Proposed course offerings listed on final page of application. Descriptions available below.

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he or she grows up"~ Picasso.

From Monet to Picasso; giant flowers to moving sculptures; bold colors to pastels, let your imagination soar! While studying several different artists and their techniques from the Impressionist, Abstract and Pop art movements, students will create their own masterpieces. This course is a blend of art history and activities with an emphasis on creating art.

This course will begin with a lesson on the nature of botany and the process of classifying plants. It will then discuss the development of plants from seeds, the reproduction processes in plants, the way plants make their food, and how plants get their water and nutrients and distribute them throughout the body of the plant. As students study these topics, they also learn about many different kinds of plants in creation and where they belong in the plant classification system.

The hour will be spent reviewing the text and doing lab and hands-on activities.  It is recommended that students read the text at home (approximately 10 pages per week).

Requirements:

• Apologia Exploring Creation with Botany textbook
• 3-ring binder
• Pencils and colored pencils

This year we will be studying US History with hands on projects and lots of stories. Each semester the children will have a project due based on one of the people or events we have studied. Reading can be done at home based on the syllabus or just learning in the classroom each week.

Covering people and events from before Europeans came to the New World to modern times, the syllabus will mirror that used in the middle school class.  

It’s time for your children to do what they love to do most, PLAY!  We will have them moving with purpose in Physical Education. It will be a great hour of fun as your children get to play games, practice sportsmanship and embrace wellness for a lifetime. We will emphasize fitness and well-being, not athleticism while focusing on an introduction to sports and healthy exercise in a group setting.  Our PE class will teach the kids the fun and long term benefits of exercise. The children will have a fantastic time as we play classic playground games and some team sports as well. Christian sportsmanship will be emphasized. If your child has never played an organized sport, this might be a great place to start. Our class will take place primarily outside, as long as the weather permits.

US geography will start out with a general study of the world and learn how to read maps! Then we will hone in on the regions of the United States. Students will travel across the United States learning about each state's unique characteristics along the way. Not a dry study of state capitals, flags, and trees, but a fun discovery of interesting facts about many of the states. We will study weather/climate/nature and inventions, products, and other "claims to fame." Students will have opportunities to sample different foods associated with some of the states, make cool arts and crafts projects, and share with classmates their experiences living in/traveling to various states. When possible, we will coincide with US History. FUN!!!!

This class will be an exciting exploration of the performing arts, and how we can use them to worship God.  It will be an opportunity for each child to get an introduction into the world of "expressing themselves", in a loving, safe atmosphere.  We want to encourage them in their God-given abilities, and at the very least, instill in them a love and appreciation for the Arts, and for the people who do them.  They will, also, learn the importance of being a wonderful audience.  In addition, we want them to be mindful that the Lord is an ever present audience......and that it is our goal to love and obey Him in every endeavor.  It is our heart that they would use what they have learned and approach worship with joy and freedom, knowing God's great and unfailing love for them.  This class should be inspiring, loads of fun, and hopefully a stepping stone in your child's journey of discovering talents and gifts, and how they can use those gifts for Christ.  We will be touching on monologue, improvisation, dance, drama, music theory, drawing, and more. Students might be required to do a very small amount of work outside of class.

This pre-Spanish course would focus on conversational Spanish, as well as building vocabulary and pronunciation skills, reading, spelling and writing. The goal would be to add grammar in pre-Spanish 2 (hope to offer next year), whereas the HS course would build on that with more grammar and fluency. Having pre-Spanish would not be a requirement for HS Spanish, but would be very beneficial for actually learning the language.

Requirements:

• Speedy Spanish textbook (approx $15)
• CD available by publisher strongly recommended
• 3-ring binder with tabs and filler paper
• 3X5 index cards
• Spanish Bible - I am going to try and have my mom get some of these from Mexico and bring them to me
• English-Spanish Dictionary (or access to an online version)
• Daily homework - bookwork, but also may include getting books in Spanish from the library, watching a video in Spanish, doing online activities, etc.
• Bible memorization
• Weekly quizzes/review (in the form of games, self correcting - nothing intimidating, just something to keep the kids accountable to learning the language)

Any student who took Spanish this past year, and would like to continue taking Spanish for next year would be doing a lot of new things as well and reinforcing and practicing the vocabulary and concepts that we have been learning.

Drama class will be a chance for children to explore creative ways to communicate and tell stories through drama. They will grow in skills such as projecting their voices, making facial expressions and gestures, memorizing lines, and performing and they will gain confidence speaking in front of others. We will have many hands-on activities and will perform regularly in connection time as well as a play performance at the end of the year to tie it all together.

Third grade students will be considered for this class to the extent there is space. They must have strong reading skills. Students will be required to memorize lines outside of class. Strong reading skills are recommended for all students.

Writing Tales teaches grammar level students how to write by studying and re-writing 15 classic tales and fables. Extremely user-friendly. There will be plenty of practice in grammar, copywork, spelling, and vocabulary, making Writing Tales a fully comprehensive writing curriculum.

Writing Tales Level One is recommended for third and fourth and fifth graders with little or no previous writing experience, while Level Two is appropriate for fourth and fifth graders and sixth graders with little or no previous writing experience.

The workbook is required ($25 retail), 1 1/2" Binder with dividers, notebook paper, pencils, and colored pencils (box of 12 is plenty).

Please note: There IS WEEKLY HOMEWORK that will be graded and returned each week. Please feel free to go to www.writing-tales.com for additional information.

We want writing and reading to be fun and descriptive! :)

This class will encompass literature written from many different views, such as narrative first person, second person, third person-omniscient, epistolary voice (stories written in the forms of letters) and even stream of consciousness. We will be reading books that are examples of these writing styles, discussing the books, having fun with different projects, games and then applying these writing styles to their own skills to create short stories. We will work with the class to have them expand their vocabulary and descriptive and creative writing skills. We will compile all their works from the year and have them bound in a book to keep:) Student must have completed writing tales or an equivalent to be in the class.

This course will begin with a lesson on the nature of botany and the process of classifying plants. It will then discuss the development of plants from seeds, the reproduction processes in plants, the way plants make their food, and how plants get their water and nutrients and distribute them throughout the body of the plant. As students study these topics, they also learn about many different kinds of plants in creation and where they belong in the plant classification system.

This year we will be studying US History with hands on projects and lots of stories. Covering people and events from before Europeans came to the New World to modern times, the syllabus will mirror that used in the 2nd – 6th grade class.

It’s time for your children to do what they love to do most, PLAY!  We will have them moving with purpose. It will be a great hour of fun as your children get to play games, practice sportsmanship and embrace wellness for a lifetime. We will emphasize fitness and well-being, not athleticism.  Our class will teach the kids the fun and long term benefits of exercise. The children will have a fantastic time as we play classic playground games and some team sports as well. Our class will take place primarily outside, as long as the weather permits.

In this class we’ll seek to make the world of books come alive for the students. Each week we will read an age-appropriate book in class. Then in class they will participate in activities based on themes/ideas presented in the book. The book selections we will be using will come largely from the Five In A Row book series Volume 1 and Volume 2. Students will be given opportunities to interact with each other about each week’s book through discussions, creative dramatics, crafts, and art. The goal of the class will be to spark/develop the students’ interest in books by making reading FUN while incorporating artistic expression!