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Experiential Education
in the Children's School

The Colorado Springs School embraces the concept of learning by doing, both within and beyond the classroom. Our Children's School students also travel throughout Colorado on curriculum-based trips designed to teach academic principles and life lessons through firsthand experience.

Fall Trips

In the fall, students in Kindergarten through Grade Two participate in school activities beyond the normal school day. Kindergartners and First Graders stay at school to participate in community-building activities, and then go home with their parents at 6:00 p.m. Second graders spend the night in the classroom with their teachers. Students in Grades Three through Five spend the night away from CSS and tent camp at a regional campground. All students will develop team-building and personal growth skills.

Spring Trips

In the Spring, the Children's School classes study the early cultures of Colorado. Kindergarteners spend the night in the classroom while First Graders spend one night in a lodge and Second Graders spend two nights in cabins. Parent volunteers help with the preparation, transportation, and food, and spend the night with the kids.

Students in Grade Three travel to John Martin Reservoir where they tent camp for two nights and participate in day activities to Bent's Old Fort and museums in the area where they can learn more about life along the Santa Fe Trail during the early days of Colorado. Fourth graders tent camp in Alamosa for three nights where they visit Fort Garland and the town of San Luis as they study Colorado's early settlers. Fifth graders tent camp for four nights in Mesa Verde to learn about the Ancient Puebloan culture.

Dessert Theater

Each Children's School class presents a Dessert Theater performance in which they combine performing arts with one of their Themes of Study. Performing on stage gives children opportunities to share what they've learned and to develop confidence and poise. Presenting their theme also helps students retain the knowledge they gained during their classroom studies.

In-Class

Learning through our rigorous curriculum is deepened through experiential teaching techniques that occur in-class or on campus. Our teachers work hard to bring hands-on experiences into day-to-day learning. The Themes of Study method employed by the Children's School allows many opportunities to incorporate active learning into the curriculum. Examples may include having students team up to build components of a space station while studying space, imagining the needs of human scientists living on board; creating quilt blocks from paper as they study math and geometric shapes; and reenacting the early 20th century immigration of Europeans and their experiences through Ellis Island.