THERE IS JOY IN MEANINGFUL WORK
Work-jobs are essential to teaching practical living skills and helping our community run smoothly. Most importantly, work-jobs show children the value of their individual and cooperative contributions. By undertaking necessary and meaningful tasks, children gain a sense of accomplishment and become more self-sufficient.
Adults supervise all work-jobs and teach children the steps to complete them. Teachers and staff model a strong work ethic and establish the social dynamics necessary for children to learn to depend on and appreciate one another. Work-jobs are assigned for two-week periods with increasing levels of responsibility so that duties are both developmentally and physically appropriate for each child.
On several occasions during the school year there are all-school work-jobs that require the community to come together. These include the annual potato and carrot harvests and collecting sap to make maple syrup. On these days, children learn first-hand that many hands do make light work and that working together can be a great deal of fun.
HOW WE SERVE OUR OWN COMMUNITY
Work-jobs that NCS students attend to on a typical school day:
- Kitchen
- Classroom
- Food composting
- Horse care
- Recycling
- Outside sweeping and shoveling
- Table setting
- Vegetable harvesting
- Egg collecting
- House tidying
- Wood stacking