In the Early Childhood and Lower School, children are
confronted with the challenge of new ideas and guided in the mastery of
basic skills. A child’s personal development is as important as his or
her academic progress. Foreign language and religious education foster
an understanding of others and the world around us. A broad fine arts
program provides students with classroom work in music, drama and art,
and offers opportunities to develop these skills in school performances.
See Canterbury's spiraling curriculum for students in Early Childhood through Grade 12.
Daily Assignment Planners
Developing study
strategies is an integral part of our program, including memory skills and organization of time and
materials. In this endeavor, each child in Grades 1-4 has a Daily Assignment Planner. Assignments are noted daily and
materials organized accordingly. Teachers may include a note to
parents. Parents are asked to refer to this at home daily and guide the
children in completing tasks. Parents are invited to use the assignment
planner as a vehicle for communication with the school.
Testing
Educational Records
Bureau tests are administered in the spring to all students in Grades
1-4. The results give an indication of a student’s performance
individually and by grade level, both locally and nationally. Students
in Kindergarten are given the Gates MacGinitie test of beginning
reading. These tests (like other tests) are only one measure of a
child’s ability, achievement and/or progress and must be viewed as a
part of the whole.
Class Groups
The Lower School director and teachers
place students in classes after careful consideration of all factors
that will affect the educational development of the individual student.
Recommendations of teachers, individual learning styles, class balance
and group dynamics are some of the factors evaluated.
Lower School Classroom Themes
These are the general themes around which lessons are planned in each grade throughout the year:
September
Kindergarten: Colors, Shapes, Fruits and Vegetables
First Grade: Bears, Color Words, Insects, Family, Homes
Second Grade: The life cycle of frogs, toads, and amphibians; Butterflies
Third Grade: Inventions, Simple Machines, Poetry
Fourth Grade: Zoo Projects, Fiction Writing, James and the Giant Peach, Latitude and Longitude, Conner Prairie Trip, Camp Crosley Day Trip
October
Kindergarten: Health, Signs of Fall, Halloween
First Grade: Plants: Christopher Columbus and Other Explorers, The Senses, Bones and Nutrition, Fall
Second Grade: Owls, Nutrition
Third Grade: American Indians, The Body
Fourth Grade: Geography, Fiction Writing, The Lower School Newspaper
November
Kindergarten: Family, Thanksgiving, American Indians
First Grade: Four Regions of Indian Tribes, Thanksgiving
Second Grade: Woodland Indians, Indian Legends, Story Problems, Money
Third Grade: The Mayflower Journey, Plymouth Plantation, Historical Fiction
Fourth Grade: Regions of the United States (Northeast), The Lower School Newspaper
December
Kindergarten: Holidays
First Grade: Transportation, Chanukah/Christmas, Continents, Map Skills
Second Grade: Williamsburg and Colonial Life, Roman Numerals
Third Grade: December Holidays, Around the World
Fourth Grade: Best Christmas Pageant Ever (read and dramatize), The Scientific Process
January
Kindergarten: Winter, Hibernation, Alike/Different
First Grade: Money, Vikings, Animals in Winter, Washington D.C.
Second Grade: Famous Americans, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman, Antarctica/Penguins, Crystals
Third Grade: Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, Rocks and Minerals, Great Britain
Fourth Grade: Biographies, Science Fair, Foil Boats, Southeast Regions of the United States
February
Kindergarten: Weather, Valentines, Presidents
First Grade: Time, Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King Jr., Washington D.C., Birds
Second Grade: Alaska and the Arctic, Animals in Winter, Animal Tracks
Third Grade: Biographies, France, Germany, The Scientific Process
Fourth Grade: Science Fair, Bud Not Buddy
March
Kindergarten: The Five Senses
First Grade: History of Flight, Space, John Glenn, Amelia Earhart
Second Grade: Alaska, Whales, Telling Time, Sugarbush Maple Farm Trip
Third Grade: Italy, Legends and Myths, Geographic Landforms/Water Forms
Fourth Grade: State Reports, Indiana History, Midwest region of the United States, Paddle to the Sea
April
Kindergarten: New Life (animals and plants), Signs of Spring, Environmental Awareness
First Grade: Signs of Spring, Oceans, Jacques Cousteau, Measuring, Sound
Second Grade: Whales, Australia
Third Grade: Greece, Mythology, Gods and Goddesses
Fourth Grade: Indianapolis State House Trip; West, Southwest Regions of the United States
May
Kindergarten: Insects, Poetry, Summer Safety
First Grade: Weather, Oceans, Indy 500, Animal Coverings, Hawaii, Captain Cook Day
Second
Grade: Australia and Its People and Animals
Third Grade: Africa/Animals of Africa, Solar System, Fort Wayne/Allen County History, Sweden
Fourth Grade: Bridge to Terabithia, Class Business, business field trip
