The Curriculum Guide Serves to Inform Parents About the Curriculum Taught at Heritage Christian

Dear Members,

The curriculum guide serves to inform parents about the curriculum taught at Heritage Christian School. It is our prayer that God will use this curriculum to lead our children to glorify Him in every area of their lives.

The list presented is organized by discipline. Thus, under the "Bible" heading you will find all the curriculum listed and annotated for each grade level, from kindergarten to grade eight for the Bible program. This should allow the reader to see the sequence of the curriculum and the topic area covered throughout the nine years.

The curriculum committee , education committee and staff have worked diligently over the past years to prepare this list. Our first step was to look at both ABeka and Bob Jones University Press programs. We then sought out the best books for each subject area from these programs. Where texts fell short of our expectations, we looked for resources from other publishers. We have also obtained critique from other schools presently using the materials listed here.

As we went through each book, we examined it under the following criteria: the goals for the text, the educational philosophy and pedagogy, the world and life view presented, the organization of the text, critique from other schools and the treatment of such topics as evolution, feminism, egalitarianism, language, handicaps, new age and family. When a text did not meet our standards we did not use it. You will find however that not all textbooks listed here are inherently Christian or reformed. In general, this is the case because books related to age and subject area from a Christian and reformed outlook do not exist. When this is the case we attempted to find material that most closely represented our sensibilities and provided solid educational content.

The doors at Heritage are always open for parents. Should you have any questions regarding curriculum please contact the staff.

As a board we hope that you will be pleased with this list. We understand that good curriculum is constantly being reviewed and worked with, thus we realize that we have just started. We pray that this is a good start.

In Christ's service

The Board

Bible

Kindergarten

Grade One

Grade Two

Grade Three

Grade Four

Grade Five

Grade Six

Grade Seven

Grade Eight

French

Grade 1

Grade 2

Grade 3

Grade 4

Grade 5

Grade 6

Grade 7

Grade 8

Language Arts

Kindergarten

Grade 1

Grade 2

Grade 3

Grade 4

Grade 5

Grade 6

Grade 7

Grade 8

Mathematics

Kindergarten

Grade One through Eight

Music

Kindergarten

Grade One

Grade Two

Grade Three

Grade Four

Grade Five

Grade Six

Grade Seven

Grade Eight

Physical Education

K-6

Grades 7 and 8

Science/ Socials Studies / History / Geography

Geography......

Social Studies (K-3)......

History

Kindergarten

Grade 1

Grade 2

Grade 3

Grade 4

Grade Five

Grade 6

Grade 7

Grade 8

Bible

Bible is taught daily in each classroom. The students study the Bible chronologically three times during their years in the Elementary School. In grades seven and eight they are introduced to materials which may cover a book of the Bible in an in-depth or thematic manner. Memory work is an integral part of the Bible program. Individuals and groups involved with the Reformation are studied for several weeks prior to Reformation day (i.e. Calvin, Luther). Students in Grade 6,7 and 8 also study Church History as part of their Bible program.

Kindergarten

Leading Little Ones to God, Marian Schooland

• A children’s book of basic Bible teachings from a reformed perspective.

Big Book of Bible Stories, Marian Schooland

• This book teaches stories from Genesis through the journeys of Paul in the book of Acts.

• Reformation: John Calvin or Martin Luther.

Grade One

Book 1: Suffer the Little Children, Gertrude Hoeksema. "Creation to the Death of Saul"

• A Bible curriculum with a strong Bible story content. The book places a strong emphasis on the historical/redemptive approach to scripture in language suitable to this age group. The author draws out such themes as covenant, obedience and disobedience and the response of the believer to live a life pleasing to God. It includes suggested activities, hymns and memory verses.

Come Ye Children, Gertrude Hoeksema

• A story Bible from a reformed approach which stresses the fear of the Lord in the life of the student. Each Bible story is tied into the whole of the Bible with an emphasis placed on the covenant.

Extra units: Reformation -Martin Luther or John Calvin, Christmas, Easter, The Good Shepherd

Grade Two

Book 2 Suffer the Little Children, Gertrude Hoeksema

Come Ye Children, Gertrude Hoeksema

Extra Units: Reformation - Martin Luther or John Calvin, Christmas

Grade Three

Book 3 - Suffer the Little Children, Gertrude Hoeksema

• This is a continuation of the Suffer Little Children series mentioned above. The workbook includes maps, worksheets and student activities.

The Children’s Story Bible, Catherine Vos

• A story Bible from a reformed perspective which can be used by the teacher to highlight the content of the above mentioned books. "Life of Christ" Lessons 1-64

Extra Units: Reformation: Calvin or Luther

Promise and Deliverance by DeGraaf serves as teacher resource.

Grade Four

Show Me Thy Ways 4, Gertrude Hoeksema

This is a continuation of the Suffer Little Children series.

Reformation - John Calvin or Martin Luther

Grade Five

Book 5: Show Me Thy Ways, Gertrude Hoeksema. Up to Lesson 79. Workbook: To p. 54

Bible Guide B, Christian Schools International, to p. 98

Reformation: John Calvin or Martin Luther

Grade Six

Show Me Thy Ways 6, Gertrude Hoeksema

Bible Guide C (first half), Christian School International

Church History: God's Care and Continuance of His Church Volume I, Vreugdenhil

Grade Seven

Mark's Sketchbook of Christ , Helen Tenny

Bible Guide C – CSI

God's Care and Continuance of His Church Volume II, Vreugdenhil

Those Puzzling Parables, Jack B. Scott

 This book presents the students with the parables of Jesus. The book includes tests, small group projects and discussion questions.

Wise and Otherwise, Jack B. Scott

 This book deals with doctrine and Christian living. It includes tests, discussions questions and some group work suggestions.

Grade Eight

Old Testament Studies by Edward Bassenbroek

God's Care and Continuance for His Church Volume III by Vrugdenhill

Mark's Sketch book of Christ by Jack B. Scott

This book takes a look at the ministry of Jesus Christ in light of the book of Mark. The perspective is distinctively reformed. The book includes tests and small projects.

French

The Ministry of Education requires that we teach 400 hours of French. Most schools teach French in Grade 4-8. Our school, however, has opted to teach French in the lower grades as well. This ensures that students are given a head start when they can absorb the language and also allows us to break up the time periods for French over 4 more years. We want to instill in our students that it is a privilege to learn the French Language which is also a gift from God.

Kindergarten

- colours, numbers, greetings, common questions, parts of the body, parts of house.

- 5-10 mins per day - 16 hours/year

- oral/aural

- we use curriculum and resources from various companies

Grade 1

- animals (farm & pets), parts of house, transportation, body parts, weather, fruits and vegetables.

- 32 hours/year

- oral/aural

- Image1 curriculum by Addison Wesley

Grade 2

- Selected units from Image 2 by Addison Wesley Units: body parts, "I like winter," a house, addresses

- 39 hours/year

Grade 3

- Explorons by D.C. Heath

- 40 hours/year

Grade 4

- Chez Moi - Stage 1 by D.C. Heath

- 50 hours/year

Grade 5

- Chez Moi - Stage 2,3,4 by D.C. Heath

- 50 hours/year

Grade 6

- On Vite Ensemble - Stage 1 by D.C. Heath

added lessons (from Passeport by D.C. Heath) - 'er' and ‘re’ verbs

- Definite article, - Indefinite article

- 56 hours/year

Grade 7

- Le Francais En Action by D.C. Heath Yellow stages 1&2

- 95 hours/year

Grade 8

- Le Francais En Action by D.C. Heath Continue yellow stages 3&4

- 95 hours/year

Language Arts

Purposes of a Reading Program:

A)To adequately equip each child with the phonetic skills and practice necessary to read well, that is, smoothly and with good comprehension.

B)To carefully monitor and guide the child’s growth in reading-related skills, e.g. comprehension and vocabulary development, while he is reading and enjoying worthwhile, time tested, challenging literature.

C)To increase each child’s love for reading by allowing him opportunities to choose titles from given list of high quality children’s literature.

D)To expose the child to a wide variety of literature styles and forms, and not to restrict him to one common, dull basal.

E)To integrate the love and practice of reading with many other areas of study, e.g. the Bible, history, and science.

F)To help the student become a read-to-learn person all his life.

G)To teach the student to ask two questions as he matures and is ready for this:

1) What is the author saying?

2) Is it true?

Language is a beautiful gift given by God. Students must therefore use this gift to God's glory. The Language Arts program uses a variety of approaches in teaching the children to read, however, there is a strong emphasis on the phonetic approach in the primary years. The students do novel studies in grades 3-8. The novels were selected in the following categories: Historical Christian Character Novels, Classic Novels, Novels worthy of our study which may or may not have received literary awards. Following you will find lists of adopted titles used in the grade school reading program. Although certain titles are assigned to specific grades, when necessary, teachers may use titles from the list above or below their grades. It is desired that, if a student completes his entire elementary experience at Heritage, he will have read a minimum of 60 of the books listed below, or an average of at least 10 adopted books each year. Reading for history may be included in this total. (Outside, recreational reading is highly encouraged for the students. However, that reading is not included in the numbers above)

Kindergarten

Sing, Spell, Read and Write by Sue Dickson

This program will be used into grade two. It makes use of a phonics based approach to reading to ensure skill development. The teacher will be using some singing exercises and fun games to help the students memorize the sounds and sight of the letters of the alphabet. For children who are ready to read there will be five readers provided.

Sing, Spell, Read and Write workbooks On Your Mark, Get Set by Sue Dickson are used.

These books provide pre-reading skills including discrimination, opposites, shapes, colours, sequencing, letters and sounds.

Some of the goals we work towards:

- visual and phonetic letter recognition (including short vowels)

- sh,ch,th

- be able to print letters

- read short A reader

Grade 1

Sing, Spell, Read and Write by Sue Dickson

A continuation of the kindergarten program including 17 phonetic based readers. The stories contained have traditional families of fathers and mothers, children at play and school and also stories of adventure of little animals.

Letters and Sounds Writing I by ABeka

SSRW readers 1-12

Phonics Book

Handbook of Reading by ABeka

Readers: Bridge, SeeSaw, Open Windows, Kind & Brave, Merry-go-Round by ABeka

Adopted Titles: A Frog Inside My Hat by Robinson, Arthur’s Chicken Pox by Brown, Arthur’s Honey Bear by Hoban, Bread and Jam by Hoban, Bread and Jam for Francis by Hoban, Curious George by Rex, Drinking Gourd by Manjo, Frog and Toad All Year (10) by Lobel, Frog and Toad Together by Lobel, Good Night Moon by Brown, If I Ran the Zoo by Dr. Seuss, Little Bear by Minarik, Little Bears Friend by Minarik, Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present by Sendak, Muffy and Fluffy, Peter and the Wolf (for music class) by Eastman, Peter Rabbit by Potter, Rosie’s Walk by Hutchins, Squeaky Shoes by Matthews, Tales of Oliver Pig by VanLeeuwen, Whistle for Willie by Keats, Who’s Who at the Zoo by Palazzo-Craig

Listening Centre: Benny’s Bad Day by Pellowski, Habits of Rabbits by Daniel, Jonathon’s Amazing Adventure by Frost, Something New To Do by Michaels, Superduper Collector by Poskanzei, The Big Surprise by Michaels, Who Can’t Follow an Ant by Pellowski

Objectives:- Letters recognitions and sounds

- Alphabet song

- blends (ferris wheel)

- short vowels

- letter clusters (digraphs & diphthongs)

- long vowels

- introduce contractions

- sentences: capitals & periods

- reading comprehension based on readers

- spelling words taken from SSRW

- penmanship taken from SSRW

Grade 2

SSRW by Sue Dickson

SSRW Readers 9-17

Language 2 by ABeka
- Open Windows, Open Doors, Open Roads ABeka Readers

Adopted Titles: A Pocket for Corduroy by Freeman, Amelia Bedelia by Parish, Amelia Bedelia’s Family Album by Parish, Balto by Standiford, Dandelion by Freeman, Emperor’s New Clothes by Anderson, Molly’s Pilgrim by Cohen, One Morning in Main by McCloskey, The Bears on Menlock Mountain by Dalgliesh, The Courage of Sarah Noble by Dalgliesh, The Long Way to a New Land by Sandin, The Long Way Westward by Sandin, The Ugly Duckling by Moore, The Uninhabited Island by Bomans

Objectives- comprehension questions based on readers

- Phonics (MC)

1. ABC order/letter recognition/initial-medial-final consonants

2. Short vowel associations

3. Long vowel associations

4. Compound & 2 syllable words/blends & digraphs/ Y as a Vowel/ R - controlled vowels

5. Contractions/Plurals/Endings/Suffixes

6. Regular & Irregular double vowels/diphthongs

7. Prefixes/synonyms, antonyms, homonyms

- Grammar: simple punctuation, capitalization, past, present, future, singular/plural, subject/predicate, quotation.

- Penmanship: Canadian Basic Handwriting

- Spelling: words chosen from MC Phonics

- Journal writing once a week

- Phonics B by Modern Curriculm Press

Grade 3

Journals - once a week on a given topic

Poetry unit

Novels: Little House in the Big Wood by Wilder, Magician’s Nephew, The Chronicles of Narnia by Lewis, Misty of Chincoteague by Henry, Robert Fulton by Henry, Sarah, Plain & Tall by Patricia Machachlan, Stone Fox by Gardiner, Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss, The Cricket in Times Square by Seldan, The House at Pooh Corner by Milne, The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Cleary, Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

Biographies: Amelia Earhart, Adventure in the Sky by Sabin, Louis Pasteur, Young Scientist by Sabin, Louisa May Alcott, Young Writer by Santrey, Marie Curie, Brave Scientist by Brandt, Mozart, Young Music Genius by Sabin, Robert Young Stevenson, Young Storyteller by Sabin, The Courage of Helen Keller by Sabin, Young Ben Franklin by Santrey

Readers - Footprints and Crossroads by ABeka

Canadian Basic Handwriting

Spelling Spectrum 3 by CSI

Grammar: Language 3 by ABeka

- Kinds of sentences

- Capitalization

- Punctuation

- Plurals

- Contraction

- Work Usage

- Synonym, Antonyms, Homonyms

- Writing Friendly letters

- Using the Dictionary

Also includes some cursive writing

- Nouns

- Subjects

- Verbs

- Adjectives

Grade 4

- Reader: selected stories from Frontiers to Explore by ABeka

Approved Novels: A Door in the Wall by DeAngeli, Anne of Green Gables by Montgomery, Augustine (not for novel study) by Wyss, Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary, From Anna by Little, From the Mixed up Files by Koningsburg, Indian In the Cupboard (teacher copy only) by Reid, Island of the Blue Dolphin by O’Dell, James and the Giant Peach by Ronald Dahl, John Wesley, Little House by the Big Woods by Laura Inglis Wilder, Little House On the Prairie by Laura Inglis Wilder, Mr. Poppers Penguins, Sing Down The Moon by O’Dell, The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by Lewis, Thimble Summer (not for novel study) by Enright, Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong,

Poetry Unit

- Grammar - God's Gift of Language A by ABeka

- 8 parts of speech, 4 parts of a sentence

- Spelling - Spelling Spectrum 4 by Christian Schools International

Grade 5

- Selected stories from Sound of the Sea by Open Court from Sept. - Feb.

- Novels: Caddie Woodlawn by Brink, Freedom Train, From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsberg, Home From Far, by Little, Sing Down the Moon by O’Dell, Sounder by Armstrong, The Door In the Wall by DeAngeli, The Horse and His Boy; Chronicles of Narnia by Lewis, Trumpet of the Swan by White, Voyage to Freedom by David Grey

- Poetry Unit

- Grammar - God's Gift of Language B by ABeka

- 8 parts of speech, 4 parts of a sentence

Spelling - Spelling Spectrum 5 by CSI

Grade 6

-Readers: Promises to Keep - Open Court Selected stories

-Novels: Amos Fortune Freeman by Yates, Father’s Promise , Hans Brinker (classroom copy only) by Dodge, Old Yeller by Gipson, Prince Caspian; Chronicles of Narnia by Lewis, Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry (Feb. - Apr.) by Mildren D. Taylor, They Shall Be Mine by John Tallach, Wind in the Willows (May - June) by Kenneth Grahame

-Grammar - Communicating Skills

Spelling- Spelling Spectrum 6 by CSI

Writing - Writing Skills I

Grade 7

- Reader: Of People by ABeka - selected stories

- Grammar & Comp. Communicating Skills

- Story Writing

- Spelling & Vocab: Lists of words from other subject matter and ABeka speller

- Novels: Crusade in Jeans, Johnny Tremain, The Hawk that Dare not Hunt by Day,

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; Chronicles of Narnia, White Fang

- Writing - Thirteen Steps to Better Writing

Grade 8

- Reader: Of Places by ABeka - selected stories

- Story Writing

- Spelling & Vocab: Lists of words from other subject matter & ABeka speller

- Novels: Black Arrow, Cue For Treason, Helen Keller: The Story of My Life (not as a novel study), I Am David, The Bronze Bow, The Great Escape by VanderJagt, The Secret Mission by VanderJagt, The Silver Chair; Chronicles of Narnia