Academics
Lower School
Lower School: Grades 1-4
Country School celebrates the exuberant curiosity of children. We believe true understanding is acquired when children have time to experiment, converse and create.
Engagement, Curiosity, Motivation and Hard Work
In Lower School, our students are developing focus and self-control. They are capable of a higher level of academic challenge while still experiencing the joy and wonder of learning. Our curriculum builds upon the foundational skills of literacy and computation through the exploration of literature, math, science, social studies and Spanish.
Just as important, through the use of class discussion, teachable moments and individual attention, our faculty helps students negotiate their budding social, emotional and behavioral growth.
Introduction, Practice, Mastery
Teachers intentionally design hands-on experiences and direct lessons to provoke thinking, engage conversations, foster relationships and connect ideas and concepts.
In Lower School, students continue to practice and master foundational skills while tackling more difficult concepts in deeper, more advanced levels of the same subject or in different situations in new subject matter.
Our subject-specific curricular objectives in the Lower School include:
- Language Arts: Learn to read effectively and write skillfully through a balanced approach that combines literature and phonics instruction.
- Mathematics: Learn math concepts using hands-on materials before being introduced to the corresponding abstract algorithms. Students use geometry, surveys, graphing, games and everyday problem-solving to make mathematics relevant to them.
- Science: Explore a variety of scientific fields, learning to observe and investigate the world around them.
- History and World Culture: Study cultural traditions, history, celebrations and stories which are integrated to complement social studies curriculum.
- Art/Music: Engage in movement, song and instrument play and begin to lay the groundwork for music literacy and aural skills. Older children play recorders and Orff instruments , sing in weekly chorus and are introduced to traditional band instruments.
- World Language: Continue the study of Spanish, which is integrated into stories, songs, games and skits.
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Mrs. Mallin's Corner
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Lower School March Math-ness: Let the Games Begin!
The arrival of March meant only one thing for New Canaan Country School’s Lower School (Grades 1-4) families: March Math-ness! Designed to engage family and friends of all ages in a celebration of math fundamentals, the daily activities were held at-home with video tutorials and a packet containing necessary materials provided in advance.Read More -
Pandemic Self-portraits: Fourth Graders Document a Moment in Time
Nearly one full year into the pandemic, the fourth grade watercolor study has transcended the boundaries of regular art instruction and taken on a documentary quality, with each student painting a self-portrait wearing a protective mask.Read More -
Lower School Shares Silver Linings
Read MoreWhen Distance Learning began in Lower School, I gave my students an assignment: Have you ever heard the expression every cloud has a silver lining? It means that even during challenging situations, good things can come. The fact that we cannot be at school together is certainly a cloud! Your job is to think about what the silver linings are of our school buildings being closed. -
Hopes and Dreams in Lower School
Read MoreWhat a wonderful beginning we have shared! It has been a pleasure to welcome your children into our spaces and to have our classrooms and hallways properly buzzing with the joyful laughter and excited chatter of children. -
The Starfish Story: Making a Difference
Read MoreAt a recent assembly, I shared The Starfish Story with your children. For anyone unfamiliar, the story (adapted from The Star Thrower by Loren Eiseley), goes like this: -
The Gift is in the Giving
I wanted to share our latest Lower School community project with you, as we will be carrying it out in these weeks before break. If you have been to LS assembly, you have likely noticed that we always open our gathering with important messaging of community. We talk overtly about what it means to be kind, how we can practice gratitude, and what it means to be our best selves.Read More -
Only One You Project Rocks Lower School
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Lower School has engaged in an inspiring and dynamic community-building project that quite literally rocks. This project, stemmed from the book Only One You, by Linda Kranz, has culminated with the creation of a meaningful and child-centered Lower School rock garden, which has our mission at its heart. -
Grade 1 Immersions – Beginning with Mindfulness
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Immersions is a new curricular initiative for our Grade 1 students designed to offer enrichment learning experiences and a deeper-dive into aspects of our program. -
Making Maker Comes Alive in Grade 1
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Innovative, hands-on, challenging, and engaging. These are just a few of the words that can be used to describe the Grade 1 Maker Program.
Lower School News
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First Graders Celebrate Chinese Traditions, Culture in “Peacock Dance”
As part of their yearlong interdisciplinary study of China, first graders performed a traditional “Peacock Dance” in honor of the Lunar New Year at a community assembly, held April 7. In welcoming remarks, Head of Lower School Meaghan Mallin explained to the many parents and family members who attended in-person and via livestream that the assembly was particularly meaningful in that it was the first in-person Lower School gathering since the pandemic hit.Read More -
Lower School March Math-ness: Let the Games Begin!
Read MoreThe arrival of March meant only one thing for New Canaan Country School’s Lower School (Grades 1-4) families: March Math-ness! Designed to engage family and friends of all ages in a celebration of math fundamentals, the daily activities were held at home with video tutorials and a packet containing necessary materials provided in advance. -
What Do Animals Eat? Our 4th Graders Forage in the Woods to Find Out
As part of their study of ecology, Grade 4 science students spent time in the school’s woodlands Nov. 2, lifting rocks and poking underneath fallen logs, looking for food. Not just any food, the plant or prey for the specific animal they had each been assigned to impersonate. Laminated animal descriptions worn by each student on lanyards provided some clues as to where to look, but it was the responsibility of the “bird” to find an earthworm or the “bear” to find a salamander.Read More -
The Halloween Parade: A Treat of a NCCS Tradition
A much-beloved annual tradition, New Canaan Country School’s Lower School community (Grade 1- 4 students and faculty) gathered Oct. 28 to celebrate the season by marching in a Halloween Parade around the school’s campus. Led by Head of School Mr. Cooper, adorned for the day in a giraffe costume, and Head of Lower School Mrs. Mallin, as a rainbow bright unicorn, the parade also included the fifth and sixth grade members of the school's marching band.Read More -
Second Graders Exercise Their Imaginations During Day of Roxaboxen
Inspired by their reading of Roxaboxen, an award-winning children’s book written by Alice McLerran and illustrated by Barbara Cooney, Country School second graders headed to the woods to exercise their imagination on Oct. 20.Read More
Working in small groups or individually, children whisked around the school’s 35-acre woodlands for several hours, collecting fallen branches, stacking logs, piling stones, sweeping leaves aside to make roadways and paths, and creating an imaginary town of their own. View more photos.
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New Canaan Country School
New Canaan Country School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin and are afforded all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, sex, sexual orientation, national origin or ancestry, or disability in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, financial aid policies or any other school-administered programs.
