Kindergarten

The focus in kindergarten is the social, emotional, creative, physical, cognitive, and spiritual development of the child.  Mastering consonant and vowel sounds, blending sounds to form words, and decoding and encoding lead to beginning reading and writing. The Kindergarten reading program, beginning to Read, Write, and Listen, is supplemented by Wright Group’s Shared and Guided Reading. The process of interactive writing is an integral part of the language arts program.  Mathematical thinking is developed by Everyday Math, Sadlier Oxford Math, Math Their Way, and numerous supplemental math experiences progressing from using manipulatives to mentally visualizing numbers and the mathematical processes.  The kindergarten students learn to write and recognize numerals to 100, solve addition and subtraction facts through 10, tell time, and learn simple money values.  Social Studies center on the home and school community, holidays and special days, and strong character development.  The Kindergarten program is enriched by art, Christian Life Skills, computer, library visits, music, physical education, science, and Spanish.


First Grade

First grade students continue building reading skills through a balanced literacy program including the Houghton Mifflin’s Core Reading/Language Arts Program, Wright Group’s Leveled Reading Program, Everyday Spelling, and the Write Source Writing Program. Daily creative writing is an important part of the program, as is instruction in the mechanical skills of writing. Students learn to write basic sentences and then move to paragraph formulation. They learn basic punctuation, plurals and possessives, capitalization, contractions, and parts of speech. Vocabulary words are introduced in individual subject areas. TThe Everyday Math and Sadlier Oxford Programs include addition and subtraction facts to 18, place value, money, geometry, measurements, and problem solving. Social studies concentrate on families, the community, senses, map skills, the introduction of the map of the United States, continents and oceans on the globe, and a unit on Africa. Science classes study reptiles, amphibians, mammals, African animals, fish, birds, and the five senses. Field trips are taken to Tanaka Farms, Crystal Cove State Par, a theater production, and a lively assembly experience with the Wild Wonder’s Out of Africa.  The culminating activity of the year is the Africa Day experience.

Second Grade

Second grade students continue to build reading skills through our Houghton Mifflin’s Core Reading/Language Arts Program, Wright Groups Guided and Leveled Reading Program, Everyday Spelling, and the Write Source Writing Program.  Comprehension skills are stressed through daily oral and silent reading.  Writing skills emphasize sentence structure, correct punctuation, and rules of grammar.  Writing assignments include journal entries, story summaries, poetry, book reports, and creative writing.  The Everyday Math and Sadlier Oxford Programs include addition and subtraction facts to 18, place value, geometry, fractions, measurement, regrouping, multiplication, division and problem solving.  Social Studies include patriotic units, major holidays with emphasis on cultures around the world, Asian Cultures, Flat Stanley, geography, Alaskan pen pals, the Iditarod race, and the study of Beatrix Potter’s works which integrates all subjects in the third grade curriculum.  Science instruction emphasizes geology, the solar system, invertebrates, and experiments.  Field trips include the Tessman Planetarium, the Donna O’Neal Land Conservancy Reserve and sand quarry, and The Performing Arts Center.


Third Grade

Our Third Grade has a beautifully integrated curriculum with a focus on special units that include world geography, explorers, Native Americans, cultural backgrounds and immigration, pioneers and the westward movement.  These units are enriched with Houghton Mifflin’s Core Reading/Language Arts Program , the beginning study of Novels Ties, research, and writing opportunities using the Write Source Writing Program.  Children are challenged as they are involved in critical thinking tasks and discussion related to their reading.  They are encouraged to express their ideas in journal writing, short stories and poetry.  The third grade Everyday Math and Sadlier Oxford curriculum includes the learning of multiplication and division facts through the 12's, place value, money exchange, geometry, measurement, fraction and decimals, graphing, and problem solving including long division.  Science is integrated with our Social Studies and includes plant structure, plant byproducts, plants and animals indigenous to Orange County, Native American Indian tools, and active measurement. Field trips relate to our special units of study with hands on opportunities and experiences.  Parents are invited to the classroom for culminating presentations by the children with Native American Open House, Cultures Day, Pioneer Day, and our Tom Sawyer class play and picnic.

Fourth Grade

The Language Arts program in the Fourth Grade covers Novel Ties’ reading, vocabulary, spelling, and English using Novel Ties’, CARS and STARS Reading Assessment and Comprehension Development, Everyday Spelling, and the Write Source Writing Program.  Areas of study include comprehension, decoding, critical thinking, problem solving, spelling accuracy, understanding, application, complete and complex sentence development, outlining, note taking, creative writing, homework, test, and language resources study skills.  Mechanics of writing skills encompass dictionary work, proof reading, editing and identifying and applying parts of speech.  Thinking and listening skills are a daily integral part of daily work.  The Everyday Math and Sadlier Oxford Programs include basic computation, competency and data processing as foundation for problem solving including pre-algebra and geometry components.  California History, Geography and State Government comprise the social studies program.  There is a text book which is enriched by hands on field programs focusing on the local environment and its ecology.  The Science program is integrated with the Social Studies program and culminates with a study for Scientific Method and Science Fair.  A day on the Pilgrim, the tide pools and Dana Point Harbor, Walk through California, and the trip to Sacramento are traditions all fourth graders look forward to.

Fifth Grade

The curriculum in fifth grade is challenging, but presented in an interesting and all inclusive approach. Reading skills focus on context clues, inferences, sequencing, fact/opinion, and drawing conclusions through Novel Ties, CARS and STARS Reading Assessment and Comprehension Development, Everyday Spelling, and the Write Source Writing Program. Note taking and outlining skills, utilizing topic sentences, main ideas, and key words are utilized in summarizing research material. Oral reading and comprehension is emphasized to improve listening skills. Language arts consist of a review of sentence structure, parts of speech, punctuation, verb forms, capitalization, and subject/verb agreement. Synonyms, homonyms, and antonyms in relation to poetry are presented. An emphasis on overall development of writing skills will be centered on journals, research reports, newspapers, stories, novel writing will be included.  The Orphan Train series is read orally. Taking the pen name of a person living in the Civil War era, fifth grade students write a ten-chapter novel, which is bound and presented at promotion. The Everyday Math and Sadlier Oxford studies include a hands-on approach with various visuals, games, and every day experiences along with computation skills.  Included will be algebraic terms, graphing, geometry, word problems, prime factors, and a review of the processes of multiplication and division.

In social studies, United States history is taught from exploration through the Civil War, including mapping and learning states and their capitals. The projects in fifth grade social science require extensive research. The science curriculum includes life science, physical science, earth science, and health.

General Information

All Lower School students leave their homerooms to go to the gymnasium or playing fields and courts for physical education. Physical education in the lower grades is developmental. Additionally, fifth grade students are offered the opportunity to participate in intramural sports in the fall, winter, and spring sports seasons against other private and parochial schools. Teams fielded are flag football, girls’ and boys’ volleyball, girls’ and boys’ basketball, tennis, and softball. Lower School students have special subject teachers for art, Christian Life Skills, computer, music, physical education, science, and Spanish. Students visit the art studio where they are taught to appreciate the masters and create their own masterpieces; they participate in vocal and instrumental music; and our state-of-the-art computer labs are a favorite spot where students learn skills in the use of information technology.