Materials for Learning

When choosing a curriculum for use at ASPK, our staff and teachers put the students first. Administrative staff and teachers work together to identify materials that are engaging, enriching, and accessible for students. Student engagement is the priority, which means we consider a book’s appeal to a student of each age as well as the appropriateness of the academic level.

For example, in Language Arts, we choose materials that allow students to engage with genuine trade texts that have stood the test of popularity on a wider market but also consider what scaffolding needs to be in place for students to access such texts at their language levels.

In Sensory Play class, we emphasize hands-on learning in order to give students the opportunity to use the vocabulary they are taught in authentic situations. Furthermore, we prioritize giving students the confidence to think creatively when faced with problems by allowing students to experience the engineering design process each week in carefully prepared engineering projects. As part of a STEAM school system, we take pride in allowing students to explore topics deeply as interest dictates.

In Social and Emotional class, we consider vocabulary and concept knowledge as tools to be used in cumulative projects such as curating personal time-capsules after the study of past and present or participating in ballot-based voting events after learning about community and citizen rights.

In Fun Figures class, we ensure that students have access to a wide variety of manipulative material to aid in understanding concepts concretely before working with them abstractly. These manipulative materials also give students a variety of ways to speak about their experiences and thoughts when exploring mathematical concepts.

Additional class curriculum is also held to a high standard of accessibility and engagement. Topics such as safety and personal health are included in instruction by Korean teachers to ensure accurate communication.