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. 

List of 2 members.

  • Photo of Meaghan Mallin

    Meaghan Mallin 

    Head of Early Childhood and Lower School
    Bio
  • Photo of Cynthia Thom

    Cynthia Thom 

    Assistant Head of Early Childhood and Lower School for Teaching and Learning

  • Second Graders Host States Expo

    Second graders have been exploring the “fifty nifty United States” this spring. Working in small groups, they collected and presented research about the regions within the country, highlighting important landmarks and landforms.
     
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  • Students Take Center Stage in LS Arts Assembly

    First and second grade students performed original dances they choreographed themselves for an audience of friends and family in the school’s auditorium, April 19. 

    The Lower School “Arts Assembly” as it is known, is a beloved Country School tradition, a kind of creative rite of passage for students in which first and second graders create and choreograph all of the dances themselves for a one-hour performance. They performed earlier in the week for peers and younger students during a dress rehearsal, and then held this performance for family.
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  • Third Graders Bring to Life Iconic Trailblazers in “Wax Museum” Research Project

    Laura Ingalls Wilder, Steve Irwin and Amelia Earhart were among the famous people brought back to life by Country School third graders for a “wax museum” research and writing project, part of a biography unit that culminated June 1.
     
    Each student chose a famous figure, researched and then wrote a speech summarizing the figure’s life and accomplishments, and finally, memorized the speech.


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  • New Canaan Country School 4th Graders Restock River with Salmon

    New Canaan Country School fourth grade students traveled to the Salmon River State Forest in East Hampton, Conn where they carefully released baby salmon— or fry—into the river’s tributary, May 26. The salmon release was the final step in a scientific study of salmon, ecology and environmental issues. 

    “I loved releasing the salmon,” said Henry Monteone. "It was really special to release an endangered species into the wild,” added Daniel Bowling.



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  • NCCS Third Graders Recreate a Turn of the Century Ellis Island Experience

    Third graders at New Canaan Country School experienced what it might have been like to immigrate to America at the turn of the century. The hands-on learning simulation is part of the third grade’s cultural identity study on the “Peopling of America.”  

    Assigned various personas, such as a Greek peddler, a French dressmaker and Polish sweatshop worker, students dressed in character and attempted to navigate their way through a re-created version of the famous Ellis Island inspection station. Faculty, acting as immigration officials and health inspectors, asked them some of the 29 questions typical of those posed to travelers of the period, such as “Who paid for your passage?” “What is the condition of your health?” and “Are you able to read and write?” 
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New Canaan Country School

635 Frogtown Road, New Canaan, CT 06840
Phone: (203) 972-0771
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.