“The school itself shall be made a genuine form of active community life instead of a place set apart in which to learn lessons." - John Dewey, The School and Society What does it take to turn a hands-on experience into a meaningful lesson? Experiential learning...
When our visionary founders established Willow, one of their primary purposes was to instill strong communication skills in our students through a language arts program rooted in literature. Today, our curriculum guides students to read fluently, write clearly and...
Learn more about our Lower School curriculum in our new blog series! First, we're diving into Willow's social studies program from grades Preschool to Grade 5. Our social studies curriculum is deeply connected to our school's mission, which emphasizes the importance...
Learning how to read and write is a complex process. While learning to speak is a natural process that requires little instruction, our human brains are not hardwired to learn how to read and write and it therefore requires direct, purposeful instruction. To guide...
Your child’s early school years are a critical time for learning in so many ways. At this age, they are curious explorers navigating a new world and figuring out how to interpret, interrogate, and share all of their findings. Language is a critical tool in this...
Willow is featured in the Winter 2019 edition of Independent School Magazine! The article focuses on our first graders' year-long study of communities and their culminating learning celebration, Community in the Woods. Read the article here!
One of the things that makes a Willow education so different and so effective is our student-centered approach. What is student-centered learning, and how does it work? Our new eBook helps explain this philosophy and its impact on classroom design, lesson planning,...
How do children learn through play? Children are naturally driven to learn about and understand their world. From the moment they are born, their mission is to grow in every way: physically, emotionally, and cognitively. As parents, our goal is to support and...
What makes a learning experience memorable? It's hands-on. It's more of an experience than a lesson. It connects the dots between different things you know. It's relevant to your life, so what you've just learned is immediately (and often) applied. Willow's annual,...
Children want to grow. They are curious and driven to learn about the world around them. Your child’s first experiences at school can be a time when she first discovers how to channel that drive into a thirst for knowledge and a love of learning...or it can be a place...
Parent Portal