GRADE LEVEL PHILOSOPHY

KINDERGARTEN

The kindergarten curriculum and its content areas focus on developing the whole child – spiritual, physical, emotional, social, and intellectual. An integrated curriculum incorporates academic subject areas and basic skills areas into learning experiences that are cognitively and socially meaningful, as well as developmentally appropriate. Integration strengthens learning because the kindergartner can build on previous experiences and explore more deeply.

Integration of curriculum also provides for repetition of instruction, which allows for multiple opportunities to explore and investigate new information in different settings and with different materials. Since children learn in many ways, we use strategies that allow children to develop and employ a variety of their multiple intelligences and learning styles.

The program recognizes the importance of a stimulating environment that offers children a variety of experiences and materials to aid the child in developing to his or her fullest potential. Children are given many opportunities to grow in self-esteem and confidence in small groups, large groups, and individually. Above all, we integrate our Christian faith into all aspects of our curriculum.

FIRST GRADE

First grade is a challenging and rewarding time for young children as well as their families and teachers. Students come to the class with varying degrees of experience, ability, and emotional maturity. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a flexible program which ensures the maximum growth for each child.

Our program is based on the premise that children learn by experiencing the world around them. These experiences provide the foundation upon which skills are built. God has made each child special, with his/her own time schedule for development. It is the task of the classroom teacher and the school to provide an environment in which this natural development is enhanced and encourage.

We believe that teachers and parents form a partnership in carrying out the responsibility of nurturing and educating children. Together, we want to teach children what it means for them to put their trust in Jesus as their Savior from sin and the Lord of their lives. The children, learning in an atmosphere of Christian love, will mature in their faith in Jesus Christ. By the Spirit’s power they will also grow in the present joy and future hope of their salvation as children of God

It is our goal in first grade to make school a safe, enriching, interesting, and joy-filled place of spiritual, emotional, social, physical, and cognitive growth, in a developmentally appropriate atmosphere of Christian love.

SECOND GRADE

Second graders come to school familiar with many of the routines and expectations of school. They have the academic foundations established in kindergarten and first grade are more relaxed and able to build on those foundations. Because students have varying degrees of ability and maturity, our program’s flexibility seeks to meet the needs of each child to help him or her develop and use all the gifts and talents God has given.

Children learn and develop best when they experience the world around them and are actively involved in the learning process. Our program is designed to use developmentally appropriate activities that will enhance their learning.

We believe that teachers and parents form a partnership in carrying out the responsibility of nurturing and educating children spiritually, physically, cognitively, socially, and emotionally. Together we want to teach children in an atmosphere of Christian love so that they will mature in their faith in Jesus Christ, and become confident in their salvation as well as developing their academic skills.

THIRD GRADE

Children learn and develop best when they experience the world around them and are actively involved in the learning process.  Our program is designed to use developmentally appropriate activities that will enhance their learning.  In third grade, students begin to make the shift toward independent learning.  With the mastery of reading and the introduction of text books, students make the developmental shift from learning to read to reading to learn.

Your child will learn a great deal this year, but third grade is about more than academics.  In third grade, students develop important social skills and they become more self sufficient, responsible, and able to better understand people and themselves.

FOURTH GRADE

There’s a lot going on in fourth grade–harder classes, growing bodies, and more complex social interactions.  In fourth grade, there is a strong focus on reading comprehension (being able to understand the meaning of what is read).  Simultaneously, fourth graders also do much more writing.  They write essays, reports, as well as edit and proofread their work.  Child of God’s Foundations & Science of Reading in grades K-3 provides a solid foundation which becomes critical now as these skills are used to complete assignments across the curriculum in social studies, science, and religion.  In addition to reading and writing, math continues to become more complex as fourth-grade students continue to master multiplication, division, fractions, and word problems.

FIFTH GRADE

Fifth graders continue to develop their God-given skills as they prepare academically and emotionally for middle school.  The fifth-grade year is about learning to balance as they academically and socially explore more.  Fifth-graders analyze and summarize what they read.  They work on long term projects and write multi-paragraph narratives and works of fiction.  They are also using their math and science skills to solve multi-step real-life problems.

MIDDLE SCHOOL

It is our desire to prepare students for high school and beyond as productive Christian citizens in an ever-changing world. In order to achieve this goal, Child of God has chosen to departmentalize the middle school grades. Students will move about during the day to teachers who have specialized areas of study. The homeroom teacher will be the main teacher of each grade level. This will provide the student and parent with one individual who knows the student best and will facilitate parent-teacher communication. This communication is essential for the continued development of these young people.