DC and Mount Rainier MD
We believe that the curriculum and people at The Socratic School of Language are what distinguishes our program because we provide our children with both a traditional and a classical education that focuses on character development, real-world experiences, and positive relationships. Our diverse team of educators are active and engaging world language teachers who exhibit real leadership and a motivation towards encouraging our children to learn and appreciate new concepts every day.
Our teachers are native speakers of English and Spanish, and thus are able to offer a more sophisticated range of concepts to students with a higher-quality cultural aspect. Though our teachers will speak and teach students primarily in the target language, they are proficient in English and Spanish and can converse well with our families and whole school community.
Below is a very small sampling of the kinds of works we cover at The Socratic School of Language. All content will be taught in Spanish.
We will engage in activities and illustrations to really show children how basic math works. The goal here is to have the children less frustrated and become exposed to math in a way that will encourage them to build upon numerical concepts they will encounter daily in school. We want the children to learn more than "1,2,3s” and be able to illustrate their knowledge before moving on to more challenging concepts, as they show they are ready. Patience and time are always key with math...
Money Math appropriate for little people’s understanding will also be interwoven into the math curriculum. Remember having a piggy bank when you were a kid? Children in our program will learn about domestic and foreign currencies and lessons about the benefits of saving money and how it really works in society.
We will focus on AMAZING topics in science suitable for young children, from Astronomy to Zoology, and feature lots of outdoor time to understand and to see nature at work!
Learning letter sounds and identification of words (and soon punctuation) are all part of group reading activities designed to motivate children towards literacy. With enough daily exposure and practice with dedicated and interested adults who illustrate reading on a consistent basis, it is not uncommon for preschool-aged children to be reading prior to entering kindergarten. With a goal towards bilingualism/multilingualism, children will receive constant exposure to various literary materials in their target languages as we embark on an early journey to prepare your child to become a bilingual and enthusiastic reader!
Characters, letters, and word recognition with fine motor skills exercises every day (including cursive and calligraphy), will be the focus here. Early writing is the key to literacy.
What do you want to be in 2024? Our students will explore this question as they develop their personalities and social skills. Props, board games, blocks, and various other equipment will be readily available for children to use both indoors and outdoors. Play and discovery are key aspects to healthy early child development.
The Socratic School of Language is a leader in the area of Cultural Art. Every day, throughout the day, we take a project-based approach to teaching and we invite our children to a myriad of fun and interesting activities for them to express themselves. In addition, cultural activities including finger works, drawing, music, and creation using natural and man-made materials are just some of the wonderful assets of our program children are sure to love!
We all should strive to learn something new this year!
The Socratic School of Language uses the Core Knowledge Curriculum in various parts of what we teach. This curriculum is content-rich and comprehensive, encompassing a myriad of topics that puts children ahead of the game and teaches them how to develop and use critical thinking skills. To learn more about this innovative curriculum, please visit www.coreknowledge.org.
Since the days of Socrates, people have been using open forum dialogues in a manner to develop a higher meaning of understanding. In today’s world, Socratic Seminars are used to put learning into the hands of students and help them to become leaders who are able to use diplomacy and critical thinking skills to learn and grow with their classmates. The Socratic School of Language employs Socratic Seminars for Kindergarten and 1st graders at least once a week in a relaxed environment to motivate children to work together to use the vocabulary and language they learn from their school activities, as well as to overcome the fears of speaking, writing, and expressing themselves in front of others. This is a true character-building activity all 1st and 2nd graders will have the opportunity to participate.
The Socratic School of Language offers STARLAB planetarium programs to DC, MD, and VA public, charter, and private school groups and during our Summer Camp programming in Mount Rainier, MD. STARLAB is an innovative portable planetarium system that introduces students in grades Pre-K to high school to the scientific wonders of the night sky and beyond. This interdisciplinary teaching lab touches on a myriad of astronomy and other themes, such as:
STARLAB is large enough to accommodate groups of children and teachers under the dome and requires a large and quiet area such as a gymnasium or cafeteria with a ceiling height of at least 11 feet and diameter of at least 20 feet. At least one teacher must be in the lab at all times.
STARLAB group learning shows are 30 minutes in length and minimum numbers are required for show bookings. Pricing for shows is provided upon request.
