The Lower School day often begins with a physical warm-up activity emphasizing flexibility, balance, and endurance. A phonics activity or lesson, based on an Orton-Gillingham approach, follows. Reading lessons begin around nine o'clock, and include books such as The Boxcar Children, Abel's Island, and material from the Great Books series. All reading materials are chosen to match student level and will inevitably change from year to year.

Students write every day, learning to compose complete sentences and to organize coherent paragraphs. Paper from the Handwriting Without Tears program is used for most handwritten activities. Students also work in the computer lab several times a week. Word processing and taking the time to proofread and edit are considered important parts of the Lower School experience.

Our math program is individualized in a similar manner to the reading program. Touch math is used with some students. All students are expected to learn the multiplication table before moving on to middle school. As with all parts of the curriculum, math is highly individualized and emphasizes learning both concepts and facts.

The social studies curriculum is flexible. Students recently focused on understanding the history that lead to the Civil Rights Movement. Based on what they learned, students wrote paragraphs and made drawings about slavery and the Civil War. Their work was copied and bound, and they continue to study the history of the period by using their work as a text.

Spending time outside each day is important. Lower School students take a break around ten fifteen and again around eleven thirty each day. There are walks to the library and to events on the University of Michigan campus, as well as to nearby parks. We also have the use of a University of Michigan gymnasium a few blocks from school where we can pursue activities such as tennis or basketball. Through the fall and winter, a tai chi instructor met with the students twice a week.

Classes in Spanish, art, and music appreciation are included once a week, and art is threaded throughout the curriculum. The science curriculum emphasizes projects by using Interact simulation materials and by supporting students' work on their science fair projects. Additionally, students learn how to deal with emotional or behavioral obstacles that might stand in the way of their learning and they learn how to accept and advocate for themselves. Once a week, a social worker and speech therapist offer a lesson on social skills.