Grade One

A young child’s grade school journey, begins on the first day of school with the ‘Rose Ceremony’ during which the Grade Eight class welcomes the new Grade One students into the grade school community. The transition from Kindergarten to more structured learning in Grade One is an important step for students who are excited to join ‘the big school’. This ceremony marks this important passage from Kindergarten to Lower School.

Grade One students are eager to bond with their teacher and to be taught. They begin to experience a sense of individuality that gives them new capacities for learning and socializing; the challenges of the Grade One curriculum build upon these new capacities. Main lesson subject blocks are brought to the children through fairy tales, folk tales and nature stories; these stories often present archetypal images of the human being.

The Grade One year is structured around rhythm- the calendar and its festivals, the rhythm of the lessons which balances quiet focus and active movement,  the rhythms of movement such as clapping and stamping while reciting multiplication tables.  Movement activities deepen learning and balance children’s natural desires to move with the quiet listening and writing activities of the lesson.

 

Main Lesson Subject Blocks

• Form Drawing : instruction in straight and curved lines and running forms
• Language Arts: introduction to the alphabet, writing and reading
• Arithmetic: introduction to addition, subtraction, multiplication and division

Daily practice of singing, recorder playing, recitation, and mental math are incorporated into the main lesson. A curriculum-based play is also produced during  this time over a period of several weeks (usually one play  per year).

 

Specialty Subjects

French, German, watercolour painting, nature story and modelling, handwork (knitting), Crafts/Baking/Gardening, nature walks, games/physical education.

 

Field trips

Field trips in Grade One foster the connection between the children and our environment. They typically include trips to a farm, harvesting, skating trips and nature walks around the school and beyond. This direct experience of the natural world is an important foundation on which the sciences will be built in the older grades; this experience also nurtures a love for nature and hopefully future respect for the environment.