Elementary Curriculum
Six to Twelve Years
Children at this level (1st -6th grades) widen their horizons through an expanding curriculum. Abundant materials foster optimum development of reading, spelling and writing skills, Math operations emphasize the understanding of process as well as accuracy in computations. Acquired basic skills are then applied in interdisciplinary themes. In science, students research, classify, observe and do experiments. Work in cultural subjects includes the study of needs of people around the world and throughout history. Diverse learning experiences in music and art are enhanced with special educational materials.
An interactive learner-centered environment provides small and whole group cooperative activities in addition to individualized instruction.
Since our community is made up of schools that use a grading system, we do issue percentage grades and use report cards every six weeks. We do, though, advance each student through a system known as mastery learning. This means that students must demonstrate a mastery of the lesson to be learned before they proceed to the next progressive lesson.
Our goal is to encourage individualized pacing and flexibility, so that each child reaches maximum potential. We teach our students that education is more than memorization. It is the ability to concentrate, read and write fluently, research with confidence, complete projects, and work productively. Even though we use the Montessori approach, we use additional ideas and materials based on current Texas educational standards.
