Center for Experiential Learning

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“Experiential learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience.” 

~ David Kolb

At Cobb, the world is our classroom

The Center for Experiential Learning was created to support hands-on learning across all parts of student life at the Cobb School. As an extension of the classroom experience, the CEL offers enrichment programming to students and teachers that includes diverse cultural experiences, outdoor education and exploration, and the Adventure Program.

The Outdoor Education Program connects children more deeply with the natural world, teaches them skills that will allow them to explore the outdoors safely, and  encourages the growth of leadership skills.

The Cobb Adventure program offers the opportunity for students to challenge themselves with longer and more adventurous expeditions, typically involving out-of-state or international travel.

Every aspect of the child’s experience in a Montessori classroom is rooted in the concept of experiential learning.

The Center helps teachers to plan excursions that support the work of the classroom and connect the children with diverse cultural experiences.

Upcoming Adventures

Outdoor Education

The Outdoor Education Program connects children more deeply with the natural world, teaches them skills that will allow them to explore the outdoors safely, and  encourages the growth of leadership skills.

Classes focus on the following topics and many more:

  • Winter ecology and the subnivean zone
  • Animal tracking
  • Emergency shelter building
  • How to dress for the outdoors in all weather
  • How to avoid and recognize hypothermia and hyperthermia
  • Orienteering
  • Snowshoeing
  • Tree identification
  • How to pack for an overnight trip
  • Fire making
  • Expedition behavior

During the school year the Upper Elementary children will have the opportunity to camp with their classmates, practice their outdoor skills, and experience challenges that stretch them as individuals. Special adventures include rock climbing, white-water rafting, high ropes courses, caving, and more. The sixth-year trip uses a wilderness adventure to focus on the bond between classmates and the preparation for the big transition that comes with moving on to a new school.

Adventure Program

In the classroom, new concepts are presented in the form of a lesson, followed by ample time to practice. Working with the CEL, Students are introduced to outdoor skills through our Outdoor Education Program, and mirroring the classroom, our overnight adventures provide the means for students to practice these lessons.

The Cobb Adventure program offers the opportunity for students from Cobb School and other Montessori schools across Connecticut to challenge themselves with longer and more adventurous expeditions, typically involving out-of-state or international travel. These expeditions offer young people the chance to deeply connect with the natural world, disconnect from technology, put their outdoor skills to the test, and experience the thrill of new adventure. Most importantly these trips provide a time to work on practicing Expedition Behavior and the development of leadership skills.

In the Classroom

Every aspect of the child’s experience in a Montessori classroom is rooted in the concept of experiential learning. The classroom environment is carefully prepared to support the processes of learning and to facilitate the child’s independence from a very early age. Under the care of the teacher, children are active participants in their learning journey. Working with manipulative materials brings abstract academic concepts to life. In addition to academics, children are members of a community, and caring for that community and the classroom environment is part of their responsibility. This responsibility fosters practical life skills, reinforces lessons in grace and courtesy, and builds good character. Students are encouraged daily to explore and to be curious, to challenge their boundaries, to make intelligent choices.

Cultural Enrichment

The Center helps teachers to plan excursions that support the work of the classroom and connect the children with diverse cultural experiences. This year, students have participated in a wide range of experiences including visits to the Institute of the American Indian, the Wadsworth Atheneum, Mohegan Pequot Museum, Cirque de Symphonie with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Project Oceanology, tracing the Freedom Trail in Boston, and many others.