AESA children engage in meaningful course work
in a nurturing environment that sparks their curiosity
and desire to understand the world around them.
For our Elementary students,
we aim to:
- Provide a rigorous, academic curriculum in a nurturing environment
- Support the students’ learning levels through differentiation
- Maintain enthusiasm and joy of learning in the classroom
- Work to develop independent and collaborative learning
- Foster a diversity of experiences and ideas that come about in the learning process.
Kindergarten
Curricula
Kindergarten emphasizes language development, helping children build their vocabulary, phonics skills, and early reading abilities. Teachers use storytelling, picture books, and interactive activities to foster a love for reading and encourage communication skills.
Basic mathematical concepts are introduced in kindergarten, such as counting, number recognition, addition, subtraction, and place value Knowledge. Teachers use hands-on materials and games to make math enjoyable and accessible for young learners.
Aesa science lessons introduce children to the natural world, animals, plants, and basic scientific principles. Hands-on experiments and nature exploration promote curiosity and critical thinking.
Students learn about the world around them through social studies topics, including community, family, different cultures, and basic geography. This fosters an understanding of diverse perspectives and encourages respect for others.
Kindergarten provides opportunities for children to develop their fine motor skills through activities such as drawing, cutting, and writing. Gross motor skills are enhanced through physical education and outdoor play.
1st Grade
Curricula
First-grade language arts focuses on further developing reading and writing skills. Children continue to build their vocabulary, practice reading fluency, and comprehend simple texts. They also learn basic grammar, develop sentence structure, and begin writing short stories.
First-grade mathematics introduces more complex concepts, including addition and subtraction with regrouping, place value, telling time, and basic geometric shapes. Students engage in hands-on activities and problem-solving tasks to reinforce their understanding of mathematical principles.
A variety interesting and exciting science encyclopedias and texts are used to introduce different areas of science which include biomes, earth science, basic chemistry, the solar system and the animal kingdom.
Creative expression remains an essential part of the first-grade curriculum. Students engage in various art projects, music, and movement activities, promoting imagination and artistic abilities.
Social studies in first grade covers community, family, and basic map skills. Children learn about the world around them, their roles as citizens, and the importance of being part of a community.
First-grade physical education focuses on enhancing gross motor skills, coordination, and physical fitness through games, sports, and activities.
2nd & 3rd Grade
Curricula
In this course, students will develop their reading and writing skills while exploring captivating stories, enhancing vocabulary, and honing their communication abilities, setting a strong foundation for lifelong literacy success.
Math U See (Demme Learning) – The focus will be on learning addition and subtraction facts, moving on to multiplication facts, applying skills using word problems, understanding place value when adding and subtracting and multiplying, solving for the unknown, measurement in inches, feet, centimeters and meters, adding and subtracting time in hours and minutes, representing, recording and interpreting data, solving measurement problems, understanding basic fractions.
Earth Science and Astronomy (Elemental Science) – This is a study of the planet Earth, rocks, fossils, our solar system and stars using visually appealing encyclopedias. It includes weekly scientific demonstrations, reading assignments, notebooking assignments, lab reports and additional activities.
Topics that are covered include explores, Native Americans, colonial times, local government, and community helpers. This will be taught through the use of different types of children’s literature involving independent as well as collaborative learning.
4th & 5th Grade
Curricula
This area covers reading, writing, spelling and vocabulary. Novels are incorporated to teach and reinforce comprehension, articulation of ideas, critical thinking skills and literary devices such as plot and character development. The novels that will be read are:
- Sign of the Beaver – Elizabeth George Speare
- My Brother Sam is Dead – James Lincoln Collier
- Many Thousand Gone: African Americans from Slavery to Freedom – Virginia Hamilton
- The Watsons Go to Birmingham – Christopher Paul Curtis
Vocabulary from Classical Roots (Educators Publishing Service) is the curriculum that is the basis for learning spelling and vocabulary. It implements the use of Latin root words.
Ridgewood Grammar, The Language Connection (Nancy Bison and Terri Wiss) covers parts of speech, sentence types, possessives, homophones, contractions, and objects. It incorporates sentence diagramming and writing.
There will be a periodic review of place value, regrouping with addition and subtraction, multiplication with whole numbers, division (with and without remainders) and expanded notation. The students will also focus on adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers, understanding equivalent fractions, improper fractions and how to reduce fractions and convert fractions to decimals and percentages. Adding and subtracting decimals and converting decimals to fractions and percentages will also be included. The students will work on rounding and estimating, factoring and prime and composite numbers. The students will also study U.S. and metric measurement, time and temperature. There will also be a variety of lessons involving geometry – shapes, area and perimeter, angles. Other concepts that will be covered are the different properties of math, graphing, probability, statistics and basic algebraic concepts.
A variety interesting and exciting science encyclopedias and texts are used to introduce different areas of science which include biomes, earth science, basic chemistry, the solar system and the animal kingdom.
US History is taught through the use of interactive notebooks. The topics that are covered are Explorers and the Age of Exploration, Colonial America, US Geography, American Revolution, Civics and the US Government, Civil War, and Westward Expansion. The books that are read in Language Arts correlate with the Colonial Period, the American Revolution, and the Civil War/ Civil Rights movement. There will be writing exercises as well as group projects and a research paper.