Curriculum Overview
Discover the Our Lady of Light Schoolhouse Inc. Difference
- Phonics Kindergarten Level - starting with short vowel sounds, all the consonant sounds, progressing to short-vowel words, continuing to two-consonant blend sounds/words, and ending with consonant diagraphs like /ch/ and /sh/.
- Phonics First Grade Level - continuing and expanding knowledge of letter sounds, phonograms, consonant teams, blending, syllables, sight words, consonant blends, plurals, compound words, and much more.
- Handwriting of all upper case and lower-case letters, and numbers to 100; following Zaner-Bloser’s continuous writing method for an easier transition to cursive around the middle of 2nd grade. Materials and curriculum will correspond to your child’s current level and areas of need.
- Reading including instruction on decoding, fluency, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and sentence construction. Students benefit from one-on-one reading conferences with Mrs. Smith each day which will help them grow in their exact area of need.
- Mrs. Smith will Read Aloud stories each day which builds students’ listening comprehension skills, vocabulary development, reading fluency and expression, as well as their working memories.
- Math Kindergarten Level will begin with number sense in counting by 1s and progress to counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s to 100. Kindergarteners will work on addition and subtraction, learning about money, time, geometric figures, sorting higher and lower numbers, problem solving, and pattern recognition through the use of manipulatives, stories, crafts and other exploratory, fun ways. Mrs. Smith will meet one on one with each student each day for a math conference to coach them in the specific area of need.
- Math First Grade Level will continue building on kindergarten number sense with a more explicit focus on addition and subtraction facts to 20 and by the end of the year utilizing mental math for two-digit addition and subtraction to 100. The year includes progressing further in areas of measuring, geometric figures and attributes, comparing numbers, tally charts and bar graphs, calendar and clocks, bills and coins, and honing mental math strategies.
- Science is focused on the scientific method and inquiry through wonder and awe for God’s amazing world! Our units include the plant kingdom, animal kingdom, human body - including the 5 senses, chemical reactions, earth science, astronomy, and finally physics.
- History is focused on ancient times (5000 B.C. - A.D. 400) and will be taught through reading aloud biographies and easy history books.
- Religion curriculum will include a weekly Bible story, Bible verse, Bible song, and related activities. Our themes for this cohort will start with the Trinity, progress to the Beatitudes, focus on the Lord’s Prayer, explain about God’s love and protection and our trust in Him through a unit called “Shield of Faith”, continue to an overview of the Bible and its parts, and end with the idea of salvation and how much Jesus loves us. We will learn about Mary, the saints, and the Rosary, as well as celebrate Catholic holidays.
- Art and Music are ways to incorporate our learning in science, religion, history, the holidays and to work on gross and fine motor skills that are so important for this age group, as well as imagination and self- expression.
- Morning Meeting, Closing Circle, and our Outdoor Structured Group Activities are all times we work on Social-Emotional skills, such as speaking, listening, taking turns, sharing, working together, and building our classroom community. These times will be tied into what we are working on in our content classes listed above.
- STEM Bins, Recess, and Choice Time are all built in times for students to explore on their own in free play. Students will foster social-emotional skills, problem solving, fine and gross motor skills, independence, and creativity/imagination at this time.
- Two snack times are built into our schedule as well as 30 minutes for lunch each day. One of the snack times and the lunch times are social breaks. The other snack time is used as a read aloud/quiet time.
