Lower School
Learning, No Boundaries
Lower School: Grade 4
Students in Grade 4 experience a semi-departmentalized setting. There are two sections with no more than 18 students and a certified teacher in each. One teacher instructs Math and Social Studies, while the other teaches the Language Arts block of reading, grammar, spelling and writing.
The curriculum includes a literature and novel-based reading program and word study using the Words Their Way spelling program. The Step Up to Writing program continues as the focus for daily writing, journals, reading responses and grammar. Handwriting instruction is completed in Grade 4 through the Handwriting Without Tears program. Flexible math groups utilize the Houghton Mifflin text and Accelerated Math. Social Studies topics are centered on Virginia history and FOSS kits facilitate learning in the science lab work four times a week. Students in Grade 4 also participate in the WordMasters Challenge, a Language Arts competition that encourages growth in vocabulary and verbal reasoning.
Music and Art are scheduled twice weekly, and Physical Education is taught for 45 minutes, four times a week. Students also have a weekly period of Library instruction. Guidance is provided weekly for a 30-minute period and students spend time once a week in the Computer lab. Students also have a Strings program option beginning in the fourth grade.
Grade 4 students participate in weekly assemblies for parents and fellow students. Grade 4 produces a play each year in addition to participation in the Winter Holiday and Grandparents Day programs. Fourth graders also have three or four field studies each year. Students in Grade 4 take an overnight field study to Jamestown as the culminating activity for their Virginia history studies.
Grade 3 and 4 students gain leadership opportunities while serving on the Director's Council. Students meet with the Lower School Director to discuss and implement improvements to the school and community.