We have chapel each school day. Chapel includes scripture memory, geographical prayer focus, and hymns.  We recite in chapel once each semester.

Special classes are P.E., Music, and Art.  We have P.E. daily.  We have art first semester culminating with an art show.  We have music the second semester and share what we’ve learned with parents.

We read Bible stories from The Big Picture Bible and King James Version Bible

Bible memory includes:

• Colossians 3:23
• Books of the Bible
• Days of Creation
• Matthew 7:12
• Fruits of the Spirit
• Genesis 1
• Psalms 104
• Matthew 7:24-27

Our science units based on Delta Science Modules include:

• Observing an Aquarium: Each child will create and sustain an underwater ecosystem.
• Properties: Children observe and classify objects and study properties including solids, liquids, and gases.
• Weather and Sky: Children study the weather, the sky, and how God created these to work together.

We read about various famous scientists who followed Christ in the book Men of Science, Men of God.

Teacher chapter book read alouds may include: Little House in the Big Woods, Charlotte’s Web, A Cricket in Times Square, Aesop’s Fables, and Just So Stories.

Students progress through a series of phonics-based readers at their own pace, individually proceeding to Abeka readers and other books as ready.

The poets that we study in first grade are: Christina Rosetti and Walter de la Mare.

Parents of first through sixth graders read a variety of quality children’s literature selections as family read alouds each year.  We celebrate the completion of each book with a book party.  This year’s selections are Time Cat, Homer Price, Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang and Quintus.

Language arts skills learned through First Language Lessons and Writing With Ease are:

• Listening comprehension
• Answer in complete sentences
• Identifying nouns and pronouns
• Give simple narrations orally
• Classifying simple sentences
• Use basic capitalization rules
• Practice writing simple sentences
• Use basic punctuation rules

We lay foundations for spelling, reading, and writing by learning to read and write all 70 phonograms and how to mark them in words.  We use Spell to Write and Read to learn beginning rules of spelling.  We begin cursive instruction in the second semester with New American Cursive curriculum.

In Math we use Math in Focus: The Singapore Approach – 1 A and 1 B.  We use a variety of “hands-on” experiences with manipulatives along with our unique calendar binders to help students grasp concepts from the concrete to the abstract.

We study the same historical time period as the rest of the school.  Our curriculum uses Story of the World as a key text along with children’s literature and articles found online. Learning activities, memory work, and geography are part of our weekly routine. Each year, we rotate through one of four time periods: Ancients, Medieval, Early Modern, and Modern.

Daily, we spend 20-30 minutes outside, weather permitting.  First Grade students are asked to bring their own healthy snacks.

Some of our field trips and special activities may include:

• Salado Creek
• Meteorologist visit
• Whistlestop Park
• Aquarium Creative Project