Understanding The Little School's Progressive Education Model

If you are exploring private elementary schools, you may have come across the phrase “progressive education” and wondered what that really means for your child.

At The Little School, our progressive education model is not an empty philosophy or a set of buzzwords. The TLS educational philosophy is grounded in progressive education and informed by the newest brain research, shaping how children learn every day—from preschool through fifth grade. 

Our educational philosophy influences how teachers plan lessons, how students build academic skills, and how the school helps children grow into confident, capable learners. The goal is not simply to help children cover material but to set them on a path to understanding that material deeply, connect it to the world around them and stay engaged in learning as they grow.

Progressive education doesn’t just teach children how to read, write, solve math problems, and think scientifically. It prepares them to be lifelong learners and builds in them the thinking habit of curiosity that lasts into adulthood.

Key Insights

• Progressive education at The Little School is rooted in mission, curiosity, authentic learning, and strong relationships.
• Core academics are taught through real, hands-on experiences that help children move from concrete skills  to abstract understanding of deeper concepts.
• Teachers use observation, small class sizes, and structured assessment tools to understand each child’s progress and next steps.
• Social-emotional growth, collaboration, and physical engagement are treated as essential parts of a strong academic learning environment.
• The model is designed to help children become curious, confident, thoughtful learners who are prepared for a changing world.

What Does Progressive Education Mean at The Little School?

At The Little School, progressive education means children are taught through curiosity, real experiences, strong relationships and meaningful academic work. 

Teachers take children seriously as thinkers. They notice what sparks interest, invites  questions that deepen thinking and they build lessons that help students move from hands-on experience into stronger academic understandings. 

This approach is also grounded in what educators know about how children learn. Regan Wensnahan, Director of Enrollment Management at TLS, explains that “the newest brain research just continues to support (progressive education)…” 

“If you’re not attending to the social and emotional learning of students, (their) thinking capacity is not as strong,” she continues, further explaining that “having some physical movement in your day” has also shown to improve thinking capacity.

Learning is not separated from emotion, movement or connection. Children do their best thinking when they feel safe, known and engaged, which is why social-emotional development is not treated as extra at TLS. It is part of the foundation for strong academic learning.

How are Reading, Writing, Math, and Science Actually Taught?

This is one of the most important questions families ask, and it is where The Little School’s model becomes very practical.

Our school teaches core academic skills through lessons and experiences that connect these skills to real life authentic experiences. Instead of asking children to work only with abstract symbols on a page, teachers often begin with something concrete that children can observe, handle, discuss and make sense of. Then they help students build toward the more formal academic concepts underneath.

Wensnahan provides an example: if students are exploring The Little School’s campus and collecting pine cones, a teacher can turn that activity into a real math lesson. Students might estimate how many pine cones are in each bucket, compare which group is larger, count with one-to-one correspondence and use tools to organize the comes. 

“We might give them a tool like a 10 frame (2X5 rectangular frame) to lay each pine cone in each square of the 10 frame. That supports the understanding of place value and the conservation of numbers in math, but it’s also a tool for thinking.”

The same thing happens when teachers turn a story into something children can imagine and reason through. Rather than presenting the equation 6 + 5 only as numbers on a worksheet, a teacher might ask children to picture two squirrels gathering nuts and to figure out how many nuts they have altogether. 

The academic goal is the same as a more traditional educational model: teach addition and subtraction. The difference is that children are more likely to understand what they are doing and why it matters.

This approach also shapes literacy and science. Instead of looking at them as isolated areas of study, children read, write, observe, discuss and investigate through topics that feel worth exploring. 

Wensnahan describes first and second graders studying the solstice. That topic invites scientific thinking about the earth, sun, and moon. It also opens the door to social studies, art, literacy and discussion about how different cultures understand this time of year.

Why The Little School Starts With Hands-On Learning

Children build stronger understanding when they begin with personal  experience.

That’s why progressive education starts with the concrete and then moves toward the abstract. Children handle objects, test ideas, notice patterns and talk through what they see. Once that foundation is in place, teachers help them represent those ideas in more symbolic ways through writing, numbers, diagrams and formal academic language.

“If you start with the concrete and you really develop the skill through the concrete then you can layer on the abstract and it has a solid foundation,” says Wensnahan.

Children can sometimes appear successful when they are really just memorizing a pattern—completing problems correctly without fully understanding the underlying concept. Hands-on learning gives children something real to connect their thinking to, so the skill is more likely to resonate and transfer later.

This is also one reason outdoor learning is so important at The Little School. 

The outdoors is not just a place for a break between lessons. It is a place where children count, observe, compare, ask questions, test ideas and gather material for deeper classroom work.

How Do Teachers Know What Each Child Needs Next?

Progressive education does not mean leaving learning to chance. It requires close teaching and careful assessment.

Here at The Little School, teachers pay close attention to what children are doing every day. Small class sizes make that possible. Teachers observe how students count, write, solve problems, use tools, participate in discussion and approach new challenges. Those observations help teachers decide what to teach next and what support or challenge each child may need.

Teachers also use formal assessments, checklists, rubrics and skill continuums. In math, for example, a teacher might ask a child to count a group of objects and note how high the child can count, whether they use one-to-one correspondence and what strategies they use. Older students may complete writing prompts or other common tasks that help teachers recognize strengths, gaps and next steps across a class.

The purpose is to understand where a child is in the learning process.

“We do assessments, but for us they’re assessments to figure out where the (student) is to help us know where they’re going next,” says Wensnahan, “and make sure we’re not missing things.”

Families still receive a clear picture of their child’s progress. They receive this portrait of their child as a learner  in a way that is more descriptive, more useful and more closely tied to how children actually grow. Teachers meet with families three times a year and provide written reports as well.

What Role Do Relationships Play in Learning?

At The Little School, relationships are part of what makes academic learning possible.

Children learn best when they are known well by their teachers. They also learn through collaboration with peers. 

 Students working together can support each other in powerful ways, especially when they are close in age or developmental stage. A child who is slightly more confident with a skill can help another child move forward, and both students deepen their learning in the process.

“Brain research shows us that if you are working with a peer who’s close to you, that you learn a lot more than if you were just trying to do it on your own,” says Wensnahan.

This is one reason collaborative work, discussion and strong teacher-student connections matter so much in progressive education. Children are not learning in isolation. They are learning in a community.

How Does This Prepare Children for What Comes Next?

The Little School’s approach is designed to build more than short-term academic performance. It is meant to develop children who can think, adapt and keep learning over time.

TLS teachers know that  curiosity, creativity, asking good questions, critical thinking and problem solving as deeply human capacities that matter even more in a fast-changing world. These  habits are directly connected to building lifelong learning skills.

When answers are easy to find, the ability to think deeply and stay engaged becomes even more important. Children need to do more than repeat information. They need to understand it, use it, question it, and build on it.

That is why our model does not treat curiosity as a nice extra but as a driving force in serious learning. 

“Not losing your creativity and your curiosity, having those really continue to drive your thinking forward… is what makes you a confident learner who’s ready to try whatever comes your way,” Wensnahan notes.

Is a Progressive Education the Right Fit for Your Child?

Many families are drawn to our school because they want their children to enjoy learning, grow in confidence and be known as individuals. They want a school where academics matter, but where academics are taught in ways that are developmentally thoughtful, intellectually engaging and connected to the whole child.

That is what The Little School’s progressive education model is designed to offer. 

Children build strong academic skills. They learn through hands-on experience, inquiry and connection. They are taught by teachers who know them well and who use careful observation and assessment to guide next steps. They grow not only as students, but as curious, capable people who are ready to take the next steps in their educational journey.

If you want to explore more about The Little School, our progressive education model, and the world of opportunities that await your child, be sure to:

• Schedule a virtual tour
• Request more information