Classrooms

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Kindergarten

In kindergarten we start off our day with devotions, morning meeting, and calendar books. We love singing songs about the days of the week and the months of the year. Each week we learn a new letter, a popcorn word, and a word family. The literacy program we use is Really Great Reading. This curriculum helps students learn their letters and letter sounds, how to pull words apart, and how to blend their words together in order to help them learn to read and write. We do centers on Tuesday and Thursday. Each center is based on a different learning area such as math, word family, letter, reading with Miss Vande Vegte, and silent reading in the library area. We learn a lot of different things in math such as numbers, patterns, shapes, addition, subtraction, and much more.

Something special about our classroom is that we are able to share our faith not only during Bible time, but throughout our entire day. We love reading new Bible stories and diving deep into who God has created us to be. We learn several memory verses throughout the school year as well. We also have science and social studies where we are able to learn more about the amazing things God has blessed us with in this world. Hands on activities are something that we do often in kindergarten for our students to be fully engaged in what they are learning. Some things we learn about: weather, plants, sinking/ floating, pilgrims, presidents, and so much more!

Once a week we have the opportunity to have reading buddies with the 3rd and 4th grade class. Each kindergarten student is paired up with a 3rd or 4th grader. The kindergartners love being read to by the bigger kids! We also have rest time and play time each day. Kindergarten is a big year for students and it is important for them to have a little time to rest, but also time to interact and have play time. This helps build friendships, learn to share, and communicate with others.

We go to music and gym class twice a week. We also get to go to the library once a week to check out books to take home!

1st + 2nd Grade

We begin each day with devotions and calendar time. We have daily practice for telling time, counting money, and guessing a mystery number. The 1st & 2nd graders split up for both math and reading to provide plenty of individual attention. Our mornings consist of math rotations where both grades get to meet with a teacher, do independent practice, play a partner math game and practice their math facts on an iPad or computer. Both grades enjoy doing Daily 5, learning CAFE reading strategies, improving their writing through the four-square writing method, guided reading with the teacher in small groups, and of course reading stories together as a class!

We have busy afternoons with more subjects and specials! Our Bible lessons help the 1st & 2nd graders expand their knowledge of Old and New Testament stories and commit important Bible passages to memory. We also alternate between having science and social studies. We learn about all sorts of things: plants, animals, outer space, communities, government and much more!

Each week we have music and gym class. We have an amazing volunteer who runs our library so we can check out books each week to take home and read!

We also go to the computer lab each week to practice typing and play educational games. Each Friday our 5th & 6th grade reading buddies come and partner up to read books with us. We enjoy this time where they read to us and we read to them. We love doing art once a week. We enjoy being creative!

3rd + 4th Grade

In 3rd and 4th grade, we spend time reading, writing, doing math, and learning more about God and His world every day. Reading instruction uses both a basal reader and novels to help students grow in their reading proficiency. Math instruction focuses on mastery of multiplication and division, but also includes units on fractions, graphs, and measurement. In Bible, the 3rd and 4th graders focus mainly on Old Testament stories, including some in-depth studies of Bible characters. In science, students study topics from life science, earth science, and physical science. One of the main focuses in social studies is learning about the 50 States and the regions of the United States.

Every week, we also have P.E., music, library, and computer.

5th + 6th Grade

On the upper age level of the school we start to get the students more independent and responsible. Group activity and partner work encourages the students to work well with one another and use time wisely. We do several different projects throughout the curriculum subjects to encourage creativity. Our biggest project is the Festival of Nations in which each student chooses a country to research and compile a 15 page report throughout several months. At the end of the research all students have a booth in which to display their reports, share items from their country, come dressed as a native to their country, and serve a treat.

On alternating years, they have the opportunity to participate in the science fair.

Reading instruction includes stories from a basal reader and from novels that are read and discussed. This method develops a love for reading books and choosing books of interest to them.

Math instruction in 5th and 6th grade focuses on decimals, fractions, and algebra.

In Bible class, students learn about how the promises that God gave to His people in the Old Testament are fulfilled in the New Testament. A highlight of Bible class for 5th and 6th graders is celebrating a number of Biblical feasts including the Feast of Purim and Passover.

Science at this level has a strong focus on life science. A variety of early civilizations are studied in social studies and on alternating years we delve into Minnesota history.

This class is a great place for discussion, searching for truth, and seeing our purpose in God's world.

7th + 8th Grade

In 7th and 8th grade, literature studies focus on story elements through short stories and novels. Students are also taught effective textbook comprehension skills. In English class, students learn about the parts of speech, punctuation, sentence structure through diagramming, and creative writing. 7th grade math focuses on ratios and percents, geometry, probability, and pre- algebra. 8th grade math is Algebra I. In Bible, students study both the Old Testament (focusing on Kings and Prophets) and the New Testament (focusing on the books of Mark and Revelation). In science, students study topics in both physical science and life science. In social dtudies, students have one year of U.S. history. They also study world geography and civics, which includes field trips to the state capitol and the county courthouse.