Curriculum Overview
Spring River offers flexible programming and support to the growing homeschool community in Northeast Florida seeking a holistic education. We welcome those parents interested in an education inspired by Waldorf methods and a "whole child" view of human development, or those seeking a more part-time experience to enrich and supplement their other homeschool choices.
We provide support and a social network for those families that can join us for five days of classes or who are only interested in three or two day options. We also welcome all families from the greater community to our events, parent education, playdates, and festivals. All are welcome!
A Developmental Approach
The curriculum offered at Spring River spans kindergarten through the middle school years, and at each developmental stage addresses the student's growing capacity for thinking, willing, and feeling (doing), also sometimes referred to as "head, heart, and hands."
The Class Teacher (Grades 1-8)
At Spring River, each class has a core teacher that stays with them for multiple years. This continuity enhances the children's learning in both academic and social aspects and allows the teacher to develop a deep understanding of the child as a whole and of the class as a community.
Early Years & Kindergarten
Lower School (1-5)
Upper School (6-8)
Note: Spring River’s 6th/7th Grade Class is a blended group for school year 2023-24 which will cover both 6th and 7th grade curriculums in a way that meets the needs of each student.
Homeschool Enrichment Classes
The Main Lesson
At Spring River, the “Main Lesson” is fundamental which is a two-hour period of concentrated study for grades 1-8 that begins each school day, following circle time, when students are most prepared for sustained effort. In Main Lesson, we study a core academic theme for a “Main Lesson Block” of three to four weeks, inviting in-depth exploration and learning into one of the core subjects - language arts, science, mathematics, geography, and history. This allows the class teacher time to explore each subject in-depth and to approach it in a "whole child" fashion, bringing in poetry, movement, drama, modeling, painting, and the potential for field trips or other exploration. In this way, the students' intellectual learning is combined with artistic and practical work.
Main Lesson Books
During Main Lesson blocks, the students each create their own Main Lesson Book. These beautiful books are organized, ongoing records of the students' work and are filled with observations, illustrations, diagrams, stories, and essays. This act of generating one's own artistic "textbook" is one of the unique parts of the Spring River Experience.
Special Subject Classes
In addition to Main Lesson, we offer special subjects such as handwork, nature immersion, medieval nature quests, music, Spanish, form drawing, painting, modeling, drama, woodworking (7-8), and (for grades 3-8) curriculum-related field trips.
For more details see our Special Subject page or visit the individual grade description.
Forest School and Nature Hikes and Immersion:
From our earliest days, Spring River has honored the relationship between growing children and nature, and ensured that outdoor time was an essential component of our school day. Now, as an outdoor school, our students are immersed in nature every day and engage in forest trail and beach walks in all weather. First-hand experiences and observations of nature are at the heart of all of our programs. We also offer a unique and more in-depth one day Forest School Enrichment Class for families seeking that experience to complement their homeschool studies.