When looking for the third school for our daughter, we knew we wanted a school that not only provided a learning environment, but also one with lots of love and respect for the children. After almost one year at NWL, we found this and so much more. She now enjoys singing in Spanish, writing her letters, and asking "what does 5 and 5 make?" One of our favorites is when she sings "love goes around in a circle and comes back knocking at your front door". It's these little things that add up to such an amazing experience for our entire family.

Margaret & Eric

 

NWL Academic Program - Maximizing Your Child’s Potential

Overview

In a world of rapid change and new discoveries, it is important for children to be equipped with not only knowledge, but also a creative spirit, intuitive strength, actionable courage and unwavering faith in themselves, that transcends the day to day challenges of life. 

As a result, the definition of “Academics” at New World Leadership Children’s Academy (NWL) is very broad and goes deep within.   At NWL, we believe academics can be very challenging and preparatory while still being fun and joyful.  The child’s day is not organized into compartmentalized subjects.   Traditional subjects such as math, language arts, science, history, geography and much more are strategically woven into creative learning modalities that optimize mind - body – spirit utilization, igniting inspiration and imagination within the child and strengthening retention of information learned.  

Multi – Cultural

Foreign Language – Spanish classes are currently taught twice a week by a fluent Spanish facilitator.  Lessons are brought in a fun, natural way with songs, games and movement. 

 

Kids for Peace Chapter – Children explore and experience lifestyles of people around the world through math, language arts, geography and emotional literacy concepts. We identify common bonds and we celebrate diversity.  Children learn about another culture and then reach out to youth they learn about by sending hand-painted knapsacks filled with school supplies, toiletries, a toy and note of friendship and inspiration.

 

Community Members – NWL Community Members are diverse in their cultural backgrounds, beliefs and heritage.   This diversity brings a tremendous amount of learning to the classroom as families and board members participate throughout the year sharing stories, foods, rituals, traditions, music, dances and art projects representing various cultures.  Many of our families speak two or more languages.  

 

Multi-Cultural Studies in the Classroom and Beyond- NWL is a visible part of the community in both education and service.  NWL finds the experience of getting children into the community for service oriented projects necessary for the development of social interest and compassion.  Their experiences often become the lessons of the classroom for weeks to come.   As well, there are so many rich and purposeful museums, exhibits, businesses, events and much more within the community for the children to experience.  NWL takes full advantage of the leadership and parent community to offer such meaningful experiences to its’ students on a frequent basis. 
 

Multi – Disciplinary

“Teachers need to foster 21st century talents.  That means understanding that creative arts are no longer a frivolous luxury, but essential to achieving a competitive edge.”

Zhao Zhongjian, Director, Center for Global Education, China

 

The changing Face of the Workplace – In the past, the word Entrepreneur was often associated with people who worked primarily alone or in start-up company environments.  The National Science Board when recently conducting a survey of major nationwide engineering employers, asking them what skillsets they are currently looking for when hiring engineers.    The result, “In addition to analytical skills which are currently provided by the education systems, companies want engineers with passion, life-long learning skills, systems thinking, an ability to innovate, an ability to work in multi-cultural environments, an ability to understand the business context of engineering, interdisciplinary skills, communication skills, leadership skills and an ability to change”.  One leading engineering firm states that it is specifically looking to hire musicians because they generally are creative, disciplined, can collaborate and have other interests.  Top medical schools are including art programs for all students to heighten visual senses and observation skills. 

In the future, corporations will need to function more as a school of minnows rather than the   behemoths of the past.  Visualize small teams of employees changing directions quickly and moving together rapidly to meet the needs of customer and product demands.  Everyone in an organization will need to be an entrepreneur, whether it is a holistic healing center, a technology start-up or a fortune 500 company. 

 

It is clear that myopic focus in education on facts and figures and the traditional linear learning system in preparation for a singular career path are no longer adequate in the fast paced and ever changing world in which we live.  The academic education at NWL does not focus on memorization of facts and figures that are ubiquitous and free in the Information Age.  Students master basic academic skills in all the traditional subjects.  However, the skills are taught in a way that instills a much higher level of both creative and critical thinking, having a greater impact on overall student achievement and personal growth.  The NWL Academic Approach prepares students for ambiguity, changing environments, and multi-disciplinary demands both within their careers and personal lives. 

 

Whole Brain Learning through an Arts Integrated Education

It is well documented that human beings currently only utilize 5 – 10% of the potential power of the human brain.  Through the use of MRI technology, it has now been proven that new areas of the brain can be “turned on” and utilized, depending on what types of input the brain receives.  For example, an MRI of a person speaking two or more languages will indicate a lighted portion of the brain in an area that shows as dark and unused on the MRI of a person speaking only one language.  Using innovative and creative approaches to learning, our goal is to turn on and light up as much brain mass as possible, allowing children to achieve their highest potential.

 

Importance of Arts in Education – True arts integration education is not about art projects simply connected to other curricular subjects.  It is a methodology and a philosophical approach to education that creates a deep level of personal connection in the classroom and to the world, nurtures the optimal development of cognitive, social and personal competencies, and opens children up to new ways of seeing.   Authentic, purposeful, meaningful experiences are brought in a way that engages the child’s mind, heart and body.  Through the integration of perception into cognition, and expression into reflection, students perform at a significantly higher level in all areas of school and life. 

 

Some Benefits of Arts Integrated, Whole Brain Learning:

 

1. 1. Develops more complex thinking skills and intuitive intelligence through the connection of personal experience with subject matter, and an emphasis on the process of discovery which allows for unexpected outcomes
   2. Connects visualization with reading comprehension, improving overall comprehension
   3. Contextualizes math, improving understanding and recall
   4. Brings experiential context to science, history, geography and social studies, making them more meaningful to students
   6. Improves focus and concentration by connecting with the child’s heart and passion, and a greater relevance to multiple learning styles and intelligences
   7. Develops “Symphony” – The ability to connect the dots, see the big picture, recognize patterns, collaborate, and combine disparate things into something new
   8. Increases empathy for one’s self, others and the world
   9. Relaxes children, allowing them to let go, laugh at themselves, be more flexible and take things in stride
   10. Develops confidence and a sense of purpose(being part of something larger than one’s self)
   11. Heightens all the senses
   12. Enhances imagination and mental creativity

 

Examples  of Arts Integrated, Whole Brain Learning:

1. Dramatic enactments of stories to improve reading comprehension and visualization skills
2. Walk, paint and work in nature to improve observation training (highly developed observation skills is currently one of the key skills top medical schools such as Yale, Vanderbilt and Harvard are specifically looking for)
3. Train on piano keyboard to develop spatial and spatial-temporal reasoning skills, which are fundamental to understanding and using mathematical ideas and concepts

 

Importance of Whole Brain Learning - Traditional education methods almost solely rely on left brain, linear activities.  Maximum utilization of the whole brain is important for several reasons:

 

1. The right brain is where all long-term memory is stored
2. The right brain is the emotional brain that houses the experiences of joy, happiness and fulfillment, leading to happy, healthy, well-adjusted children.  When it is neglected during schooling as so often is the case, students can become depressed, bored, unmotivated, rebellious and disenchanted.
3. The right brain is subconscious (while left brain is conscious thinking) and is directly connected to the heart and nervous systems.  Right brain learning allows children to stay connected with the heart and subconscious, maintaining easy access to imagination, creative spirit and intuition, all of which have been directly linked to higher intelligence as adults.  Additionally, when the whole child is educated in this way, they remain healthier and happier individuals.
4. When new areas of the brain are accessed and turned on for undefined future uses, we can only guess what advantages this will manifest.

Multi – Dimensional

New World Leadership teaches the foundations of traditional Academic training at a higher level of being through our Core Competencies Model (link).  This results in flexible and motivated students.  Students can take on multiple roles and multiple challenges simultaneously and easily adapt skills to the needs of a situation.  Multi-Dimensional is also the core of the 4-Cornerstones of Curriculum which is inter-connected and inter-woven throughout all of the curriculum modalities.  No academic lesson exists without the relationship to another, or all, of the other cornerstones of Sustainability, Spirituality as well as Emotional Literacy.

 

  
Tomorrow’s Leaders Today                   “Leaders are made, not born”   Harvard Business Review

 

What differentiates leaders is not their philosophy of leadership, their personality or their style of management.  Rather, it’s how they interpret their surroundings and react when their power, or safety, or place of belonging is challenged.  At NWL, our emotional literacy cornerstone helps children learn to master their emotions, while undertaking a voyage into their own personal understanding.  This understanding is transformational and greatly enhances their ability to lead as well as explore and pursue their human interest.   

 

 

Project Based Learning – Students are required to work on project teams on a daily basis.  Throughout this process, leadership traits are subtly instilled through adept teacher facilitation.  Examples include viewing mistakes and challenges as opportunities for growth, persevering and finding solutions even in the face of adversity, and remaining encouraging, optimistic and non-critical of teammates.

 

Emotional literacy concepts - Incorporated into the Academics projects on a daily basis. (Make a link to emotional literacy page).  Some of these lessons are structured, while others arise organically through the children’s interactions with one another.  Examples include problem solving, integrity, perseverance, courage and self-expression. 

Role-playing – A powerful technique used by students and teachers to identify and hone leadership skills. 

Drama Techniques – Ms. Deb’bora to give a list and describe why they are powerful for building confidence and leadership skills

Multi-age Classroom – Classrooms encompass a three year age span allowing younger students the opportunity to model older students, who in turn take pride in blossoming into leadership roles in the community.  Students learn with each other and from each other.  The best tutor is often a fellow student who is just a bit older. 

Entrepreneurial Environment

Teachers as Facilitators -

 
Students identify projects of interest and co-develop learning plans and goals

 

Emphasis on Imagination and Creating New Ideas -  

Imagination is more important than knowledge.  Knowledge is limited.  Imagination encircles the world.  – Albert Einstein 

Creative imagination is the highest form of intelligence.  It is what literally brings the formless into form, iterating something new and bringing new ideas to the world. 

 
Employers and Customers of today are demanding novelty, nuance and customization.  So why do most educational programs of today focus on routines, right answers and standardization.  Top

 

Play in Academics – Most Nobel Laureates site play as a fundamental part of their lives.  Play is often described as a time when we feel most alive, yet we often take it for granted and may completely forget about it.  Play is as important to our physical and mental health as getting enough sleep, eating well, and exercising.  Play teaches us how to manage and transform our "negative" emotions and experiences. It supercharges learning, helps us relieve stress, and connects us to others and the world around us. Play can also make work more productive and pleasurable.

 

Playing helps us survive and thrive by connecting us to other human beings and to sources of energy and excitement within ourselves. Play is simultaneously a source of calmness and relaxation, as well as a source of stimulation for the brain and body. Playfulness helps us be more inventive, smart, happy, flexible, and resilient.

NWL Academic principles incorporate structured and non-structured play activities throughout the curriculum.  Students become more energized, passionate and motivated to learn when play is included in the curriculum.  It helps children develop imagination, creativity, problem-solving abilities and positive mental and physical health.   

 

Prioritize Heart-Centered Learning

Within most research acknowledging the heart plays a significant role in creating the environment around us as well as spiritual communities that acknowledge and outline the heart’s role in the co-creative process, much emphasis is placed on the measure at which our feelings and emotions magnify our ability co-create in our world.  While many institutes recognize the power of Will to accomplish goals and the routine tasks of the day, and therefore education, it is now mostly recognized that the heart may contribute as much as 80% to the overall ability of one’s success in accomplishing any given goal or dream.

This plays an instrumental role in one’s educational development when we consider that it is the make-up of what one believes about themselves that will determine their ability to succeed, not one’s mental ability to drive, to will or to physically push oneself to the end result.  

Now recognized in many psychological communities is the concept that children will have experiences in their formative years from birth to about age seven (7) and from these experiences make decisions about the way life works.  From these decisions, which are based on very little factual evidence, if any, a belief is created to support the decision about life.  When the belief is not supported by the child’s next experience a pattern is developed by re-creating an experience that supports the child’s belief.  And, then cycle begins.

At New World Leadership Children’s Academy, facilitators utilize many skills and abilities to monitor the beliefs that children are creating about themselves, others and the world around them to ensure they developing a healthy perspective.  Children participate regularly in role-play and drama activities to help them learn the expressions of feelings and the energy and activity they create in their environment.  Children also frequently participate in one-on-one and group dialogue working through the often complex situations in very simple ways to create meaningful solutions for themselves and others.

NWL also provides opportunities and many developmental techniques to assist the child in not only understanding the heart’s expression but also strengthening their ability to “center themselves” and utilize many different skills to retain focus and concentration to remain disciplined to any given goal.

NWL opens and closes each day with some form/technique of yoga, including meditation.  Children then spend time focusing on setting the intention for how they want their day to be, how they want to be as they go throughout their day.  Various techniques such as prayer, mudras, lessons in chakra work, affirmations to name a few are often used by the children throughout the day to maintain their desired focus.   (link to Spiritual Approach). 

Heart-Centered Learning Modalities – music and song, art and painting, dance and other movement such as yoga, chanting and rhythmic percussion, poetry and writing, nature walks and walking meditations, shadow play and mimicking with others, day dreaming and connecting with nature and others throughout the day are to name a few. 

All of these are techniques that are utilized at New World Leadership Children’s Academy to stay connected to the heart, the feelings and desires, of all the gifts one brings into the world.

 

Optimal Learning Environment  

The children start off their day at morning circle, where they are greeted with love and respect by teachers and peers.  During this time, teachers help students create a safe, secure, calm and relaxed environment. This allows children to fully focus on the present learning opportunities.     
Attention to detail is taken to create a classroom filled with lighting, colors, aromas, music, artwork, furniture, and items that create a comfortable and inspiring work place for the children. 

Relationships – Relationshipscome first.  This means that a child cannot effectively learn something if they are feeling anxiety or stress.  While they may be able to memorize something in the short term, this information will ultimately be lost once the short-term memory has expired.  In order for true learning to occur, and knowledge to be stored in long term memory, the child must feel safe and relaxed. 

Parent – Teacher – Child Triad encourages effective communication of what the child is experiencing and learning while at school.  Parents can be constructive in discussing this learning as it relates to the child outside of school.  As the student begins to incorporate ideas across multiple environments, the ideas become engrained within them.  These neurons are later accessed as they relate to similar but new and more challenging ideas.  The building of these connections is the foundation for intuition and a higher level of intelligence.   Thus, fieldtrips and “Classroom” experiences off campus are seen as an integral part of NWL education.

Classroom Materials - Selected with utmost care, made of high quality, natural wood, organic and eco-friendly materials.  Furniture and learning materials are customized to the size requirements of the children.  Teachers stay abreast of cutting edge learning materials, and new materials and ideas are consistently tested and evaluated for use in the classroom. 

Multi-age classrooms - Working with one class teacher for 3 years deepens the teacher student relationship and inevitably the learning.  Students feel freer to openly ask and discuss questions, ideas and concerns.  Teachers are able to more effectively customize goals and learning plans with students as they discover each individual’s unique passions, learning styles and preferences. 

 

The number one most important trait identified as a measure of success is how much a person likes themselves.  The most important years in education are not high school and college, but rather the first twelve years of a child’s life.  During these formative years, a child’s character, belief system, self-esteem, knowledge base, appreciation of the arts, and emotional intelligence are formed. 

A solid foundation in these academic areas gives children the ability to successfully pursue their dreams and achieve ANY goal of which they can conceive.