caraway does not utilize the standard grade level structure of classroom organization. Multi-age classrooms spanning at least three grade levels encourages students to act as leaders and mentors while minimizing competition. This structure focuses on children as individuals with unique gifts and challenges while our classroom sizes are kept small. Our mixed range of grades and ages in the classrooms can vary from year to year.
LIFE LONG LEARNING
Wonder and agency are the keys to lifelong learning; at every age learners ask questions and search for their own answers. Caraway helps to develop and expose children’s individual potential and creativity. When our students learn how to learn by using their own curiosity and initiative, they develop an inquiring attitude to all aspects of life, not just the learning done in school.
FAQ’S
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