FAQ

Technology is a fact of life for 21st century learners. Voyager prides itself on teaching our students to think critically and creatively, to overcome the difficulties that may arise. Providing the ability to learn a new language through coding will give them an invaluable toolset when they enter the workforce. Exposing students to different coding languages, robotics equipment and other forms of technology will cultivate productive members of society capable of joining the workforce in higher paying positions. Gaming and technology are more similar than they are different. Through gaming, we expose students to the notion that any one move can have limitless potential and can create a significant impact. Gameschooling skills fosters critical and creative thought, but also work to help students navigate difficult social situations.

By establishing education in the arts, we are able to provide children with a tangible resource for managing big feelings. Not only can we guide them through an education in emotional intelligence through art, but we are able to solve for one of the biggest problems facing incoming kindergartners: readiness. Contra Costa County is currently faced with having 1 in 4 preschool students who are not ready for kindergarten. With the numbers on the rise, the biggest indicator of failing kindergarten resides in fine motor development. By utilizing the arts daily, children are able to develop their fine motor skills enabling them to tackle more difficult concepts like writing and reading which opens the door to lifelong learning.

Voyager will be working along side members of our community to give our students dynamic history lessons that demonstrate the importance of perspective. In formulating our own curiculum based on diverse and historically significant individuals and project based learning, students will receive an education that enables them to see beyond themselves and into a different period of time. It gives them an opportunity to make real decisions and see the outcome of their choices, but most importantly it helps them to see that just one person, perhaps someone just like them, can have a significant impact on their community and their world.

Physical Education at Voyager will offer dynamic lessons with activities that range from hiking and yoga to the more traditional soccer and basketball. Students will be engaged with a teacher who promotes physical fitness, but who also teaches them about how to make healthy choices and explains concepts important to health education such as how to take a pulse. PE programing will also combine with elements of occupational therapy (strength training activities) and physical therapy to create a well-rounded class that aims to better serve all of our students. The goal of the physical education program at Voyager does not solely rest on passing the Presidential Test of Physical Fitness, but is instead to create students who will lead a lifelong goal of making healthful choices. Studies have shown that when children can regularly connect with nature, they are more resilient and have higher self- esteem, concentration, cognitive development, cooperation and flexibility. Being on the edge of town and on several acres, gives us the ability to access nature and all the wonder that pertains to it.

Reading books and completing worksheets are perhaps the most tedious aspects of math and science class. There are some benefits, but there are even more when you provide real-life experiences, real-world applications and use a multi-sensory approach to teaching. By combining these three elements, we can reach all of our students. By offering a few different ways to learn the material and showing its importance in our world, students can see how these two subjects impact them directly. With this understanding, we equip students with a growth mindset that allows them to navigate more challenging information as they learn new material. One of the most difficult pieces of feeling motivated to do well in school comes from the question of if what you are doing matters to your larger picture. At Voyager, we will supply our students with opportunities to gain real experiences from forming a company to marketing products and services, to experiencing factories and building upon life skills. Students will spend their academic careers not wondering why they have to complete a task, but asking and answering questions to help in better navigating to find real world solutions.

Voyager’s Global Studies course will be implemented throughout the child’s academic career with our school. This course offers an inside look at cultures around the world. While our students are learning about geography and are exploring the intricate details of culture, they will also hear from students in these areas. Voyager is actively developing a network of progressive schools around the world. This will provide our students with a chance to experience another child’s culture uniquely, helping them to become more aware of our interconnectedness.

Literacy will be explored and learned through multi-sensory approaches. We understand that students can best learn to read once they have mastered writing the alphabet. We understand that students best learn to identify letters with the use of visual, auditory and kinesthetic components. Literacy will be a course that explores the senses and aims to create students who value reading and writing. Voyager will also provide unique opportunities for students to read to the animals located in our on-site animal sanctuary. Mini-pigs, donkeys, cats and goats all enjoy the various stories they can read to them.

By altering the status quo and providing students with weekly opportunities to reach beyond the textbook and experience the magic that exists in nature. Through meticulously planned outdoor adventures, students will grow in the understanding that the value of land and that which inhabits it are far more than monetary. Many positive interactions in nature will help in building memories that will serve these students throughout their lives- from identifying plant and animal life to discerning between animal tracks and scat, tracking migratory patterns, tracking identified species in differing locations and bearing witness to the incredible force that is mother nature.