First grade students engaged in a STEAM lesson (science, technology, engineering, art and math) where they designed and constructed model cars. Students first designed the car in art class to reflect their own style! After completing their designs, the construction stage began and teachers and the technology department worked with students. As we put the cars together, we discussed the role of wheels, axles, bearings, and chassises.
World Language
At The Woods Academy, our students begin learning a second language as early as 4 years old. Our Montessori Owls (Pre-K students) start by having World Language once a week - half of the year is in French and half is in Spanish. By Kindergarten, they are taking World Language four times a week. By the time you’re in Grade 1, you receive instruction in Spanish or French every single school day.
World Language is part of our core curriculum - just like Language Arts or Math - and has been that way since The Woods Academy opened in 1975. From the beginning, we’ve seen the benefits of offering a world language from Montessori to Grade 8.
There are many benefits to learning a second language, in addition to the ability to interact more effectively in our multinational world. For children, the gains range from improved reading and grades to stronger standardized test scores and increased levels of creativity, empathy, and problem-solving skills.
Here are a few of the reasons, backed with research, for children to learn a second language:
- Students who study a world language for just one year score an average of 38 points higher on the SATs. Four years of a world language can improve scores by more than 100 hundred points.
- People who speak more than one language are much better multitaskers.
- Individuals who know two languages are better able to tolerate differences and find solutions to conflict.