The concepts of “Curriculum”, “Educational Program” and “Methodology” are not always clear to families. “Curriculum” is the outlined knowledge and learning objectives and activities for each subject during the school term. The “Educational Program” is the group of curricula and support resources, subjects, orientation guides, activities, materials, books, games, etc. which will assist teachers and students in the performance of the learning journey. Lastly, “Methodology” is the approach by which the subjects are conveyed and assimilated for effective learning.

The SLMs are an integral part of the Maple Bear Educational Program and are fundamental resources to the educational activities. The SLMs are the result of collaborative input. Maple Bear’s curriculum is original and created by Canadian educators who have developed related resources to support student learning in English Language Arts and in other specific subject areas.

Our Maple Bear Faculty has years of experience in material development using the best teaching practices in Canada – a leader among English-speaking countries in the results of PISA (Program of International Student Assessment). The Portuguese language materials are developed in partnership with experienced Maple Bear Brazilian and Canadian educators, again, always applying the best Canadian education practices. “A curricular development committee from Maple Bear Schools constantly analyses all the programs to ensure that they are in accordance with the most recent Canadian education studies”, states Lenna Glade, Maple Bear’s Curriculum, Evaluation and Special Projects Director. The school also takes care to assure that the SLMs in both languages are in accordance with the “Base Nacional Comum Curricular [BNCC]” (Common Curricular National Basis).

With the program in their hands, the Maple Bear Product and Academic teams work together to translate the program’s pedagogic sequences into materials that support the work in the classroom (live and virtual). Camila Blanco, Maple Bear’s Product Manager, details the process: “After going through a rigorous pedagogic revision, the materials go to an editorial production process. This involves formatting, illustration, text revisions, up to the point when the files are ready to be printed, assembled and distributed to our schools in Brazil.

This task goes through many hands and minds until the Maple Bear students receive the material. SLMs are an important part of the method and effectiveness of Maple Bear teaching.