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Elementary Classical Day Program Overview
History-Ancient Greece, Rome, New Testament and the Early Church
We will study this time period in a series of
units highlighting key events, ideas, principles and individuals. Our
focus during the elementary years is on learning the facts and enjoying
our history. This class has a backbone of historical events and people
that are accented each week, and we want to keep looking beyond these
details so we make connections between ancient history and our world today.
Main texts-Story of the World, vol. 1, Famous Men of Greece, Famous Men
of Rome
Latin Grammar, Vocabulary, Reading, Derivatives
An introduction to Latin and its grammar.
We believe that there is great value in the study of a foreign language
from a young age. Latin is a very organized, logical language and is the
foundation of many modern languages. Studying Latin requires great attention
to detail, memorization, and regular practice, and in many ways it is
for the brain’s development in language ability what consistent
arithmetic is for the mathematical development. There are many side benefits
to Latin as well- increased understanding of English grammar and vocabulary,
and a solid foundation for other language studies. It is also a great
tool in teaching logical and in-depth thinking. Main Text- Prima Latina
for the lower elementary and our own introduction to French course, Ecce
Romani and a Latina Christiana for the older
English–writing, grammar and literature
Writing-We place a heavy emphasis
on basic writing skills and the development of a clear, effective writing
style. Students at various ages will learn and practice: sentence structure,
paragraph writing, outlining, report writing, summaries, narratives, researching
and eventually essay writing. Imitation in writing is a classical method
of instruction which incorporates the study of worthy writing examples,
the imitation of great writing, and the practice of these elements of
great writing. We use a combination of tools that work from this foundation-
the Institute for Excellence in Writing curriculum, Classical Composition,
and the Lost Tools of Writing. We will also have a variety of creative
writing assignments integrated with our history and literature studies
throughout the year.
Grammar-
Lower Elementary - This
class focuses on the foundational elements of the English language. Skills
and concepts covered in this class include basic writing mechanics, spelling
rules and copy work. One of the benefits of Latin study is the solid integration
of learning, so many English grammar concepts are covered primarily in
Latin class.
Upper Elementary -
This class continues to build on the foundation of the Grammar I class,
with a heavy emphasis on the parts of speech. Students learn to classify
and diagram various sentence patterns and these ideas are reinforced in
their writing and Latin.
Literature- Our goal in the
study of literature is to introduce students to enduring, meaningful stories.
We believe that the narrative is a powerful tool to communicate that which
is true, wise and virtuous. We hope that the books we read will become
life-long memories for each student. With this in mind, we aim to study
books which demand careful thought and consideration. There are many,
many wonderful tales that each child should read and treasure, but they
are not necessarily “study” books. For this reason, we try
to limit our book list to allow time for discussion, contemplation and
thoughtful responses in writing or projects.
Sample of book selections:
Group I-
Bible Stories
Aesop’s Fables
Fifty Famous People
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Group II-
The Bible
The Children’s Homer
Pinocchio
The Aeneid for Boys and Girls |
Memory Work and Recitation- each
class will have several poems and Bible selections to be memorized, practiced
in group recitation and performed for parents.
Afternoon Short Courses (8 week courses)-
This year our 1:30-2:30
class time will include the following short courses:
Hands-on Science: The objective for this course is to
sharpen the student’s ability to observe, discriminate and describe
using the process skills of scientific inquiry. Realizing that all science,
in fact all of life, must be approached from some worldview, our foundational
framework is a Christian/Creationist worldview. We will often break up
into smaller groups and investigate the ins and outs of many concepts-plants,
electricity, magnets, habitats, mixtures and solutions and hopefully much
more.
Chime Choir: each student will be part of a chime choir,
learning to read music and perform music as a group. This is not an 8
week course, but will meet most Thursdays.
CA History: special projects, presentations and field
trips. This course is not necessarily a full year of California history,
but will cover the main events of CA history. You could easily expand
these units into a full course with some extra reading and writing. Topics
will include: missions, CA Indians, geography, the Gold Rush, CA landmarks
Introduction to Greek: to build upon our studies on
Ancient Greece, we will have an 8 week introduction to the Greek language
and its influence on English. Students will learn to read and pronounce
the Greek alphabet. They will also learn many root words, prefixes and
suffixes.
Fine Arts: This course will include several art and
music units relating to our Ancient History studies.
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