St. Mary's Education

Grades:

     Pre-K         Kindergarten         1st Grade         2nd Grade         3rd Grade

     4th Grade  5th Grade              6th Grade         7th Grade         8th Grade

Pre-K

In the early childhood environment, it Is often most advantageous to create curriculum around interests of each individual group of children. For this reason, We teach in terms of an emergent curriculum. We will observe the children in the classroom, and come to a conclusion on what theme a majority of the children are concentrating their play on.

For example: a group of children may continuously be taking trips to the moon, or perhaps a particular group of children continue to create construction scenarios in the block corner. One of these themes may be a starting block. Art activities and circle projects can be created around that theme. Manipulative toys and dramatic play props around the same theme would be brought into the classroom. If feasible, classroom visitors and field trips would be scheduled that further enhance this focus of study. While incorporating all of this into the classroom environment.

Goals and Objectives:

• Strengthen children's abilities to analyze, reason hypothesize and solve.
  
• Introduce the alphabet in the classroom in a variety of activities and mediums.
  
• Introduce certain sight words to the children to begin some word recognition. Examples include: Own name, peer names, Jesus, Play, Dad, Mom, the, God.
  
• Help each child write his/her name.
  
• Help the children to create a story that has a sequence of events (beginning, middle and end).
  
• Introduce the concept of numbers and amounts to the children in a variety of activities and mediums.
  
• Help the children to count objects up to 10 or more if individually capable.
  
• Help the children make comparisons of greater and lesser amounts. Examples include graphing weather, chart at month end, creating simple 3d and 2d graphs.
  
• Offer opportunities to strengthen classifying skills in children. Classifying by shape, size, texture, characteristics and functions. Using: buttons by number of holes, using feel box at meetings, using guides to help children put blocks away.
  
• Provide parents with occasional reading material and weekly letters to foster greater understanding of early childhood education, and to help parents understand how their child is learning in her/his classroom.
  
• Open the children's hearts to the love of Jesus and make Jesus a part of their daily routine at school. For example: Introduce the Holy Family to children, introduce the story of creation, read stories from Jesus' life, use art, theater and literature to celebrate religious holidays such as Christmas and Easter. Modeling behavior that is Christ like in and out of the classroom. Planning and participating in daily Morning Prayer with the whole school.
  

Kindergarten

1st Grade

2nd Grade

Reading:

To be able to read with comprehension. Children should be able to:

• predict
  
• find the main idea and details
  
• read and follow directions
  
• understand cause and effect
  
• retell a story
  
• understand and use synonyms, antonyms and homonyms
  
• decode words successfully
  
• be able to use context clues
  
• be able to connect stories to real life
  
• be able to have discussions about literature

Writing, Reading, Speaking and Listening

1. Listening: To be able to list to stories and taking information from it. To be able to listen and participate in a discussion and to follow directions.
   
2. Speaking: To speak in complete sentences using correct grammar
   
3. Writing:
   1. To be able to: express themselves in writing using proper capitalization and punctuation.
      
   2. To be able to: Write about a main idea, using describing words, spelling sight words correctly.
      
   3. To be able to go through the writing process of rough draft, editing, final draft and publishing.
      
   4. To write poetry, a book report and a friendly letter.

Beginning cursive: To be able to form letters correctly and neatly both printing and cursive.

Literature: Reading at individual student ability levels along with a basal reader. Two book reports per month

Read aloud books:

• Charlottes Web
  
• The Pagemaster
  
• Knots in a Counting Rope
  
• Time for Kids Magazine
  
• Poetry for Young People by Emily Dickinson
  
• James and the Giant Peach

Math:

Addition and Subtraction facts up to 18

• Problem solving skills
  
• Estimation
  
• Place value—up to 1000's place
  
• Counting and visual patterns
  
• Odd and even numbers
  
• Geometry
  
• Graphing, bar, pictograph, circle graph
  
• Money up to $1.00, dollars and cents
  
• Trading and borrowing
  
• Checking math problems
  
• Calendar
  
• Time (5 minute intervals)
  
• Types of measurement
  
• Fractions—recognize, fractional parts of a whole
  
• Probability
  
• Beginning addition and subtraction of 3 digit numbers
  
• Beginning multiplication and division facts

Games, activities, computer programs, group and individual learning models

Geography skills: Maps, globes, directions, keys, symbols, continents, seas and oceans

Social Studies:

Science:

Observing, classifying, measuring, predicting, collecting, interpreting, experimenting on the following units and themes.

A. Living things—plants, animals habitats and grouping
B. Changes over time—Dinosaurs, Fossils, Extinct and Endangered species, how to take care of the Earth
C. Making Things Move—push and pull, magnets, force, simple machines, our bodies
D. The Earth and Sky—Sun, Moon, Stars and the Earth

3rd Grade

4th Grade

5th Grade

Language Arts Curriculum

Part I Grammar Usage and Mechanics

A. Subjects, predicates, and sentences
B. Parts of speech
C. Kinds and types of sentences
D. Diagramming sentences
F. Spelling and vocabulary

Part II Composition

A.Writing process
B. Modes of writing
C. Research report-writing
D. Business writing

Part III Investigating Resources

A.The library or media center
B. Using printed resources
C. Accessing electronic resources
D. Using the Internet
E. Using CD-ROMS and DVDS

Text:
Middle Grade Math Tools for Success (Prentice hall)

Part I Organizing and Displaying Data

A. Make a table
B. Mean, median and mode
C. Making graphs

Part II Patterns and Algebra

A. Order of operation
B. Variables and expressions
C. Algebra: integers
D. Word Problems for application of learned skills

Part III Math Operations

A. Adding and subtracting
B. Multiplying and dividing
C. Rounding decimals
D. Word problems involving math operations

Part IV Investigating Fractions, Ratios, Proportions, Metrics and Percents

A. Using fractions B. Rounding fractions C. Related word problems

Part V Tools of Geometry

A. Geometry and measurement

Part VI Exploring Probability

Application Activities:

• Making a circle graph using degrees, percent, hours
  
• Grouping to solve multiple—step problems in Algebra
  
• Family math—household circumference
  
• Island Ratios
  
• Treasure Hunt—Metric

Science Curriculum

Texts:
Discover the Wonder—Scott Foresman
Science—Silver, Burdett

Unit II Using the Microscope

A. Parts of the microscope
B. Practice using microscope

Unit III Structure of Matter

A. Properties of minerals
B. Atoms, elements, compounds
   1. Parts of the atom
   2. Periodic table
   3. Structure of the human body

Unit IV Motion

A. Simple machine
B. Newton's Laws of Motion
C. Body movement—muscles, skeleton

Unit V Energy

A. Forms of energy sources
B. Photosynthesis and respiration
C. Digestion and food chains

Unit VI Electricity

A. Electric safety
B. Electric current and circuits
C. Magnetism
D. Signals from the nervous system
E. Radio waves

Unit VII Botany

A. Plant communication
B. Planting and growing crops
C. Genetic engineering

I. Matter—Physical and Chemical

A. Forming a compound—Iron oxide
B. Separation of Substances in mixtures
C. Chemical—Movement of Gases
D. Creating models of Atoms

II. Body Structure

A. What happens to bones when minerals are removed
B. Use of reference book (Medical)
C. Write a brief description of bone injury and its type of treatment
D. Affect of exercise of pulse rate
E. Amount of air that lungs hold

III. Energy

A. Testing materials for conducting electricity
B. Measuring brightness using series circuit—parallel circuit
C. The direction that receives more solar energy
D. Wind speed can make electricity

IV. Classification of Living Things

A. Characteristics of five groups (project using a mobile)

V. Motion

A. Build a maze for marbles—friction & Gravity
B. Muscles at work—model foot

Social Studies Curriculum

Text:

America's Story (Harcourt Brace)

I. Exploration, Encounter, Migration and Urbanization

A. Early Exploration
   1. Vikings—Greenland
   2. Europeans
      a. Marco Polo
      b. Trade Route
   3. Portuguese Explorers
   4. Columbus Vespucci
   5. Balboa and Magellan—Pacific Ocean

B. Exploration and Conquests of the New World
   1. Fall of Aztecs
   2. Fall of Incas
   3. Spanish in Florida—Mississippi River Area
   4. New Spain
   5. French—Northwest Passage—St. Lawrence
   6. Fur Trade
   7. English—Jamestown
   8. English—Plymouth

C. Early Colonies
   1. Spanish, French, and British
   2. Early Sections
      a. Southern Colonies
      b. New England Colonies
      c. Middle Colonies

D. British Colonies
   1. Towns and Cities
   2. Plantations

E. Colonists Response to Great Britain
   1. Government
   2. Taxes and Government
   3. Colonists Unit
      a. Committee of Correspondence
      b. Continental Congress

F. Revolutionary War
   1. War at Home
   2. Independence

G. Post Revolutionary War Growth
   1. Louisiana Purchase
   2. War of 1812

H. Rural to Urban
   1. Industrial Revolution
   2. Railroad Expansion
   3. New Immigrants

II. Contemporary America

A. Geography
B. Economics
C. Citizenship and government

 

III. Contemporary Canada—Latin America—Mexico

 

IV. Projects may include the following and more:

How to use a product map

Comparisons—The cost of Exploration

Who does what in the government?

Role-playing

6th Grade

7th Grade

8th Grade