Curriculum

Curriculum Overview

Curriculum by Subject

Curriculum by Class

Studio Arts

Music Performance

Summer School

Studio Arts

In Montessori, the arts are not set apart from the rest of the curriculum. They are modes of exploring and expanding lessons that have been introduced in science, history, geography, English, foreign languages, and mathematics.

The art curriculum at The Renaissance School has been formed to meet three specific goals:

• to instruct techniques which will advance the child’s art skills and expand his knowledge regarding what can be achieved through art
• to provide the child with time to develop skills in creativity and imagination and to express her individual creativity and imagination using a multitude of different media
• to introduce the child to the study of art history in terms of history proper and studio art application

The art history curriculum spans three years and is implemented simultaneously in the three different levels of The Renaissance School. The first is the primary level, where the children are introduced to art history, primarily through art itself, and given lessons based on the works created by famous artists or certain stylistic periods from history. The second level consists of those children in the lower elementary program. These children are introduced to more sophisticated concepts in art history, including the study of certain artists, what influenced his/her work, and where in the progression of art his/her particular style stands. The last level of art instruction occurs in the upper elementary. These children will take what they learned in their previous years of art instruction to come to a deeper, more abstract level by learning about the more complex issues of art production including social, political and economic environment as well as the intention of the artist who created the art.

The curriculum does not always travel in the traditional linear fashion of most art history lessons, but rather travels through time, staying in certain eras and studying various artists and their styles, or focusing on the art of one prominent artist. By doing this, the children will continue to add to their bank of knowledge of art and enhance their art appreciation skills. These studies will serve as a stimulus for their creative studies in the fine arts, giving them ideas and impression to use in their own individual art.

Art is more than clay, paper, paste and glitter. The studio art program is focused on discovering each child’s creative and imaginative side. By demonstrating artistic concepts to be applied, the child is set up for success. The art studio is a place where anything is possible and everything goes. The child who doesn’t like the two dimensional quality of paper might be fascinated with paper pulp sculptures or drawing with crayons on sandpaper in the fashion of prehistoric cave artists. Through exploring both the conventional and unconventional media in children’s art, each child will be more able to express himself creatively, allowing for a higher level of skill and more.