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Our Language Arts
curriculum begins in the PK 3 year old classrooms where
the students learn about sounds, letters, and to value
words. Throughout preschool, students are encouraged to
express their feelings and work using words. A combination
of phonetics, sight words, and whole language techniques
are used to help students read fluently, comprehend, and
use reasoning skills in daily center time.
In lower school, A
blended approach to reading using the components of both
phonics and whole language is used. Emphasis on reading
comprehension, critical thinking, reasoning skills, and
creative writing are integrated and built upon throughout
the primary grades.
In middle school, we develop the conscience and individual value system in students through the use of literature. Literature is defined as “writing having excellence of form that expresses ideas of permanent or universal interest or value.”
Our program helps the students make the passage from the egocentrics of childhood to young adulthood where they discover their place in the larger picture.
English and reading are formed into a whole unit including spelling, vocabulary, grammar, reading, and writing. The middle school curriculum includes the Prentice-Hall literature book and workbook along with great novels, famous plays, and non-fiction works. Listening and speaking skills are emphasized along with traditional and Internet research techniques, and student-generated power point
presentations.
An important aspect of language arts is the AR reading program. This program allows students access to the great classics, Newberry and Caldecott Award winners, and non-fiction. The program fosters what we hope will become a life-long love of reading. Furthermore, writing skills are emphasized in the middle grades through use of reflexive and extensive topics. Cross-curricular writing is taught and the language arts teachers work with another subject area teacher to produce a paper involving that other subject. Writing of all types is introduced and developed throughout the middle school years. When our students complete the St. Catherine of Siena program, they are fully prepared for their further educations in high school and beyond.
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