Elementary Curriculum
Kindergarten
Kindergarten is a time of exploration as well as a time to develop a love of learning. Harding Academy’s kindergarten levels are action-packed with a challenging curriculum that includes high expectations and motivating learning experiences.
Students are nurtured by educators who model their faith and weave biblical principles into every aspect of the school day. Harding’s desire is to sow the seeds of Christianity with even the youngest students.
A deliberate attempt is made to help students develop a sense of independence and responsibility. Students are taught to strive for excellence and to accept responsibility for their own actions.
Curriculum - Junior Kindergarten
Junior Kindergarten is a time to learn and grow socially, emotionally, intellectually, and physically. Each day begins with a time to play, create, and learn to get along with others.
The development of reading readiness skills is a key component of the junior kindergarten curriculum. Phonemic awareness, the ability to understand and recognize that each letter represents a sound, is integrated into each aspect of the day. Students are taught to write and recognize all letters, both upper case and lower case, of the alphabet. The reading of literature and participation in literature-based activities aid in the development of a love of reading. Students actively participate in the writing of class books. Through an exposure to a print-rich classroom environment and numerous songs, students learn a number of sight words that are part of their daily lives.
Math skills are taught through a variety of methods. The use of manipulatives gives the students the hands-on learning needed for teaching young children. Classifying, patterning, counting forwards and backwards, numeral recognition, counting, graphing, measurement, and one-to-one correspondence are all key concepts that are developed. Daily calendar activities reinforce concepts, offer exposure to higher level concepts, and stretch students to higher levels of understanding.
The areas of science and social studies include integrated activities which enhance students’ knowledge of the world around them. Topics of study include safety, weather, seasons, rocks and minerals, plants, solar system, transportation, community helpers, manners, United States presidents, and historical Americans. The Windows program enhances learning in these areas.
Junior Kindergartners experience Bible lessons through weekly themes emphasizing the stories of both the Old and New Testaments. Students are taught how to treat others and how to live through the examples provided by loving Christian teachers who model biblical principles and integrate those principles into every aspect of the school day. Students also learn weekly Bible verses.
Curriculum - Senior Kindergarten
Excitement fills the air during each day in senior kindergarten. Through the strong foundation built in junior kindergarten, students enter the year ready to launch into reading. Phonics instruction blended with literature-based activities and personal journals make up the language arts portion of the school days. Students are also taught a basic sight word vocabulary of about 150 words. Reading books becomes a favorite activity as the year progresses. Many of the students read at least 100 books during the year. Students end the year reading on at least a first grade level. Accelerated Reader is used to help develop listening comprehension skills and early reading skills.
Math concepts are introduced and developed through hands on learning. Again, the strength of the junior kindergarten curriculum prepares students for senior kindergarten, ready to be stretched and to learn higher level math concepts. Counting and place value, graphing and estimation, money concepts, measurement, addition and subtraction, and strategies for problem solving are among the areas of focus. Senior kindergartners have daily math meetings to strengthen and review skills.
Science and social studies are taught through thematic areas of study. The senior kindergarten curriculum concentrates on learning about the United States and its symbols, historical events, U.S. Presidents, the five senses, weather, states of matter, animal groups and their life cycles, solar system, force and energy, electricity, magnets, plants, and simple machines. The Windows program enhances the learning in these areas.
Christian principles and teachings permeate every aspect of senior kindergarten. Bible lessons are taught on a daily basis. The God of Creation is the topic of study for the year. The concentration for the first semester is on the world God has created for his people. The second semester consists of selected stories from the gospels. Application for Christian living is made and modeled on a daily basis. Students are nurtured by Christian teachers who strive to help students begin to develop a faith in God and a love for His son, Jesus.
Students at both levels of kindergarten enjoy weekly classes in Spanish, art, music, physical education, computer, and library. Each area is taught by a specialized teacher.
The junior and senior kindergartners enjoy a curriculum that is challenging and enriching. They move into the next level of study well prepared to meet the learning that is ahead!
Curriculum - Grades 1-6
While Harding Academy’s curriculum in grades 1-6 is a program strong in teaching the essential basic skills, it is also distinguished by high expectations and engaging learning experiences.
The basic language arts and math skills are thoroughly taught and lessons in the sciences and social sciences enrich instruction. The heart of Harding’s mission, the Bible, is taught regularly. Classes in the arts, a foreign language, technology, and physical education supplement the curriculum.
Students are held accountable for their work. All children are expected to do their best work, to take responsibility for their work, and to complete all assignments.
Language Arts
The goal of the elementary language arts program is to develop good oral and written communication skills, both receptive and expressive.
READING
Reading instruction in grades 1-6 includes guided skills instruction within a rich variety of fiction and nonfiction literature selections which have the same underlying themes at each grade level: experiences that tell us about ourselves and others, making connections to develop new understandings, different ways to express ourselves, making discoveries by exploring and asking questions, problem solving by analyzing information, and using what we know to evaluate situations. Teachers guide the students through the literature selections to discover the skills and strategies that aid comprehension, to notice text structure and literary concepts, and to use critical thinking to apply, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate the text. Direct instruction is also given to practice those skills.
Although activities centered around stories and books are ongoing, first grade has two formal book reports the second semester, second through fifth grades have three formal reports during the year with fifth grade having an additional book talk, and sixth grade has four formal book studies.
A major goal of the reading program is for children to learn to love books. The Accelerated Reader program is a supplemental program designed to motivate and encourage students to read for enjoyment. Each child’s readability range is assessed to determine the levels of books from which the child should be reading in order to achieve optimal growth in reading skills without experiencing frustration. Ongoing assessment provides information about reading progress.
PHONICS
In grades 1 and 2, a structured phonics program helps the children develop a solid foundation in phonemic awareness, phonics, spelling, and fluency with high-frequency words. Coding phonetic elements in words is taught as a tool to use until the phonetic principles become automatic. This approach gives the children the ability to approach new words confidently.
SPELLING
The spelling program for grades 1 and 2 is integrated with the study of phonics, and there is direction instruction of irregular spelling words that do not fit the spelling rules. In grades 3-6, the spelling instruction includes words that support the literature selections, that support word structure instruction, and that correlate with other curricular areas.
GRAMMER and WRITING
The English program for grades 1-6 addresses different learning styles as the students learn language, grammar, and writing skills. There is a strong emphasis, beginning in first grade, on the parts of speech and their functions in sentences. Learning the types, parts, and structures of sentences leads to writing good paragraphs. The mechanics of capitalization and punctuation combined with practice in improved vocabulary, expression, and description results in skillful writing. Through the English program, the children practice eight different types of writing: expository, persuasive, narrative, descriptive, reports, creative, letters, and journals. For additional writing practice, every sixth week the children go through a structured process writing project as an element of their reading program.
The reading program and the English program both give the students experiences with research. reference, and reporting skills. In the younger grades, the first and second graders prepare at least two simple written reports and give two oral reports during the school year. The third, fourth, and fifth graders learn to write a report through preparing a report which their teachers have modeled for them step by step. In sixth grade the students are guided further through the writing of a research paper. In grades 3-6, the students present at least one major oral report during the year.
DAILY LANGUAGE REVIEW
An additional daily language review program gives the students frequent, focused practice in the areas of sentence editing, punctuation, grammar, spelling, vocabulary, reference skills, and comprehension skills.
VOCABULARY
Vocabulary is taught as a part of the reading stories, science lessons, and social studies lessons at all grade levels. In addition, a structured program in grades 4-6 broadens the students’ vocabularies.
HANDWRITING
The Zaner-Bloser method of handwriting is taught. Cursive handwriting is introduced in third grade.
Math
Math in grades 1-3 is developed through hands-on activities and discussions that engage the students in the learning process. Concepts are developed, reviewed, and practiced throughout the school year. Instruction, hands-on activities, and practice lead to understanding and mastery. Following a research-based instructional approach that breaks complex concepts into related increments, students in grades 4-6 develop a deeper understanding of concepts, how to apply them, and how to gain and retain critical thinking skills.
A math meeting board allows for daily practice of acquired skills and concepts in grades 1-4. At all levels the students work with problem solving strategies and mathematical reasoning. Grade 4 has a “Problem of the Day” and a “Quick Thinking” activity as a part of their meeting board. Grades 5 and 6 have “Mental Math” and a “Problem Solving” activity as a part of every day’s lesson. Also in grades 5 and 6, the students experience a mathematical investigation every two weeks.
Among skills introduced in grades 1-3 are numeric concepts and operations (whole number, fractions, decimals, money), estimation, measurement (time, temperature, linear, weight, capacity, perimeter, area and volume), geometry, patterns, algebraic reasoning, relations, functions, statistics, data analysis, graphing, problem solving strategies, mathematical reasoning, and mathematical connections to everyday life, science, and social studies. In grades 4-6 the same skills are covered in more depth with an introduction of additional skills including common factors and multiples, powers, roots, mixed numbers, decimals, percents, ratios, unit conversions, mathematical tools, and probability, as well as algebraic patterns, sequences, equations, functions, and properties.
Science
Each grade level in grades 1-6 studies topics from the three areas of life science, earth science, and physical science. In addition, body systems and healthful habits are covered. Each study includes exploration and investigative activities. The scientific method is taught and applied when conducting experiments.
Safety is stressed. In grades 1, 3, and 5, the children participate in activities to learn injury prevention in the following eight areas: motor vehicle safety; fire and burn prevention; choking, suffocation, and strangulation prevention; poisoning prevention; falls prevention; firearms injury prevention; bike and pedestrian safety; and water safety. In grade 2, the children learn about first aid, healthy habits, personal safety, stranger safety, injury prevention, road safety, and habits to help our environment. Grade 4 participates in the Junior Deputy program in which a Shelby County Sheriff’s Officer visits over a three month period and teaches about juvenile rights, narcotics and alcohol abuse, stranger danger, and what to do in emergencies.
Social Studies
The study of social studies presents an ever-expanding view of the world at each grade level. Grade one concentrates on beginning map skills and then broadens the child’s awareness of families, neighborhoods, jobs and goods, his country of America, and the natural resources around us in our world. Second graders further explore different kinds of communities, the earth as a world of countries, the purpose of government, America’s past, and special celebrations. Third graders more thoroughly investigate the people, workings, characteristics, and governance of communities. In fourth grade, the students study the physical, economic, and cultural features of the five regions of the United States. Extra time is taken for a special study of the state of Tennessee. Fifth graders begin with a study of the early American explorers and follow the history of America until the present. In sixth grade the students study world history, from the beginning of civilization until the end of the twentieth century.
At every grade level throughout the year, hands-on activities make the study more real and meaningful for the children. A Daily Geography program increases the students’ knowledge and understanding of the physical and political aspects of the world as they relate to geography. The six essential elements of the National Geography Standards program are covered (the world in spatial terms, places and regions, physical systems, human systems, environment and society, and the uses of geography).
Daily Analogies
Because many educators consider the ability to recognize analogies a strong indicator of academic success, the students in grades 1-6 have daily analogies to solve. Analogical thinking requires flexibility of thought and an application of a variety of verbal and nonverbal skills. The daily analogies develop creative thinking skills, foster a variety of problem solving skills, and enrich vocabulary.
Bible
In a Christian school the teachings of the Bible permeate throughout the school day - in the way God is acknowledged in all that is studied, in the way the teachers relate to the students, and in the way the students are taught to relate to each other. All of this centers around the explicit teachings of the Bible. In all grades the children are given an overview of the entire Bible. Students in grades 1-5 spend one semester studying stories from the Old Testament and one semester studying stories from the New Testament. Sixth graders focus on some of the New Testament letters of Paul, James, and John and on the authenticity, authority, and relevance of the Bible. At all grade levels, the lessons include activities that touch all learning styles, that relate the teachings to their lives, that stress making correct choices, and that emphasize application of the biblical principles.
Special Areas of Enrichment
Specialized teachers offer classes in art, music, Spanish, library, and physical education. During computer classes, the computer teacher integrates curriculum areas into technology experiences.