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PRESCHOOL PHILOSOPHIES AND CURRICULUM
Our preschool respects and values children, their families, and their cultures. We recognize that all children have their own strengths and potentials for thinking and learning.
We encourage children to communicate and represent their understandings, feelings and creative selves through written and spoken words, drawings, paintings, sculptures, block constructions, drama, movement, dance, music, computers and more. Teachers use their own knowledge and skills to support and help develop children's abilities and willingness to use communication in many ways.
We welcome collaboration of families with the teachers and children in developing and implementing our educational program, and we encourage their contribution of skills, materials, ideas, and home experiences to enrich the educational process for their children.
Teachers set guidelines for the curriculum. Within these broad guidelines, activities and projects develop through the teachers' attention to the children's interests and cues. Ongoing planning and collaboration by teachers and children together helps determine the direction taken as they work with specific educational values and objectives in mind.
The children have the opportunity and freedom each day to engage in a variety of developmentally appropriate activities for the 'whole child,' along with long-term group projects that reflect the interests of the children. These activities integrate the areas of science, math, pre-reading/reading, language, social studies, and fine arts into the curriculum and continually provide for the development of social skills. The Open Court Phonics Program is one channel through which children are introduced to letters and sounds. Games, manipulatives, literature, art and music reinforce ideas introduced and incorporate all of the senses and every learning style into our approach. Exploration of a 'theme' each month in a variety of ways leads to many discoveries!
Our library, as well as classes in Physical Education and Spanish, are valuable resources and contributors to the growth of children.
Building and enhancing self-esteem and fostering a positive attitude toward learning are of primary importance!
KINDERGARTEN - FIFTH GRADE CURRICULUM
St. Peter's Episcopal School has developed a solid approach to the basics of an elementary education while recognizing the need for innovative and diverse academic activities. Using the Core Knowledge Sequence as a guide for social studies and science topics and as a checklist for language arts and math skills, we hold ourselves accountable to an interesting and challenging curriculum. We support the core movement begun by E.D. Hirsch Jr. and his strong belief that we most desperately need a solid, coherent foundation of learning.
As important as our Core Knowledge guide, we continue to stay in touch with our roots. St. Peter's has always been a creative, hands-on, inspirational place to teach and learn. We do not teach subjects; we teach the whole child, stressing character as much as academic achievement. Another emphasis is that of academic integration. Although the following section addresses each academic area separately, it is not uncommon at St. Peter's for a unit to encompass history lessons, a related novel, writing assignments, and an art connection across a grade. Furthermore, our teachers are involved in vertical observation and planning to help create more vertical academic projects.
READING
Open Court Reading (a research based reading series that introduces and reinforces explicit, systematic phonics instruction) begins the experience in St. Peter’s full reading program. Beginning in the 3rd grade, novels are added as the springboard for the reading activities, and by the conclusion of the St. Peter’s experience, the students are completely immersed in a novel based program. A fifth grader could be expected to read, as a class, eight novels per year with reading skills and writing skills taught through those novels.
Accelerated Reader is an incentive program that tracks reading accomplishments through computer tests. First - fifth graders are involved in A.R., with the older students delving deeper into the program through vocabulary and literacy tests. The A.R. program is accessible in each classroom, as well as the 16 computer lab and the library. We also use the STAR diagnosis testing system for assistance in placing students in the appropriate level books.
St. Peter's proudly supports the Read-Aloud Program initiated by Jim Trelease. Teachers model good oral reading and also teach our students to read to younger students at St. Peter's and the greater community. The pairing of 5th and 1st, 4th and K, and 3rd and the preschoolers promotes oral reading and fosters friendships. The fifth grade has had "Reading Buddies" at the Children's Home since 2005, designating reading as a viable community outreach. Because of our dedication to Read - Aloud, we were blessed with a gift from Read Aloud in our library's entrance - a hand painted mural by the official Read Aloud artist, Gale Hinton, with the input of the students of school year 2005/06.
LANGUAGE
All forms of writing are stressed respecting the developmental levels of the different grades. From journal entries to book reports to descriptive papers to thank you letters, our students write often. As the students advance developmentally, more group work and editing is expected and higher expectations are held for content, grammar, and spelling.
St. Peter's involves its students in several essay and poetry contests for exposure and challenge.
For specific practice with grammar, vocabulary and spelling, various resources are used to complement units of study.
MATHEMATICS
Saxon Math has been used at St. Peter's since 1993. Our own rise in test scores and feedback from local middle schools has proven Saxon to be a true foundation in strong basic math skills and discipline. In addition to Saxon expectations, integrated math activities are used when appropriate, stressing math knowledge as a necessary and functional tool in any arena. With supplemental math applications, students of varying math abilities can be challenged to their level.
SCIENCE
With the Core Knowledge Curriculum as a guide, students are introduced to the varied sciences, and then delve deeper into each area 2-3 years later. Our topics are taught through a combination of textbooks, magazines, and current events information. Following a structured list eliminates the problem of repetition or omission; using varied sources frees the teacher to teach science in a creative and developmentally appropriate manner. Integrated projects are feasible because of common topics among the lower and upper grades.
SOCIAL STUDIES
The Social Studies topics suggested in the Core Knowledge Curriculum are followed from K-5th. Beginning in the 3rd grade, the Pearson Learning History and Geography book becomes the foundation for the social studies program. This curriculum is a flexible program that teaches key history and geography topics at each consecutive level.
COMPUTER
-Students advance from early exposure to the versatility of the computer in the preschool classes to weekly classes with Kid Keys in kindergarten to the Mavis Beacon program used in the elementary grades.
-A computer lab and qualified instructor provide individualized advancement through the Mavis Beacon program for keyboarding.
-Word processing and appropriate Internet usage is taught in the computer classes for the upper grades and applied in the classrooms through various aspects of the curriculum.
-A network of computers connects the individual classrooms with the library and provides access to the Internet, and all library holdings can be accessed from individual classrooms through the Athena program.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE
-Spanish classes are offered to preschoolers through 5th graders.
-Our current program uses the Rosetta Stone foreign language series that is based on the theory that we learn language by associating words with objects and ideas. The program emphasizes the teaching of words in their grammatical context using photographs identified by spoken and written cues. Taught by a qualified Spanish teacher, grades 1 through 5 meet twice a week, while preschool and kindergarten meet weekly.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
-Since the development of self-esteem and team work are our primary goals, each child is encouraged to progress at his own level and ability, while at the same time contributing to the welfare of the group.
-Conditioning, basic skills, and rules of the various sports are covered, along with opportunities for actual game situations.
-Each child participates in the President's Physical Fitness Program annually.
-Physical education skills expand into afternoon sports options: cheerleading (grades 1-5), track (grades 2-5), basketball and soccer (grades 4-5).
FAITH DEVELOPMENT
-Since St. Peter's is an Episcopal school, it is important that we allow for this part of our heritage in our daily routine. Besides morning devotions and weekly chapel services, each student has an opportunity to share his/her religious beliefs with others through faith development classes. These classes not only allow for the study of various religions and beliefs but also provide a place for the discussion of important moral issues of the time.
-Above all, each child should leave St. Peter's with a sense that his or her beliefs, no matter what religion, are equal under God.
-Topics of discussion in faith often correlate with the history and geography focus.
FINE ARTS
-Discipline Based Arts Education is the foundation for all aspects of fine arts at St. Peter's: visual arts, music, theatre, and dance. Our teachers are trained in this style of art education from the Southeastern Center for Education of the Arts (SCEA), located at UTC.
-The various arts are integrated into the curriculum, most often with the History and Geography focus. Children learn to appreciate a wide variety of art examples by focusing on the history of the work, learning how to critique it, and discussing it aesthetically. A study of art of any kind would not be complete without production. Using all kinds of medium, our children create visual arts and music, perform, and move with purpose.
-All four areas are integrated with the curriculum, while music also has additional formal weekly classes.
MUSIC
-Formal weekly music classes with a certified music teacher address the elements of music, music appreciation, and production.
-Appreciation of a wide variety of genres of music more typically occurs in the academic classes, leaving time in music class for music instruction, including reading music, identification of various instruments, and exposure to music history.
-Production is a vital component at all levels through choral singing, chapel performances, and plays.
-Afternoon opportunities include voice and instrumental lessons and the 4th-5th grade annual musical production.
LIBRARY
-A full-time certified librarian provides each student with weekly instruction in library skills and the use of the library.
-The implementation of a fully networked Athena System enables both teachers and students to access data and resources from individual classrooms.
-Rather than just a 'once-a-week visit policy,' our library maintains an open-door policy that encourages extensive use of the library to ensure that students become independent users of libraries and media centers. The library is seen as the 'hub' of the school where both teachers and students gather to gain information on all subjects, thus enhancing our curriculum.
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