Creative Choice
Ages 4-8
Days Offered: Tuesday & Thursday, 9:30am-2:30pm
Cost: $8,000 annually (for both days)
Creative Choice is a two-day a week program that meets on both Tuesday and Thursday.
Creative Choice offers young people the chance to imagine, tinker, create, build and explore the world around them. Anchored in the belief that young people are born naturally curious about the world, this program affords youth the chance to explore their surroundings in a safe and nurturing environment. Using our natural world as the canvas, Creative Choice is rich with invitations for youth to explore both the outer world around them, and the inner world within them, offering a combination of both youth- and Facilitator-initiated activities. Whether taking apart an old typewriter to see its inner workings and how it was designed, traversing through a meadow to look for insects and wildflowers, collaborating with a peer to construct an intricate marble roll-way, working with math manipulatives with a Facilitator, or hiking in the woods, options for discovery and connection-making abound.
At the heart of everything—from the activities that are offered to the interactions among youth and facilitators—is our attention to Process Consciousness. Our mornings offer Facilitator-initiated activities that focus on science, art, the natural world, math/logic, reading/writing, and collaborative team-building challenges. In the afternoons, you might find a cluster of youth working on an art project, while a handful of their peers are setting up a post office. In a quiet corner of the room, a fellow learner may be engrossed in piecing together a puzzle, while another youth is tackling a math challenge 1-on-1 with a Facilitator. Outside, a cluster of youth may be looking at natural objects under a microscope, while close by another pod is searching for animal tracks. No two days are ever the same in the Creative Choice program in terms of what is offered or the discoveries that are made. There is, however, a peaceful rhythm that weaves its way through the program each day, as youth flourish in the natural learning environment that feels like an extension of their home.
Although the Cupola Academy spaces are purposely designed with a warm and welcoming home-like atmosphere, conscious effort is placed on providing participants with opportunities that are not readily available to young people within their own homes.
