Because of its literary value, and because of its widespread use in the students' churches, the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible will be used for memory work. All students, Kindergarten through 8th grade, are required to memorize particular passages. Note: the memorization of some passages are begun in one grade and completed in a later grade.

1. To present the stories of the Old and New Testament in an easily understood manner to students, including those who may have never heard them before.
2. To tell the stories of the Bible sequentially, so that students can see God working from Creation to the birth of Christ.
3. To emphasize God's loving care for His people, culminating in the gift of salvation through Jesus.
4. To constantly interpret God's will in our classroom. The theme of our discipline reflects God's love in our lives.
5. To teach memorization of selected Bible prassages. The Biblical Truths impressed into young fertile minds are invaluable throughout their lives.
6. To encourage students to discuss Bible stories and relate them to their home and church life.
7. To test students on Biblical facts, their interpretation of the facts, and their feelings about the Bible stories.
8. To confront students with the call to repent, believe, follow and obey.
9. To teach students that the Bible is the center of all things.
10. To encourage students to use the avenue of prayer to talk to God and to listen to Him.
11. To teach students that God has a plan for their lives.

Roseland Christian School's Pre-school through 3rd grade students will be introduced to a new phonics program in 2007-08 called "Jolly Phonics" from England.

Jolly Phonics is a thorough foundation for reading and writing that uses colorful, attractive animated illustrations in its videos, DVD, and books. Using posters, magnetic jigsaw puzzles, stencilets, hand puppets, etc., it is highly interactive and teaches 5 basic skills:

1. Learning the letter sounds – Teaching 42 mains sounds of English not just the alphabet. Letters are identified not by their names but by their sounds. Each sound has an action associated with it, for example "Weave hand in an s shape, like a snake, and say sssss."
2. Learning letter formation – Taught first by focusing on holding the pencil in a tripod grip and introducing letters like c first because it is a common shape to forming more letters such as d. Since cursive will follow printing, Jolly Phonics material is printed using the Sassoon Infant typeface which has an exit stroke at the end of some letters to make it easier to transfer them in joined up cursive writing.
3. Blending – Uses a flash card system to teach blended sounds like sh and st. Tricky words like said are irregular and have to be remembered.
4. Identifying sounds in words – Word games called I-Spy and rhyming games, poems and the Jolly Songs help ears to distinguish letter sounds. Other games add a sound to a beginning of a word or take one away.
5. Spelling the tricky words – Look, Cover, Write and Check. Look at the word. Decide which part is tricky. Write the word in the air saying the letters. Cover the word and try writing it again. Check to see if it is correct. Say it as it sounds to get close to the spelling. Use Mnemonics (a phrase which uses the letters of the word to help you remember its meaning, for example, laugh – Laugh At Ugly Goat’s Hair).

Students can then try out their new skills by reading Jolly Readers which use simple words to tell a story. Questions can then be asked to make sure they comprehend what has just been read. There are also books that teach grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

Independent studies find that children taught with Jolly Phonics have an average reading age around 12 months ahead of their actual age with spelling even further ahead.

Jolly Phonics was piloted in our kindergarten class in the spring of 2007. Our kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Rael, says that Jolly Phonics is a curriculum that engaged all students. She was able to see her students achieve success no matter what level of ability they had.

Questions? Please call Laura Vande Werken, Advancement Office Assistant (in on Monday and Friday) at 773-264-0534, ext 58.

Goals

The overall objectives of the Spanish curriculum are to develop proficiency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The program stresses communication and inductive learning. The various methodologies used consider different learning and teaching styles. Therefore, an eclectic approach is used, bringing together the best aspects of many teaching methodologies.

Students will gain an understanding of how the Spanish language is structured, how to express their own needs, and how to talk about the world around them.

By developing and refining their skills of observation, students also acquire a basic understanding and appreciation of the diversity of cultures in the Spanish-speaking world. These objectives apply to all levels of learning, though different approaches are used for each grade level.

Lesson Plans

3's, 4's & Kindergarten: Greetings and Farewells, Listening and Repeating, Singing, Action Games and Rhymes, Following Commands, Primary Colors, Numbers 0-10, Seasonal Vocabulary, Class-Related Vocabulary.

1st Grade: Greetings and Farewells, Following Directions, Identifying Self and Others by Name, Expressing Agreement and Disagreement, Describing and Asking "How Many," Identifying Classroom Objects, Expressing Possession Using "To Have," Describing and Function of Objects, Talking about Location and Position, Describing Objects by Color, Identifying Parts of the Body, Days of the Week, Singing Playing Games, Rhymes, Cultural Dances.

2nd Grade: Listening and Vocabulary, Greetings, Identifying oneself by Sex and Name, Singing, Pronunciation, Following Commands, Playing Games, Arts and Crafts, Cultural Activities, Identifying Countries, Objects and Animals, Asking and Answering Questions, Distinguishing Between Opposite Characteristics, Comparing and Describing Objects by Size, Describing Physical Characteristics, Numbers 0-12, Expressing Quantity, Time, Age, Auditory Discrimination, Free Oral Expression.

3rd Grade:

4th Grade:

5th Grade:

6th Grade:

7th & 8th Grade: