Our Communication Arts courses include reading, writing, speaking, and listening. The particular focus of any session depends in part on student interests. For example, the Fall ’20 Upper Elementary/Middle School group focused on writing narratives, but work on other genres is also possible. Regardless of writing type, we are guided by the writing process: brainstorming, drafting, peer review/editing, revising, and ultimately creating a final product to share with family and friends. Work on grammar, mechanics and writing conventions are addressed in the context of each student’s own work. While writing can easily be the focus for either age group, another possible focus for the younger group is working on reading skills to support students as they develop from emergent to fluent readers. And regardless of the particular focus, there will be opportunities for practicing and learning more about all aspects of communication arts (reading, writing, speaking, and listening). Communication Arts is taught by Ann Kindfield.
We group children by age so we can select activities that match their current skills and to facilitate collaboration. Historically, we’ve had 2 groups: K/Early Elementary (5-7yo) and Upper Elementary/Middle School (8-14yo). K/Early Elementary meets for 1.5 hours/week and costs $270. Upper Elementary/Middle School meets for 2 hours/week and costs $360.
Classes require at least three students and we try to cap all of our classes at 6 students.
When it’s chilly outside, Communication Arts is an indoor, in-person class. When the weather warms up, Communication Arts is in person and meets in our outdoor classroom.
No Communication Arts classes have been scheduled yet for Spring ’23. If at least 3 students sign up for one of the groups, we will run the course starting the week of February 6, so please let us know if you are interested!