Pre –School 3 Year Old Curriculum and Early Childhood Behavior Summary
Sacred Heart School’s Pre-School 3 year old program is designed to address the socio-emotional, perceptual motor, and cognitive needs of each child. Early Childhood is the time devoted to learning through activity and experience. Each child is encouraged and challenged to learn at his/her own pace and ability, while also learning how to function within the structure of a group setting. The classroom is a structured environment to help children become familiar with school. The program engages children so they enjoy being in the classroom. Our program gives children the opportunity for hands-on activities, learning centers, and playtime. Student learning centers are designed to enhance day-to-day instruction and to meet the intellectual needs of the learner who is able to move ahead at a faster pace. Activities provided in the centers challenge the imagination and foster independence.
The Pre-School 3 year old program includes:
Some added features to our program include our Small Blessings Christmas play, Stone Soup Day, Junior Olympics, and our Fly Up ceremony at the end of the year.
Pre –Kindergarten 4 Curriculum Summary
Sacred Heart School’s Pre-K 4 program is designed to prepare children for Kindergarten. The classroom is a structured environment to help children become familiar with school. The program engages children so they enjoy being in the classroom. Our program gives children the opportunity for hands on activities, learning centers and playtime. Children’s socialization skills and communication skills are the main focus.
The Pre-K 4 program includes:
Some added features to our program include our Small Blessings Christmas play, Stone Soup Day, Junior Olympics, our St Patrick’s Day Parade, and our cross over ceremony at the end of the year.
The Kindergarten experience provides a transition environment from the home, the nursery school or the pre-kindergarten program to the structure of formal schooling. The Kindergarten prepares the child for future learning through a developmentally appropriate program with attention to individual readiness and by exposure to activities and formal skills.
Our full day program at Sacred Heart builds on the child’s previous experiences and then blends those with formal instruction. It is a balanced program; one that includes hands-on activities, play and the use of learning centers, as well as the introduction of formal skills, all with the goal of preparing the children for what they will experience in first grade.
Socialization skills and creativity are strong components of our program at Sacred Heart. Opportunities to shine are especially highlighted during our Small Blessings Christmas play, the activities involved in Grandparents’ Day, Junior Olympics, our St Patrick’s Day Parade, and the Graduation ceremony. So many great things happen in Kindergarten!
The curriculum consists of daily instruction in:
The first grade at Sacred Heart School is a special – even magical – place! Having encountered the beginning of formal instruction during Pre-K and Kindergarten, our children proceed enthusiastically toward the discovery of words, ideas, and numbers, and begin to realize how they relate to their everyday experiences.
Great emphasis is place on Reading, Language Arts, Math and Religion; however, our cross curriculum instruction allows for fluency in all subjects.
The curriculum consists of:
Daily instruction includes a morning literacy block. Our children continue to learn phonemic awareness, letter-sound relationships, phonics, decoding, word recognition, vocabulary, and spelling.
During Reading, the children are immersed daily in a wide range of children’s literature through a read aloud, large group instruction, shared and independent reading, or guided reading. The focus is fluency and reading comprehension. We use a variety of comprehension skills and strategies to help our students make text-to-text, text-to-self-, and text-to world connections.
Writing is a challenging and rewarding process. In Writer’s Workshop, the children find their voices as they creatively travel through the steps from prewriting and drafting, to editing and publishing, with the ultimate goal of presenting in front of an audience.
Throughout the above, artistic expression and technology enhance our literacy block!
Our first graders are introduced to many strategies for solving problems so that they can choose and apply the ones that make them succeed. Our program promotes critical thinking skills and builds upon their mental math abilities.
The curriculum is based on The Archdiocese of Newark’s Mathematics Curriculum Map which identifies the content to be taught and student skills to be mastered at each grade level. The 1st grade map includes:
Everything that a child encounters in his/her school day from the minute the student enters the building until he/she leaves to go home is considered the curriculum. This includes classroom experiences, lunchroom, gym, recess, and prayer as well as any other activity that occurs during the school day.
The second grade program at Sacred Heart School resumes the foundational work of the first grade program. The sacramental preparation for Reconciliation and First Eucharist, in conjunction with the parish religious education program, is the main focus of the Religion program on this grade level. The curricular groundwork of a strong literacy-based program is advanced and fortified. Students become more adept and self-reliant in their daily school work.
Continued emphasis is placed on Language Arts, Math, and Religion. All subjects that are taught have the strengthening of literacy skills as their primary focus. In the area of Penmanship, the students move from manuscript to cursive writing. Social Studies, Science, and other curricular areas are addressed according to the Archdiocese of Newark’s curriculum guidelines.
The curriculum consists of:
During Reading, the students will understand and apply knowledge of sounds, letters and words in written English to become independent readers. They will read a variety of materials and texts with fluency and comprehension. Instruction also includes phonological awareness, decoding and word recognition, reading strategies that include before, during and after reading, vocabulary and concept development, and inquiry and research.
Writing is a challenging and rewarding process. The children find their voices as they creatively travel through the steps from prewriting and drafting, to editing, revising, and post-writing. Students will write in clear, concise, organized language that varies in content and form for different audiences and purposes. The students will demonstrate the use of correct mechanics and spelling in the various writing forms.
Students are taught to speak in clear, concise, organized language that varies in content and form for different audiences and purposes. Students will focus on a topic for discussion, participate in the dramatization or a play, and recite poems and/or rhymes.
Students will listen actively to information from various sources in a variety of situations. Students learn to distinguish between types of speech and are taught to follow multi step (at least two steps) oral directions. All students are expected to participate in class discussions.
Students will access, view, evaluate, and respond to print, non-print, and electronic texts and resources. Students will recognize the work of a favorite illustrator, recognize messages in simple advertisements and speculate about characters, events and settings in books, film, and television.
Through the study of mathematics, the second grade students will develop an appreciation of the order of unity of God’s creation and the relevance of mathematics in their daily lives. Students will be able to flexibly use mathematical concepts and procedures to complete daily tasks, reason mathematically, and analyze and respond to various situations in a logical and innovative ways.
The curriculum is based on The Archdiocese of Newark’s Mathematics Curriculum Map which identifies the content to be taught and student skills to be mastered at each grade level.
The 2nd grade map includes:
Our second grade students learn to recognize, investigate, and or demonstrate motion, force electricity sound, rocks, minerals, natural resources such as light and water, the Solar System, Earth-Sun-Moon system ( days, months, seasons, years) and weather conditions.
The third grade curriculum at Sacred Heart School has the students taking a faithful leap into independence. It reinforces the groundwork provided by the two previous primary grades. This year the students learn to be more responsible and function more independently in the classroom.
The curriculum consists of:
In Reading, literacy skills are honed to prepare the students for the upper grades where reading becomes paramount to learning. The integration of reading comprehension and the study of informational text will incorporate all the elements of speaking, listening, vocabulary development, and fluency. Different forms of media will be utilized to differentiate instruction within the classroom.
In Language Arts, the third grade students focus on refining their writing skills. Instruction is given in paragraph structure, thought organization, grammar, spelling and penmanship techniques. These skills are demonstrated as the children respond to various writing prompts throughout the year.
The curriculum is based on The Archdiocese of Newark’s Mathematics Curriculum Map which identifies the content to be taught and student skills to be mastered at each grade level. The 3rd grade map includes:
Everything that a child encounters in his/her school day from the minute the student enters the school building until he/she leaves to go home is considered the curriculum. This includes classroom experiences, lunchroom, gym, recess, prayer, as well as any other activity that occurs during the school day. Whatever a child encounters in school is part of the curriculum.
The fourth grade program at Sacred Heart School is a transition from the comfort of the primary grades where students learn to read to the more intense work of reading to learn. The student is encouraged to think critically, logically, analytically and ethically. Emphasis is placed on the ability to express ideas orally as well as in a written manner using correct terminology. On a daily basis, students will be required to apply techniques in real world situations by identifying and solving problems within the situation. They will engage in learning activities using appropriate technology, demonstrate confidence in their skills and recognize the importance of life-long learning.
The curriculum consists of:
Everything that a child encounters in his/her school day from the minute the student enters the school building until he/she leaves to go home is considered the curriculum. This includes classroom experiences, lunchroom, gym, recess, prayer, as well as any other activity that occurs during the school day.
The fifth grade, which is part of the Junior High at Sacred Heart School is centered on preparing each student for the high school experience. In the Junior High the students switch classes for 45 minute periods. The students continue to build on the skills they have acquired in the primary grades. They are taught to be organized and prepared for each class. Students are responsible for bringing all the materials they will need for each class, just like in high school. They are also exposed to having different teachers for each class, and thus must adapt to different teacher personalities and teaching styles.
The fifth grade students also participate in the 10 week D.A.R.E. program presented by the Lyndhurst Police Department.
The curriculum consists of:
By fifth grade, the students should be proficient readers. The Reading Street program exposes the students to a variety of literary genres and reading skills including comparing and contrasting, generalization, plot and theme, summarization and main ideas. Trade books are also used so that our students are introduced to classic authors and current writers in the field. These books help to foster the exploration and discussion of topics relevant to students today.
In Language Arts, students are immersed in the parts of speech and their use in the English language. Students hone their writing skills through different exercises including writing a personal narrative, business letters, how-to articles, and research papers. Proofreading and editing are utilized in the writing process. Students also write in a personal journal each day. “Voyages in English” is the hardcover text used in class along with a practice workbook for homework. Students are also introduced to a number of websites via the computer lab and apps on the tablets to practice their skills.
The curriculum is based on The Archdiocese of Newark’s Mathematics Curriculum Map which identifies the content to be taught and student skills to be mastered at each grade level. The 5th grade map includes:
Everything that a child encounters in his/her school day from the minute the student enters the school building until he/she leaves to go home is considered the curriculum. This includes classroom experiences, lunchroom, gym, recess, prayer, as well as any other activity that occurs during the school day.
The Junior High curriculum at Sacred Heart School is centered on preparing each student for the high school experience. In the Junior High the students switch classes for 45 minute periods. They are taught to be organized and prepared for each class. Students are responsible for bringing all the materials they will need for each class, just like in high school. They are also exposed to having different teachers for each class, and thus must adapt to different teacher personalities and teaching styles.
The curriculum consists of:
The curriculum is based on The Archdiocese of Newark’s Mathematics Curriculum Map which identifies the content to be taught and student skills to be mastered at each grade level. The 6th grade map includes:
Everything that a child encounters in his/her school day from the minute the student enters the school building until he/she leaves to go home is considered the curriculum. This includes classroom experiences, lunchroom, gym, recess, prayer, as well as any other activity that occurs during the school day.
The Junior High curriculum at Sacred Heart School is centered on preparing each student for the high school experience. In the Junior High the students switch classes for 45 minute periods. They are taught to be organized and prepared for each class. Students are responsible for bringing all the materials they will need for each class, just like in high school. They are also exposed to having different teachers for each class, and thus must adapt to different teacher personalities and teaching styles.
The curriculum consists of:
The curriculum is based on The Archdiocese of Newark’s Mathematics Curriculum Map which identifies the content to be taught and student skills to be mastered at each grade level. The 7th grade map includes:
Everything that a child encounters in his/her school day from the minute the student enters the school building until he/she leaves to go home is considered the curriculum. This includes classroom experiences, lunchroom, gym, recess, prayer, as well as any other activity that occurs during the school day.
The Junior High curriculum at Sacred Heart School is centered on preparing each student for the high school experience. In the Junior High the students switch classes for 45 minute periods. They are taught to be organized and prepared for each class. Students are responsible for bringing all the materials they will need for each class, just like in high school. They are also exposed to having different teachers for each class, and thus must adapt to different teacher personalities and teaching styles.
The curriculum consists of: