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Academics - Elementary
K5 (Kindergarten for 5-year-olds)
| BIBLE |
Lessons are taught about the lives of Moses, Gideon, Joshua, and Jesus. In addition, stories emphasizing character-building traits are taught. One Bible verse is learned each week. It is our desire to "hide God's Word in our hearts."
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| PHONICS |
Students are introduced to the sounds of the alphabet letters. These sounds are then combined to form words. To reinforce what has been taught, various activities such as worksheets and games are used.
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| READING |
As students become more fluent in reading words, we read sentences, paragraphs, and stories. Worksheets are used to aid in learning and comprehension. In addition, each student will read through at least thirteen (13) books in the classroom during our reading group sessions.
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| PENMANSHIP |
The students are taught to hold the pencil properly and form letters and numbers correctly. As the students' hand/eye coordination and muscular development improve, penmanship will also improve. Children will be encouraged to do their best all the time.
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| MATH |
The orderliness of God is seen as we learn numbers 1-100, counting by 2's, 5's, and 10's, adding and subtracting. Worksheets and games are used to aid in the learning process. Students are also introduced to coins, fractions, and telling time.
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| SCIENCE |
Various activities are used to teach how God has made all things special: ourselves, our families, our world, seasons and animals.
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| SOCIAL STUDIES |
Students will enjoy a unit on community helpers, be introduced to American history and geography, and get a chance to learn about children living in other countries.
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| ACTIVITY TIME |
This time will be spent developing visual perception skills, motor coordination, listening and thinking skills. Language enrichment activities will help students learn about positional words, opposites, rhyming words, and poetry.
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| ART |
The skills of coloring, cutting, and pasting are taught using a variety of art projects.
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First Grade
| BIBLE |
Bible is taught every day with a goal of helping the students to grow spiritually. First grade units will focus on God's gift to the world, promises, worship, friends, and blessings.
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READING and
PHONICS |
Reading is given a great deal of importance in the first grade curriculum. Phonics is employed as the most logical and orderly way to teach reading.
We use a systematic phonetic program, in which the students learn 137 phonetic sounds. The intensive phonetic foundation enables the students to become readers early in the program. We also emphasize comprehension, vocabulary, and fluency of oral reading. Story content is designed to build character in the lives of the students.
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| SPELLING |
Most of the first grade spelling words are arranged phonetically, so students can recognize basic spelling patterns. Spelling is a product of our phonics program, and is taught concurrently with phonics.
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| LANGUAGE |
Language is an important tool. Our language curriculum guides the student to develop complete and orderly thoughts - to learn to reason and think. We learn basic capitalization rules, correct punctuation at the ends of sentences, recognition of complete sentences, suffixes, prefixes, syllables, compound words, rhyming words, opposites, homonyms, synonyms, antonyms, contractions, and alphabetizing of words. We also develop writing skills necessary to compose sentences, short stories, and creative writing projects.
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| PENMANSHIP |
Emphasis is on correct posture and position of paper and pencil. Students are taught to correctly form the manuscript alphabet, taking care to always do their best.
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| MATH |
First graders will learn addition and subtraction facts as part of the order God has established. They will learn that there is a right answer. Emphasis is on number concepts, computational skills (addition and subtraction to the 19's), speed and accuracy. An important part of our curriculum is a continual systematic review. Concepts covered include fractions, telling time, counting by 2's, 3's, 5's, and 10's, counting money, measurement, place value, and solving two (2) and three (3) digit addition and subtraction problems.
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| SCIENCE |
Science is discovering the wonders of God's creation, and understanding that the greatness of nature's design points to God. Our purpose at this level is to expose the students to an awareness of the world around them. They will be discovering things about their five senses, wind, air, water, wheels, baby animals, insects, and plants.
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| HISTORY |
Our goal is to instill a love of, and pride of America through learning about the American flag, our freedoms, symbols of our country and great Americans in history.
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| HEALTH |
The purpose of our health curriculum is to motivate the students to take care of the body God has given them. They will learn to develop good health habits in the areas of diet, exercise, rest, and safety.
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| ART |
Art is an enjoyable time; we develop and refine the skills of cutting, pasting, and coloring. The students are also given the experience of being exposed to many creative art projects. We use chalk, water colors, tempera paints, and crayons in a variety of ways.
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Second Grade
| BIBLE |
To establish God's Word in our hearts, second graders learn about the lives of Moses, Joshua, the Judges and Ruth. We also study the Tabernacle, its purpose, construction and furnishings.
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READING and
PHONICS |
Students will read character-building fables; stories of American patriots; animal stories which reveal the marvels of creation; a novel, teaching that all things work for good; and a historical novel. Comprehension and vocabulary skills are included. Second graders review and continue to master the 137 phonetic sounds learned in first grade.
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| SPELLING |
Weekly spelling lists are arranged phonetically to enable students to readily identify the sounds of words and the patterns they follow. Vocabulary words are also introduced in the second semester.
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| LANGUAGE |
Students learn to master the skills of correctly punctuating the three kinds of sentences. They work with rhyming words, compound words, antonyms, synonyms, contractions, and possessives. Writing skills are developed so they can write more clearly, correctly, and concisely.
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| PENMANSHIP |
Manuscript writing is reviewed and cursive writing is taught. There is daily practice in handwriting, phonics, and spelling, while good character traits are emphasized.
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| MATH |
Continuous practice is necessary in order to develop good math skills. Those necessary skills are number concept, addition, subtraction, multiplication, simple division, story problems, fractions, and graphs. Speed drills are completed daily and testing is weekly.
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| SCIENCE |
We learn to enjoy God's world through the study of the human body, animals, plants, matter, energy and conservation.
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| HISTORY |
Second graders learn the history of our flag, patriotic songs, and special holidays. Also covered are the Pilgrims, early colonists, pioneers, cowboys, and immigrants. Geography is included and review questions throughout each chapter develop comprehension. Second graders also learn the fifty states and their locations.
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Third Grade
| BIBLE |
Stories covered include the Parables, Samuel, David, Elijah, Elisha, Daniel, Crucifixion and Resurrection, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther.
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| READING |
There is a wide variety of literature in the seven (7) third grade A Beka readers. There are humorous stories, stories of courage and patriotism, Bible and missionary stories, and character-building stories. There is a strong emphasis on comprehension and vocabulary-building skills. Students are taught a unit on the parts of a dictionary and how to use it.
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| SPELLING |
A variety of brief, interesting games and activities allow the students interesting ways to develop their skills in spelling. Vocabulary words are included in each weekly lesson. Learning the multiple spellings of phonetic sounds enables the students to master spelling skills.
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| LANGUAGE |
Third grade students begin their formal study of English. Capitalization, punctuation, correct sentences, recognizing nouns, verbs, and adjectives are emphasized. Dictionary and creative writing skills are also developed.
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| PENMANSHIP |
Students receive a thorough review of cursive letter formations with a strong emphasis on slant, spacing, and proportion. A nature study is introduced where students use the "animal dictionary" at the back of the book to write brief reports about selected animals.
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| MATH |
A thorough review provides the foundation for new material which includes extensive work in multiplication and division, story problems (including up to four steps), Roman numerals to 1,000, averaging numbers, learning tables of standard measure, and adding, subtracting, and reducing fractions.
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| SCIENCE |
Beginning with the most special part of God's creation, man, third graders learn about the human body, with an emphasis on the sense organs and how they work. Students then explore the world of plants and the world of animals, becoming familiar with invertebrates, and vertebrates, and how to classify them. Students will also learn about different areas of their environment. They will study the ocean, deserts, ponds, forests, and fields from a Christian perspective. A study of weather is also included.
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| HISTORY |
Students are exposed to the study of our American heritage through the lives of great people. The emphasis is on patriotism, character, development, and the contributions made by famous Americans to our country. Third graders also study the continents and oceans of the world, world geography, and the fifty states of the United States.
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Fourth Grade
| BIBLE |
Building Life Castles. These studies will include the life of Christ from the Gospels; a study of the Holy Spirit from the Gospels, Acts, and the Epistles; an understanding of how Christian character develops using Paul's epistles and the life of Paul from the Book of Acts.
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| READING |
Our fourth grade readers are filled with adventure stories, character training stories, and children's literature. We also emphasize speed and comprehension. Oral reading and vocabulary training continue to be an important part of our reading curriculum. Some of our readers include Frontier to Explore, Liberty Tree, Flags Unfurled, and Song of the Brook. We have added a new novel, Saved at Sea. Read and Think Skill Sheets give quizzes to help develop both speed and comprehension. The theme of the novel is making the best of every situation.
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| SPELLING |
Spelling, Vocabulary, and Poetry contains carefully selected lists of spelling, vocabulary words and monthly poems. Enjoyable word games, quizzes, and dictionary helps are included.
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| LANGUAGE |
Our fourth grade curriculum emphasizes word usage and the writing process. Traditional grammar training continues as the students learn the eight parts of speech. Students are able to put into practice their knowledge of word usage and grammar as they write book reports and stories. They also will develop skills needed to gather information.
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| PENMANSHIP |
Penmanship Mastery provides a daily practice in correct formation involving spacing, letter size, and overall neatness.
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| MATH |
We will review the four basic math processes, as well as multiplying and dividing by two-digit numbers, estimation, square measures, writing decimals as fractions, and simply geometry. A strong emphasis is placed on problem solving. Problem solving teaches a student to develop the habit of thinking through their answers. Weekly tests are given over new and old materials that are covered.
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| SCIENCE |
Our fourth grade science book, Understanding God's World, presents things students can see, observe, and understand in the world around them. Students can learn to appreciate God's provision through nature for the world that He has created. This text provides for comprehension checks, and chapter checkups as a good review. Topics studied are plants, insects, birds, matter, energy, geology, oceanography and astronomy.
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| HISTORY |
The History of Our United States provides an interesting look at famous people, major events, scientific advances, changes in the way of travel, communication, and thinking in America. American heroes are studied from all walks of life. Students will learn important dates and names which have helped to make our country what it is today.
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Fifth Grade
| BIBLE |
Possessing The Land. A survey of the Old Testament is the basis of this study. Beginning in Genesis, students will gain a much clearer perspective of how the stories of the Old Testament fit together into one pattern.
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| READING |
Our fifth grade readers deal with travel and character-building stories. Widening Horizons, and Of America are two of our readers. Read and Think Skill Sheets give quizzes to help develop both speed and comprehension. We have also added a biographical novel, Noah Webster: A Man Who Loved Words. This book helps students see the Christian influence and character of Noah Webster.
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| SPELLING |
Weekly spelling lists are grouped by categories, and include vocabulary study. The vocabulary words will correspond to their weekly reading.
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| LANGUAGE |
Our language curriculum provides a thorough review of capitalization, punctuation and the eight (8) parts of speech. Many of the exercises in God's Gift of Language tell a story or give interesting facts. Students also learn valuable skills such as outlining, note taking, and preparing a bibliography. The students put these skills into practice by writing a term paper about a famous person in history.
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| MATH |
Math 5 emphasizes multiplying four-digit numbers, fractions, dividing by three-digit numbers, factoring, and measures. Fifth graders are also taught comparing, rounding-off, dividing decimals, and basic geometry. Step-by-step procedures are developed through story problems. Tests are given weekly helping students to review old material and master new material learned.
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| SCIENCE |
Investigating God's World helps the student to understand the basic principles of science. Students learn about plants, animals, matter, energy, light, and minerals. They also study earth, space, and conservation. The text introduces students to scientists who believed in God as the creator and sought to glorify Him through their discoveries. Chapter checkups and comprehension checks provide a thorough review for the students.
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| HISTORY |
Old World History gives a study of the Eastern Hemisphere by geographical regions. Each chapter involves comprehensive questions and maps. The text gives an introduction to missions, missionary heroes, and a contrast between communism and Americanism. Students also learn important geographical facts and important documents.
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Sixth Grade
| BIBLE |
Practical study of the book of Proverbs covering areas of importance to teenagers. Students will look at what Proverbs says about attitudes, friends, character, submission to authority, money, the will of God, and how to be a true success in God's eyes.
WISE-UP Positive Action for Christ, Inc.
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| ENGLISH |
Basic grammar study designed to enable students to speak and write more effectively. The emphasis is on eight parts of speech, mechanics, sentence structure, and composition. Reading comprehension, spelling, vocabulary, and poetry are also part of this English course.
LANGUAGE C A Beka Book
SPELLING, VOCABULARY, POETRY 6 A Beka Book
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| MATH |
Concepts include fractions and decimals, measurement (linear, perimeter, area, and volume), metric conversions, angles, and probability.
MATH 76 Saxon
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| SCIENCE |
A general science course built around seven basic topics: living things, the human body, earth, space, matter, energy, and motion. Because creation tells us about God, we can learn about God by studying the universe. This is a one-semester course.
SCIENCE FOR CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS 6 BJU Press
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| HISTORY |
The history of Minnesota through the 1980's. Students will also study the geography, changing cultures and mixed heritages, social and economic influences, and education in Minnesota.
NEW WORLD HISTORY & GEOGRAPHY A Beka Book
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| HEALTH |
The study of first aid, anatomy, growth and fitness, disease and bodily defenses, and drugs. This is a one-semester course.
A HEALTHIER YOU A Beka Press
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Chapel
Our Friday chapel time is one of the highlights of our week. The elementary students are exposed to the excellent preaching of our pastors and staff. Each one of these men has a tremendous influence upon the lives of our students.
Each month our chapel verses and song are centered on a character-building theme. We also recognize a Student of the Week from each class during this time.
Chapel is an exciting and important part of the training our elementary students receive.
Music
Music is an essential ingredient for a complete Christian education (Colossians 3:16). Kindergarten through fifth grade music classes meet for two half-hour periods each week. Our goal is to develop musical knowledge, skills, and attitudes in each child through the study of God-honoring music.
The students sing in our Christmas Program, Patriotic Program, and Spring Concert. Our music education program provides preparation for service and active participation in our schools, churches, and homes as our students develop their talents for God.
Physical Education
The objective of our physical education curriculum is to foster physical fitness and develop motor skills. Physical education also contributes to the mental, physical, social, and emotional growth and development of each student. In our program, the students will develop these skills through group games and team sports. An important objective is for students to develop skills that will serve them in maintaining physical fitness for life.
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