Curriculum

1st - 5th Grade

Curricula

Bible: Investigating God's Word by One Story Ministries

Social Studies: Heritage Studies by BJU Press

Math: Bridges in Mathematics

Sciences: Inspire Science by Mcgraw Hill

Reading & Language Arts: Science of Reading, Simplify Writing

Penmanship: CursiveLogic

Bible

Investigating God’s Word teaches the entirety of God’s Word, from Genesis to Revelation, over the course of five years. The curriculum works to prepare the next generation; building foundational skills for students to study God’s Word for themselves and training children to think biblically and apply truths to their own lives. Each lesson puts the text of scripture in context, teaching the children that the Bible is real history.

Social Studies

Heritage Studies provides students with the opportunity to learn about historical events and be introduced to world cultures from a Biblical worldview. Children will develop social studies skills and a foundational understanding of geography, economics, history, government, civics, and culture. We hope that they will become lifelong learners who value freedom, equality, and individual responsibility.

Math

Your child’s classroom will use Bridges in Mathematics second edition, a comprehensive curriculum for grades K–5. Bridges is a rigorous program designed to address the new math standards in a way that’s enjoyable and accessible to all learners. The curriculum focuses on developing in students a deep understanding of math concepts, proficiency with key skills, and the ability to solve new and complex problems. Learning activities tap into the intelligence and strengths all students have by presenting mathematically powerful material alive with language, pictures, and movement.

Sciences

A k-5 science learning experience, Inspire Science by Mcgraw Hill, is exciting and easy-to use. Using integrated literacy and math enables students to be a scientist while leveraging and honing their literacy and math skills. With Inspire Science, students will be able to meet science standards while reinforcing Common Core literacy and math requirements easier than ever before.

Reading & Language Arts

Science of Reading is a comprehensive body of research that encompasses years of scientific knowledge, spans across many languages, and shares the contributions of experts from relevant disciplines such as education, special education, literacy, psychology, neurology, and more. SoR helps us to understand the cognitive processes that are essential for reading proficiency. The SoR identifies five essential components that make up the Simple View of Reading.

Structured Literacy incorporates all five: Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension.

The Simplify Writing curriculum was built using research-based strategies and tested in real classrooms. Students will receive dedicated writing time, strategy-focused direct instruction, teacher clarity, teacher modeling and exemplar usage, graphic organizers to increase student retention, and consistent and timely feedback to help develop their writing skills.

Simplify Writing’s method includes four key components: bite-sized instruction, fluid grammar, differentiation, and support to help students become the most successful writers they can be.

Penmanship

CursiveLogic allows the teaching of cursive to be simple and fun for both teachers and students. Instead of relying on rote memorization, CursiveLogic teaches the essential structure of the cursive alphabet. The instruction method has two key features: cursive letters grouped by shape and cursive letter strings.

CursiveLogic engages every learning style by seamlessly combining visual, auditory, verbal, and kinesthetic elements. CursiveLogic makes it possible for every student to succeed and enjoy the process.

Physical Education

P.E. builds a foundation for healthy activity. Students develop confidence and skills in collaboration, communication, and critical thinking while moving through physical games and challenges. We strive to create a nurturing environment of positive values and attitudes that students can apply both inside and outside the classroom.

Art

Art is another exciting way for students to express themselves. We have an art teacher is ready to expose our students to a variety of materials to develop their fine motor skills while learning about great artists and emulating their unique techniques. Art lessons are a time of creativity, self-expression and joy!

Music

Music is a joyful form of self-expression. At Ridge Christian Academy, students come together to sing worship songs daily in Assembly. We also have a music teacher on staff to provide weekly in-class experiences in music, rhythm, and age-appropriate instruments, ensuring every child receives the exceptional developmental benefits of regular musical instruction.

Project Lead the Way

Students, at an early age, have a remarkable capacity to learn and a natural curiosity to make sense of the world around them. Their innate drive to observe, explore, and discover makes the elementary grades a critical time to engage students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education.

PLTW taps into elementary students’ exploratory nature and turns their curiosity into confidence. Through PLTW's activity-, project-, problem-based (APB) instructional approach - which supports the three dimensions of science learning - students become creative, collaborative problem solvers ready to take on any challenge.