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| THE CURRICULUM |
| The Curriculum Subjects |
THE CURRICULUM
| CURRICULUM |
| FEATURES |
| SUBJECTS |
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| GRADE-LEVEL TEACHING GUIDES: |
| FOUNDATION YEAR |
| GRADE ONE |
| GRADE TWO |
| GRADE THREE |
| GRADE FOUR |
| GRADE FIVE |
| GRADE SIX |
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| INDIVIDUAL SUBJECT TEACHING GUIDES |
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The purpose of Bible study is to provide students with an introductory knowledge of the Old and New Testaments and an understanding of God’s work in the life of the Jewish nation through the stories of the principle people involved. The children show their understanding of this study by memorization, narration, and storytelling.
Living Books Curriculum does not include a math program because parents have individual preferences in this area. We do recommend several math programs that are consistent with a Living Books Education including Saxon, Miquon and Singapore.
• Singapore Math is approximately $50-$100 per year. • Saxon is about $55-$140 per year. • Miquon is $30 per year, but it is only available up to fourth grade and requires Cuisenaire rods—a one time expense.
Language arts entails communicating through writing, speaking, reading, and listening. All of the various subjects studied in language arts such as phonics, grammar, comprehension, handwriting, punctuation, and spelling are tools for effective reading, listening, writing, and speaking. The various subjects of language arts instruction assume their proper emphasis when we see them for what they are, simply tools to help children communicate well. This curriculum uses reading aloud, storytelling, and narration as teaching tools. It includes instruction in reading (phonics, letter recognition, etc.) and writing. It also provides essential experiences in orality (speaking and listening), which provides the foundation for lasting literacy.
Living Books Curriculum addresses four major strands of science: life science, physical science, Earth science, and health science. Within those strands, the curriculum incorporates eleven key themes: plants, animals, ecology, matter, energy, technology, the Earth, weather, space, the human body, and well-being. We do not use textbooks (except for a few in the upper grades) or workbooks. Instead, children learn science through high-quality, non-fiction books, science activity and experiment books, and biographies of great men and women of science.
The purpose of nature study is to provide children ample time to experience and observe nature. Nature study, a key tool of learning, is basically spending time outdoors enjoying and looking at nature; learning plants, animals, and insects names; and studying the elements of their lifecycles. Children keep a nature journal and bring “treasures” in from outside to study further.
Every year of Living Books Curriculum includes art instruction. Painting, drawing, sculpting, and craft-making build habits and life-long skills that add immeasurably to the fullness of adult life. By exploring artistic processes, children learn the elements of art: shape, color, form, line, and texture.
Picture study is the study of all types of art in order to appreciate and understand the artist and artistic process. By examining and discussing many works of art, children build a habit of enjoying art in a thoughtful way and develop an aesthetic sense for what is truly worthwhile and beautiful.
Music, like art, engages the child’s love of beauty. The Foundation Year music curriculum introduces children to music and movement by engaging them in singing, playing games that involve song, and listening to beautiful music. From Grade One through Eight, the children will explore the musical composers of the Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Contemporary periods, as well as Christian worship music. Each time period will include biographies of each of the composers studied.
Knowledge of history is indispensable to learning and character development. History provides a chronological framework for understanding human endeavor and God’s providential action in the lives of men and women. It also readies students for later work in any thoughtful endeavor because they have a framework from which to work.
Living Books Curriculum history includes a study of American history and world history. World history covers the major historical periods of western and eastern civilizations and begins with creation. The typical approach to world history is to begin with the onset of recorded history (about 4000 BC). A great deal takes place in the two thousand years before we have documented historical artifacts. Drawing from Genesis and archaeological information, our curriculum gives a sense for the sweep of time and God’s hand in it.
Living Books Curriculum offers American history coursework each year (as opposed to introducing it in third or fourth grade) for the following reasons:
• It is critical for children to grow up knowing the history of our nation in-depth. • Godly men and women founded the United States with a desire for freedom of worship and self-governance. • Learning our nation’s history is essential to a full, participatory citizenship. • A full understanding of our role in the world today takes time. The American History curriculum extends from 1000 AD to the late 1900s in the first six years of coursework. We revisit these epochs in the following two years. The twentieth century is added in Grade Seven. By Grade Eight, students are studying primary documents of American life.
Living Books Curriculum geography begins with developing a spatial sense, knowledge of one’s home country, and familiarity with the seven continents. Children then develop an understanding of nation-states and people groups and their placement on the planet and recognize places and regions where historical events took place.
In Grade Four, mapping is introduced. Each year, students will focus on one or two continents. By Grade Eight, students will be able to recall a significant portion of the globe from memory.
Living Books Curriculum suggests Latin studies beginning in Grade Four and recommends the award-winning Latin curriculum Latinae Christiana (www.memoriapress.com) We do not provide a Latin program because the decision to include a language is a highly individual one.
The study of Latin is encouraged for three reasons. First, Latin teaches English better than English teaches English. Students will be able to understand English syntax and grammar far better with an understanding of Latin forms. Second, Latin is the mother tongue of Western civilization—a language that incorporated the best ideas of the ancient Greeks, and which, after the conversion of Rome, put them into the service of Christian truth. Third, the mental discipline Latin instills in students makes it the ideal foreign language to study because there is a high carry-over into other language studies. While Living Books Curriculum does not sell language instruction, but we do allow for it in planning for the week’s work.
