Advocating for Inquiry-Based Learning from Age Five

Building Confidence Through Mistakes
Stamford's elementary program focuses on reading and writing, utilizing Columbia University's "Reading and Writing Workshop." Unlike traditional methods, this approach employs small group “mini-lessons” to demonstrate various reading and writing techniques and target specific learning needs. It encourages independent learning, better knowledge retention, opportunities to learn from mistakes, and be risk takers.Teachers tailor their guidance based on students' levels, allowing for independent or group work to connect students with content or pair them with study buddies. At the end of each unit, students share their learning results and discuss challenges, enabling teachers to understand student levels better and choose suitable material and assignments to help them grow more confident and ready for middle school.Autonomous Learning and Flexible Assessment
Stamford provides a holistic learning approach from Pre-primary to grade 12, emphasizing not just reading and writing but also setting personal learning goals. For example, fifth graders choose a UN Sustainable Development Goal for their final project, integrating STEM, creativity, humanities, maths, and language. This method allows for a comprehensive assessment of a student's language skills and knowledge, moving away from traditional exam-based evaluations to include group reports, daily observations, and classroom assessments, thereby reducing exam pressure and broadening students' perspectives.Prioritizing Social-Emotional Learning
Recent research indicates that emotionally healthy students tend to be more involved and perform better academically. Stamford prioritizes fostering students' emotional well-being. Ms. Lang passionately emphasizes, "We are dedicated to creating a nurturing learning environment that ignites students' excitement to come to school every day, bond with their peers, and develop essential life skills and social-emotional intelligence." The school has specialized counselors, using the award-winning "Second Step Social Program" for weekly social-emotional learning (SEL), which is designed to nurture Adversity Quotient (AQ) and empower students to embrace challenges with optimism and resilience.