Grades: 1 to 5
Lower Elementary
Grades: 1 to 2
The Elementary program continues the multi-age grouping of the preschool classes and is designed to foster academic, social, physical and emotional growth.
As children enter the Lower Elementary they are naturally curious about the world around them and the classroom is filled with engaging materials to help them answer their questions and explore their place in the world.
Reading skills are developed through phonemic awareness and a phonics based reading program. We use the Junior Great Books series to grow comprehension, interpretation, and critical thinking skills. Language Arts, Grammar and writing skills are taught through manipulative materials and individual or small group lessons.
Mathematics is taught through a variety of concrete materials for each operation, fractions and geometry. As they progress to abstraction, they learn problem-solving skills, memorize facts and explore mathematical concepts.
Upper Elementary
Grades: 3 to 5
The Upper Elementary program continues the progress toward abstraction and builds upon the lessons that have come before. The Upper Elementary student is growing in their independence and will often work in small groups on cooperative projects to research and discover knowledge on their own.
The Upper Elementary language curriculum expands the word and grammar study and applies these in their writing and reading work. Students learn the skills of expository writing and writing conventions. Novel based reading groups expand their reading comprehension and critical thinking skills.
The Math curriculum offers manipulative materials that help the students build knowledge and understanding of problem-solving, whole, fraction and decimal computation, as well as geometry and pre-algebra.
Upper Elementary history study includes an exploration of the cultural evolution of humans, as well as studies of various civilizations.
The biological and earth science materials build upon lessons begun in the Lower Elementary.