Elementary Curriculum

Elementary Language Arts (ELA) courses provide students with a comprehensive look at the ELA standards, focusing on foundational reading skills, reading comprehension strategies using a variety of texts, writing, grammar, and speaking/listening skills. Students will be exposed to the five essential components of reading (phonemic awareness, phonics, comprehension, vocabulary, and fluency) through engaging text and interactive learning. Throughout the Language Arts courses, students will explore numerous topics integrated across content areas. Each grade level of the ELA suite will surround student learning with an adventure-filled theme, showing students that learning really is the great adventure.

The Elementary Math courses inspire students to become critical thinkers and problem solvers. Through on-screen and off-screen activities, learners discover how math can be used to understand and describe their world. A combination of student exploration and explicit teaching lays the groundwork for both skill development and a strong conceptual understanding. Courses feature engaging auditory and visual media, including songs, rhymes, and videos, to teach and review foundational math skills. Digital and concrete manipulatives support mathematical proficiency at all grade levels, while project-based activities strengthen learner’s algebraic skills and provide real-world context for learning.

The Elementary Science courses will spark curiosity in students and build a solid foundation in concepts across many types of sciences, including Earth Science, Life Science, and Physical Science. Through on- and off-screen activities, students work through a framework of active student learning that supports and allows students to engage, explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate throughout all courses. This dynamic format will help students build their own understanding from experiences and new ideas to facilitate a better understanding of the world around them.

The Social Studies suite utilizes a personal approach to introduce students to community and citizenship. By providing scaffolded instruction from Kindergarten through Grade 5, students develop a firm understanding of important concepts and skills related to history, geography, civics, and economics. The integration of recurring characters and challenges to overcome keeps students engaged and progressing. Finally, students will analyze grade-appropriate passages including primary sources to reinforce reading comprehension and writing skills.

The Visual Art suite will provide students the foundational skills to be successful in a studio environment. Students will develop fine motor and critical thinking skills, flex their creativity muscles, and expand their appreciation for global communities. Using the Elements of Art and Principles of Design as the framework, students will create their own style of artwork. Students will explore a variety of materials during the creative process and learn art techniques through modeling. They will develop their observational and critiquing skills to reflect on and interpret works of art. Each multifaceted module makes connections between art and cultures around the world through art history. The Visual Art suite enables students to make connections to all subject areas, from Math, to Music, to Language Arts.

Elementary Physical Education courses integrate healthy lifestyle habits and activities to help students be their best. The learning scaffolds on the previous lessons to provide developmentally appropriate activities and builds on skills learned in each grade level. Skill progressions help students learn how to throw, catch, kick, strike, dance, swim, and do some basic gymnastics. Students learn how to eat a healthy diet, develop teamwork and sportsmanship, and strive for 60 minutes of daily activity. They learn to set goals and work to meet those physical goals to keep improving their skills.

Elementary Spanish is an exploratory introduction to the Spanish culture and language. Students learn the target language in a story-based framework, providing a fun and positive learning experience. Each lesson is taught through an engaging, authentic story that gives students an opportunity to see and hear the language in context. Students will learn foundational skills in listening and speaking along with the introduction of Spanish literacy skills. The courses provide audio and visual stimuli for all learning types and ample opportunity to hear, speak, read, write, and record the language. The courses also provide strategically-based reviews of past learning. The courses are built on connections to an authentic culture of a specific Spanish-speaking region through the arts, celebrations, and traditions of the culture, leading students on the path to becoming global citizens. The courses provide a natural progression of learning through the following language acquisition stages: Preproduction, Early Production, Speech Emergence, and Novice Proficiency.

Elementary Intro to Technology courses enable students to develop basic skills in computer science through engaging and age-appropriate content. The courses will expose students, within developmentally appropriate stages, to concepts such as problem solving and algorithms, security, privacy, copyright, computer programming basics, and keyboarding skills. Students will learn block-based coding in offline environments in Kindergarten through Grade 2 and will build upon those skills in online coding environments in Grades 3-5. In addition to the computer skills, the Technology suite integrates standards from Social Studies, Health, and Language Arts with topics in each grade about safety and health (online and offline), bullying/cyberbullying, and being a responsible citizen/digital citizen. The upper grades will complete research projects focused on adaptive technology, social media, and/or robotics. The research projects require students to evaluate reliable and relevant websites, organize research, receive and implement feedback, and produce a final product. Collaboration and communication are also focused on in each grade level as integrated language arts standards. Math practice standards can be found throughout the courses