Growth Ed

The Growth Education program at Fayerweather is designed to be a holistic approach to learning about bodies, emotions, sexuality, identity, and social interactions. Our curriculum is student-centered and provides a context in which children’s questions, curiosities, or anxieties about life’s complex issues can be explored in a fact-based, supportive, straightforward manner, respectful of developmental and cultural differences.
 
Grades five and six work on developing awareness and regulation of their emotions and bodies while exploring the many relationships children navigate in their lives. They also spend time exploring puberty’s physical, social, and emotional changes. In grades seven and eight, students explore these same topics by providing more in-depth information, which leads to rich discussions. Teachers also focus on many of the questions and challenges that arise during the shift between early adolescence and middle adolescence.
 
The topics have included gender identity and expression, sex assigned at birth, sexual orientation, sexual activity, consent, reproductive health, body image and media, peer pressure and bullying, substance use and addiction, physical health and nutrition, and mental health and safety. Fayerweather’s curriculum is designed with some flexibility to respond to students’ questions and interests to explore topics further and add topics as we see fit.
 


 
 

List of 3 items.

  • Kindergarten through Grade 4

    All children from kindergarten through fourth grade participate in the Child Assault Prevention Program (CAPP) which consists of three role-plays designed to exemplify difficult or dangerous situations a child might encounter. Children strategize different ways of dealing with the situations and see the role-plays acted out successfully.

  • Grades 5 & 6

    In fifth and sixth grades, the Growth Education Coordinator works with the classroom teachers in presenting a series of classes on body changes and puberty. Open discussions and role-plays provide strategies for dealing with common problematic peer situations in life and online. Students have the opportunity to meet in both mixed-gender and same-gender groups.

  • Grades 7 & 8

    In seventh and eighth grades, students meet weekly with the school counselor and teachers in a variety of groupings for Growth Education. The curriculum is designed to reflect the needs and questions of students. Sample topics include peer pressure, internet safety, media and images, stress management, chemical dependency and sex education. Many topics covered in fifth and sixth grades are also visited in deeper, age appropriate ways. Students are given factual information about drugs and alcohol and experience role-plays that deal with peer pressure. Outside specialists, ranging from high school students and Fayerweather parents, to scientists and health educators, give presentations and workshops on various subjects such as nutrition, sleep, healthy relationships and bullying prevention. They also provide students with opportunities to listen, ask questions and talk openly about social issues and pressures that they are beginning to face as young adults.
     
    The Unit has a Growth Education Leadership Team made up of eighth grade student volunteers. The leadership team is in charge of collecting ideas from classmates about relevant and important topics for Growth Ed. They meet twice a week during lunch/recess time — sometimes with a teacher, sometimes independently — to develop lesson plans for Growth Ed classes. They help to find resources and make effective learning groups. They then lead the class in an activity and discussion around a certain topic. Afterward, they spend time debriefing the lesson, evaluating their teaching skills and deciding next steps.

Our Growth Ed Booklist - A small sample

List of 5 items.

  • PreK & Kindergarten

    10,000 Dresses by Marcus Ewert
    It’s Not the Stork by Robie Harris
    And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson
    Lifetimes by B. Melonie
    The Hottest Boy Who Ever Lived by Anna Fienberg

  • Grades 1 & 2

    My Secret Bully by Trudy Ludwig
    Secret of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman
    When Sophie Gets Angry Really Really Angry by Molly Bang
    Harry and Willy and Carrothead by Judith Caseley
    It’s So Amazing by Robie Harris

  • Grades 3 & 4

    How Your Body Works by Judy Hindley and Christopher Rawson
    Just Kidding! by Trudy Ludwig
    The Care and Keeping of You  by American Girl
    No More Secrets for Me by Oralee Wachter
    Sex is a Funny Word by Cory Silverberg and Fiona Smith

  • Grades 5 & 6

    It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
    Will Puberty Last My Whole Life? by Julie Metzger RN MN and Robert Lehman MD
    Divorce is Not the End of the World by Zoe and Evan Stern
    How Rude! The Teenagers Guide to Good Manners, Proper Behavior and Not Grossing People Out by Alex J Packer, Ph.D.
    Mean Chicks, Cliques, and Dirty Tricks  by Erika Karres

  • Grades 7 & 8

    Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff (for Teens): Simple Ways to Keep Your Cool in Stressful Times by Richard Carlson
    The Drama Years: Real Girls Talk About Surviving Middle School–Bullies, Brands, Body Image and More by Kilpatrick and Joiner
    Disses, Losses, Messes, Stresses & More  by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Deborah Reber
    No Body’s Perfect: Stories by Teens About Body-Image, Self-Acceptance, and the Search for Identity by Kimberly Kirberger
Fayerweather Street School | 765 Concord Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138 | 617-876-4746
Fayerweather is a private PreK, kindergarten, elementary and middle school. We engage each child’s intellect.