As an Academy offering an innovative learning platform, we are not bound to any one ‘Method’ of teaching, ‘pedagogy,’ or set of inflexible and impenetrable standards. 

More than a curriculum or framework, Wah’-shă Academy is a movement designed to recognize, reveal, and develop  REGENERATIVE EDUCATION.

We currently weave together Montessori, Waldorf, experiential, and outdoor education styles.  Intentional Restorative Practices are at the core of maintaining our platform and accountability for your child’s learning.

This is an educational paradigm that serves people and the planet as we move into a new environmental reality, with its accompanying social shifts, economic transformation, and understanding of who we are as a species and an individual.

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Some distinctive features of Wah’ -Sha Academy:

• Movement and hands-on, experiential learning, utilizing a Montessori approach, is emphasized in the early years of schooling. In kindergarten, there is a good deal of cultivation of pre-academic skills such as cooking, sewing, drawing and painting, counting, and singing. Literacy readiness begins in kindergarten and may or may not include formal reading depending on the readiness of the student.
• Similar to the Montessori Classroom, 1^st and 2^nd graders are grouped together in one class, and 3^rd and 4^th graders are grouped together. There are numerous opportunities for K-4 to integrate during the Montessori work time.  First and Second Graders will experience THREE Waldorf style ‘Blocks’ during the year, and Third and Fourth graders will experience SIX Blocks during the year.  The remaining time is spent in a Montessori Work period as individual learning or small group learning opportunities.

• Beginning in Kindergarten one or more teachers progress with the same students as they move through to 4th grade. The ideal is that the class teacher or co-teachers stay with the class as guides and mentors.
• Art, music, gardening, drama, culinary arts, and handwork are central to learning and interwoven with academic subjects. Usually, children respond well to this imaginative approach and it engages the emotional and heart qualities along with the intellect. All children learn to knit and play the recorder and are involved in a dramatic presentation.
• There are no’ textbooks’ in the elementary years. Students keep and create their own ‘textbook’ and journal from their work. This inspires learning from the inside out and a sense of ownership, pride, and integration of the work. Math and grammar texts may or may not be utilized to supplement skills development.
• Learning at Wah’ -Sha is noncompetitive in nature. However, students are encouraged to improve on their own previous work and reach personal excellence. Grades are given at the elementary level only as a tool in the event of a transfer. Teachers meet with parents twice a year and write detailed evaluations of the child every semester after engaging in dynamic assessment processes throughout the semester. Competitive sports are generally not introduced in the lower grades, instead, cooperative games are played in the ‘Games’ class.  Exceptions may be made on occasion.
• Once a week is set aside for outdoor learning. Gratitude practices, storytelling, singing, sensory awareness practices, nature awareness games, questioning, and tracking are core routines that shape the outdoor learning experience that complements Montessori and Waldorf practices. These habits help us raise our awareness, be receptive to teachable moments, and let curiosity lead. We will engage in numerous nature walks, developing familiarity with the four directions, plant and animal awareness, and ‘sit spot.’
• The use of electronic media, particularly television and video games by young children is strongly discouraged. The reason for this has as much to do with the physical effects of the medium on the developing child as with the questionable content of much of the programming. Electronic media seriously hampers the development of the child’s imagination – a faculty that is believed to be central to the healthy development of a human being. (Several books have been written expressing concern with the effects of media on the young child: Endangered Minds by Jane Healy, The Plug-In Drug by Marie Winn etc.

The curriculum at Wah’ -Sha Academy is unique and progressive. Predominantly the focus is on concrete and experiential learning and is developmentally based on the scientific research supporting various educational approaches. We have designed our platform to be responsive to the various phases of human development.

We group our 1st & 2nd graders and 3rd & 4th graders in one multi-age classroom. Kindergartners spend some of the days in their exclusive group and some days with 1st & 2nd graders.  

Our goal is to open a kindergarten with three tiers of 3 – 5 year-olds. The third tier, (5-6) year olds, will spend much of their time in the kindergarten with opportunities to work with the 1st & 2nd graders. In addition, there are opportunities for all K-4 to integrate during the Montessori work time, providing deep and rich leadership and academic experiences.

Our 1st & 2nd Graders will experience THREE Waldorf-style ‘Blocks’ during the year, and 3rd & 4th graders will experience SIX Blocks. This means that we stay with one subject for several weeks, giving the students time to find the relevance of one subject to another, which gives meaning to their studies. This is similar to Montessori small group learning, and we will be isolating science and history for these times. Teachers create extended and various Montessori work from which students can choose to further their block learning in an individualistic way.  

Our curriculum is like an ascending spiral: subjects are revisited several times in the year. Each new exposure affords greater depth and new heights.