Curriculum

In order that our students may grow toward becoming well-rounded Christians in our society, the curriculum must provide integrated learning experiences. At Stratford and District Christian School a Biblical perspective is pervasive throughout all programs. The following is a list of one or two objectives for the various disciplines and brief content statements as they relate to the different subjects of elementary school curriculum.

ART

Perspective: to develop the students’ ability to view creations artistically and to respond with their own creative works.
Program: With the use of a variety of techniques (drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture) students can find new ways to express their perceptions and experiences through exploration, invention, shaping, and sharing. Attention is also given to art appreciation.

BIBLE

Perspective: At the centre of our curriculum is the Bible, the infallible Word of God. Each grade also receives instruction in Bible Studies for approximately 30 to 40 minutes each day. The programs will try to instil in the minds of the children, a reverence for the authoritative Word of God and a response of love and service to our Lord and Maker.
Program:
JK – 3 The program consists of the telling of the stories of the Old and New Testament each year with a gradual increase in emphasis on understanding, enjoyment and response to God’s instructions for Christian living.
4 – 8 There is deeper focus on the central Biblical themes of covenant, kingdom, salvation, relationships, love, etc. Students at this level are also ready to pick certain Biblical narratives out of their whole setting and examine them in depth.

LANGUAGE ARTS

Perspective: To develop one of the greatest of God’s gifts to man, the ability to give oral and written expression to that which he experiences as a cultural ruler of creation.
Program: This includes the areas of phonics, spelling, reading, creative writing, grammar, poetry, novels, and oral expression. The students are put on individualized programs in some areas such as reading, spelling, phonics, and grammar as well as working in small group activities for discussion and evaluation. The Language Arts program is integrated and includes the major communication processes – listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

MATHEMATICS

Perspective: To help students to investigate and to discover that God’s creation has numerical order, unity, and diverse patterns. To show how techniques in Mathematics have aided us in unfolding and opening up creation to our understanding.
Program: By way of different techniques (discovery, exploration, drill) the students are led to recognize relationships between numbers and patterns. At the Primary level, students work with concrete and abstract materials. In the Junior and Intermediate grades, Mathematics is a fundamental subject providing a set of skills necessary for future studies in several disciplines as well as basic life skills.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Perspective: To realize that our bodies are temples of the Lord and to learn to care for that body is our responsibility and is essential to our total development.
Program: The Physical Education Program emphasizes health fitness and motor proficiency. Skill building in locomotion and non-locomotion movements is stressed in the early grades. In the middle grades skill building in a number of sports is part of the P.E. program. Good sportsmanship and good effort are encouraged. Health topics are part of the Physical Education or the Science program.

FRENCH

Perspective: The study of another language helps create a better understanding of the diversity of people who have been made in the image of God.
Program: French is taught in all grades. The Primary Course (JK – 3) deals with simple words and structures, stories, and songs. Grades 4 – 8 follow a more structured program emphasizing the skills of listening, reading, speaking, and writing.

SCIENCE

Perspective: God is the Creator and Sustainer of the entire universe. The more its incredible complexity, amazing order, and material laws are revealed, the more our universe points to the Master Designer and Law Giver.
Program: Science is a subject area in grades 3 – 8. The integrated theme units in JK – 8 do have aspects of the study of God’s Creation.

SOCIAL STUDIES

Perspective: As God calls us to live in this world we want to help our students acknowledge our collective and responsibility to God’s Creation. Care for other people and the environment are part of the cultural mandate God gave to humanity. Our students will be helped by studying people, events, and cultures of the past to learn why God’s Creation is in its present state and our Christian response to it.
Program: JK – 2 learns the various parts of God’s World in the study of creatures, land and sea, and people’s responses to their environment. In grades 7 and 8 Social Studies is defined as Geography and History.

MUSIC

Perspective: Music is a gift of God to allow Christians to express their gratitude to God and to enrich our lives. It is one of the universal languages that all people can effectively communicate with one another.
Program: The music program includes singing in all grades, the use of recorders in grades 3 – 6, and the instrumental band program in grades 7 and 8. Music theory development is incorporated in grades 3 – 8.

HISTORY (Grades 7 & 8)

Perspective: The History curriculum has a emphasis on God’s redemptive plan throughout history.
Program: Study of the Roman Empire, Renaissance, Reformation and early Canadian History is taught from a Christ-centred perspective.

COMPUTER LAB

We have a full size computer lab which focuses on skill development and integrating technology within other subjects.