Grades 1-3

With a foundation of Preschool and Kindergarten, St. John’s Lutheran School's Early Elementary continues to build on the outcomes of: Spiritual Growth, Family Education, Character Development, and Excellence both in the classroom and at home. Our primary mission during these formative years of your child take root in God's Word, specifically Psalm 139:13-14:

"For you [O God] formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well." (ESV)

With this at the heart of our Early Elementary Program, you can rest assured that your child will know that they are uniquely created by God and given special talents and skills, that they belong to a family and community that loves and cherishes them, and that God has created many different facets to express their talents. Those facets being our curriculum here at St. John's. With an average classroom size being 18-20 students for 1 educator and 1 classroom assistant, you can be sure that your child's individual needs will be recognized and provided them.

Curriculum

Since we believe that God has provided many different ways for each student to express their talents, our curriculum is grounded in God's Word and provides a Biblical worldview that your children will grow in. In addition to or core curriculum, your child will experience music, art, physical education, and be exposed to outdoor and natural learning. 

Our core curriculum covers:

Religion

Our primary resource for Biblical Education at St. John's is the One in Christ curriculum from Concordia Publishing House. Your students will explore major narratives of Scripture with a hands-on approach that encourages discussion and offers practical examples. It's also in these years that your student will be given memory work of various verses of Scripture.

Reading

Our reading curriculum is phonics-based which also integrates language arts, spelling, and grammar into its development. Its instruction is a combination of both individualized reading lessons and small group projects. We supplement our curriculum by participating in Accelerated Reader and Pizza Hut's "Book-It" program. We also assess our reading education using the STAR Reading achievement test.

Math

We utilize the Sadlier-Oxford Progress for mathematics. We believe that the best way to teach math concepts is through practice and memorization. During these years, your child will learn addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, place values, tables and charts, geometry, money, time, measurements, and be introduced to decimals and fractions. We also assess our math education using STAR Math testing.

Science

It is paramount that students learn the importance of the visible world. Here at St. John's we believe and teach that God created the world and everything in it in the first six days of creation. The study of science is an opportunity to further understand all that God has blessed us with. Students will gain foundational knowledge in Life Science, Earth Science, Physical Science, and Space and Technology during these three years.

Spelling

For Spelling, we use the phonics based Houghton Mifflin Spelling and Vocabulary. Our students are given weekly words to memorize.

English

While most of our grammar education is covered within the Reading curriculum, we still spend time learning the nuances. We cover sentences, nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and punctuation. We also believe the best way to learn grammar is by writing. Your child will begin to learn the writing process and will utilize that knowledge to start writing formal short essays and book reports.

Handwriting

Through these three years, your child will continue to perfect their printing skills and begin to learn the discipline of reading and writing in cursive.

Social Studies

Our Social Studies program is a broad one which begins here in Waltz, MI. Your child will learn about their own community, what its government is like, and what buildings typically make up a town or city. They will also get a rudimentary education on United States history, government, and democracy through school-wide events. In third grade, students will look at the state of Michigan in particular.

Schedule an Educational Success Consultation today to visit our principal and your child's future teacher about the opportunities available for your child at St. John's Lutheran School.