Mission Statement
The Kaleidoscope Center will provide children with a hands-on and non-coercive education. Located in Waltham, it offers children and parents of diverse socio-economic background a highly creative and technical education that runs at a child-oriented pace. We use a democratic approach, where parents, teachers, and students all have input on each child's curriculum educational progress, and developmental progress.
Hands-on:
The fundamental skills of a child's education all have natural applications that both motivate learning them and also give them personal meaning.
Through a deep emphasis on art, science, and creativity, we show children not only how to perform a skill like adding or reading, but also the magic of what that skill lets them do. Any skill that is useful has a context that it can be used in. By pairing skills with their meaningful, hands-on applications, we bring learning to life. Through creating, building, and making, children will find meaning in the skills they are being shown, master them, and retain them.
Non-coercive:
We believe that children themselves can be the best judges of when they are learning well and when they aren't. The ability to tell the difference is vital for children to learn in order for them to become lifelong learners. At the Kaleidoscope Center, children, parents, and teachers, work together to develop a program for the student. Each individual program will be made up of combinations of classes, workshops, and free time for play and independent projects. Through this process, students will receive the opportunities that best meet their interests and needs, and will also be continually developing their own understanding of themselves as learners.