Lower School (K-5)

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Lower School (K-5)
- What makes a Catholic classical education during the Grammar Stage of the Trivium so distinctive?
  
  During the Grammar Stage, typically grades K–5, students possess an extraordinary ability to receive and retain knowledge. Because their thinking is still concrete and literal, we must be deliberate about placing before them what is true, good, and beautiful. At this stage, education aims to draw out the wisdom God has revealed through salvation history. Students encounter these enduring lessons in the great works of literature and in the historical and scientific realities that trace the development of human civilization.
  
  Latin, poetry, phonics, geography, art, and music provide the structure for this formation, shaping students who are steadily becoming learned.
  
  Yet the content itself is only part of the story. The true strength of classical education lies in its methods — teaching through memory, recitation, and the disciplined use of the imagination — which form not only knowledgeable students, but well-ordered minds.

Grades K-5 Curriculum Overview

	Kindergarten	Grade 1	Grade 2	Grade 3	Grade 4	Grade 5
Religion Catholic Prayers, Traditions, Saints and Liturgical Celebrations are taught and lived throughout the school day.	Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Spirit of Truth Series, Sophia Institute, Jesus and the Holy Family Virtue Families Daily Mass	Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Spirit of Truth Series, Sophia Institute God is Love Virtue Families Daily Mass	Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Spirit of Truth Series, Sophia Institute Our Life in Jesus Sacraments of First Confession and First Communion Virtue Families Daily Mass	Spirit of Truth Series, Sophia Institute The Kingdom of God and the Church Virtue Families Daily Mass	Spirit of Truth Series, Sophia Institute Jesus Teaches Us How to Live Virtue Families Daily Mass	Spirit of Truth Series, Sophia Institute The Sacraments Virtue Families Daily Mass
Math Dimensions Math by Singapore	Math K	Math 1	Math 2	Math 3	Math 4	Math 5
Reading and English	Believe and Read (Groves Method) Collaborative Curriculum Memoria Press Classical Reading Selections	Believe and Read (Groves Method) Voyages in English Collaborative Curriculum Literature selections for the Grammar Stage of Classical Education	Believe and Read (Groves Method) Voyages in English Literature selections for the Grammar Stage of Classical Education	Believe and Read (Groves Method) Voyages in English Augustine Came to Kent, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Farmer Boy, Frindle, The Door in the Wall	Easy Grammar Voyages in English Sign of the Beaver, Amos Fortune Free Man, Island of the Blue Dolphins, Johnny Tremain	Voyages in English Kateri Tekakwitha, The Little Prince, Caddie Woodlawn, Across Five Aprils, Where the Red Fern Grows, The Magician’s Nephew Independent Book Projects
History and Geography	Core Knowledge, Our World, Native Americans,	Core Knowledge, Geography, Early World, Early America, Frontier Explorers	Core Knowledge, Geography, Early Asian Civilizations, War of 1812, Civil War	Core Knowledge, Geography, Middle Ages	Core Knowledge, Geography, American Revolution, the United States, Early Presidents	Catholic Textbook Project, Sea to Shining Sea, Colonization of the Americas through the Civil War World Geography
Science	Core Knowledge, Push and Pull, Needs of Plants and Animals, our Five Senses, Changing Weather	Core Knowledge, Humam Body, Animal Habitats, History of the Earth, Astronomy	Core Knowledge, Weather and the Solar System	Harcourt, Science 3 Life, Earth and Physical Science	Harcourt, Science 4 Earth Science	Harcourt, Science 5 Physical Science
Latin	Latin is taught through Prayers: Ave Maria, Meal Prayer, Pater Noster, and Latin vocabulary				Prima Latina	Latina Christiana
Specials	Students have the following classes taught by Specialists throughout their school day: Physical Education, Music, Library, and Grades 1-5 Art

- "Holy Family has been one of the greatest blessings of this past year. Our daughter has flourished being in a joyful and truly Catholic community. My husband and I say on a frequent basis, it is very much worth the drive from Saint Paul."
  
  William and Erica Faulkner,
  Parents of two lower school students