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Grammar Stage (Grades 1 to 6)

The Classical Model
A Typical Day
Curriculum Overview

The Classical Model

The knowledge, skills, character, and study habits acquired during the Grammar stage (Grades 1-6) are foundational for future success. Students at this age have minds that are excited about new facts and are able to memorize easily. The Classical model utilizes this unique period in a child’s cognitive development to focus on memorization of facts – grammar, math, science, Latin, history, and geography – through stories, song, chant, rhyme, and drama.

Grammar school teachers utilize simple research projects, experiential assignments, field trips to cultural attractions in Toronto, historical re-enactments, and a number of other methods to engage students in the learning process.

The classical model and WCCA’s specially-chosen curricula offer students content taught through an engaging, integrated, and interactive approach to learning. True to the classical model, all subjects are taught as interconnected.

Integrated Subjects: An Example from a Grade 3 classroom
In History students studying the early modern era might begin the year learning about Elizabethan England, where they learn the most influential people and events in that time period.

In Literature they may learn about Elizabethan drama and the major playwrights of the era, re-enacting scenes from famous Shakespearean plays.

In Composition students would practice the writing skills with pieces focused on re-telling famous pieces or imagining a scene from the Elizabethan era.

In Geography students explore England and its neighbours at the time of Elizabeth’s reign.

In Science, Math, Music, and Art students explore the great achievements made during Elizabeth’s reign in those fields. Students at this age enjoy interactive and experiential learning, engaging all of their senses. Students may participate in an Elizabethan feast, learn a dance popular at the time, sing and play music composed during the era, replicate art produced during the time, build a model of the Globe Theatre or the Golden Hinde, or re-enact a famous battle.

This interdisciplinary, integrated approach spans the world, including a wide variety of cultures.

A Typical Day

A typical day begins with students eagerly expressing their hearts in their journals. Morning liturgies (routines) include an opening song or hymn, prayer, memory verse, and calendar time. Mornings are filled with poetry, grammar, handwriting, phonics, and spelling. After recess, students study Mathematics through hands-on activities as well as calculation and fact memorization. Students discover Latin by singing songs designed to teach vocabulary words. After lunch and playtime outdoors, reading skills are developed during silent reading and in reading groups. Bible and prayer time is the highlight of the day. Afternoons may include science experiments, nature walks, gym class, history lessons, appreciating classical music, or imitating the artwork of famous artists. The day ends with listening to a chapter from a great novel, and praising God with the Doxology.

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Curriculum Overview

Habits
Priority is placed on establishing good habits and routines, preparing students to receive knowledge. Students develop habits of work, thought, and soul. Characteristics of each category are evaluated and reflected on report cards.
Literature, Composition, & Penmanship
Careful and consistent study of and exposure to good literature is essential in developing excellence. The skills associated with speaking, reading, and writing fluently are gained through years of practice and study, and WCCA provides the students with the tools and training they need to excel.

Students study timeless literature carefully and thoroughly with their teachers. Each of the books, short stories, and poems chosen are selected because of their enduring value and their author’s exemplary writing style. WCCA students study literature that corresponds to their historical and geographical studies. Studying literature contemporaneous with the historical and geographical time period allows for a richer, deeper understanding of the world’s greatest civilizations.

Students learn to write with excellence through imitation. Consistent exposure to great works of literature trains the ear and the eye to styles of superior writing which students then learn to model into their own compositions.

Science
Science classes incorporate a variety of means to engage students in learning. Experiments, field trips, and observation exercises will all add to a rich and rigorous science education. Nature walks are a favourite past-time where students observe, collect, categorize, analyze, judge, and discover God’s wonderful creation.
Arithmetic
Mastery of arithmetic (the skills of counting and calculation) in the Grammar stage, allows students to start their study of Mathematics having a well-established framework on which to study the varied topics in Mathematics including Algebra, Geometry, and Calculus in the later Logic and Rhetoric stages.
Latin
The grammar school years focus on a foundation in Latin and English grammar and vocabulary on which studies in subsequent years will build.
Biblical Studies
The Christian worldview is woven into every disciple at every grade level, but WCCA also emphasizes teaching our students Bible literacy, Scripture memorization, and character studies. This is emphasized in class, as well as in weekly school-wide Chapel assemblies. Chapel serves as a mini-service appropriate for children. Each chapel incorporates a traditional hymn and a monthly character trait presented through Biblical truths.
History & Geography
History and Geography are taught as closely integrated subjects at WCCA. History is divided into four major eras: ancient, medieval, the renaissance, and modern. Students focus on one era each year. This logical, sequential approach to studying history allows students to see how cultures relate to one another in a meaningful way.

In Geography, students learn about the geographical areas they are studying in history. Students study each continent, examining features such as countries, important cities, major bodies of water, and mountain ranges.

Visual Arts
In Visual Arts class, students learn to carefully observe the world and see God as the ultimate Maker of beauty. Students learn the grammar of sight. Using a few different media, students work through a careful program of study to develop their skills in drawing. They have opportunities to apply this developing skill in art projects of a more open-ended nature. Students are also introduced to sculpture.

Students learn about great artists who have devoted themselves to the study of beauty, virtue, and truth. They examine various works of art that are outstanding expressions of the periods of history that they are studying concurrently. Strong connections are also made with other areas of study such as Mathematics and Science.

Physical Education
Physical Education plays an important role as students learn to practice wisdom, courage, justice, and temperance. Students build strength and endurance through playing team sports, running, and other exercises. We emphasize both physical and cognitive growth by focusing on the rules, training methods, and specific skills for a wide range of sports. We encourage students to be active, strategic, and good team players.
Music
Children are enthusiastic about music. WCCA recognizes and embraces this window of potential for development of ear and of vocal training, for a knowledge base of music theory and orchestral instruments, and for instruction in the history of classical music, hymns, and the lives of the great composers.

The WCCA choir, which includes all students at the school, offers students an opportunity to further develop their voices and their ears, as well as learn to harmonize. The choir performs at Christmas programs and other events. In our annual Spring Musical, Grammar students also perform in the chorus.

Learn about The Logic Stage (Grades 7-8)

WESTMINSTER CLASSICAL
CHRISTIAN ACADEMY

9 Hewitt Avenue, Toronto, Ontario  M6R 1Y4
(416) 466-8819 x 306 | office@westminsterclassical.ca

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