Maranatha Christian School
MCS
k5
WE aCCEPT 4-YEAR OLDS
It's your child's first official year of school, and you'll be amazed by how much he/she flourishes in kindergarten. How can you help your child succeed from his/her very first school day? Help your child build self-confidence when it comes to learning; by being their biggest cheerleader you'll instill a love of learning that will last throughout your child's life and will help your child meet specific goals each year.
There will be focus throughout this year on mastering letters, sounds, and words. You'll watch with delight as your child takes their first steps toward reading and writing correctly, especially when those activities are linked, both at school and at home. Help your kindergartner have fun with language in everyday life this year and watch as his/her vocabulary explodes. Your child will learn key fundamentals of math this year, and there will be countless ways (no pun intended) to encourage this.
Educational standards vary across states, districts, and schools, and no two children learn at exactly the same rate, so don't panic if your little one doesn't start to read at the same time as the neighbor's child. Here are the important learning milestones children will typically achieve in kindergarten, with tips for helping your child stay on track at home.
All Students will complete a diagnostic test and be placed in the appropriate
grade accordingly (learning gaps will be used if needed). Students at age 4 have the opportunity to be placed in the Kindergarten if their test results are at Kindergarten level.
1st grade
First grade marks an important milestone for young children who finally feel like part of a “big” school. First graders now have to use the social skills they developed in preschool and kindergarten in more mature ways.
The true growth of first grade happens as children develop the ability to understand what letters and numbers really mean. When they’re ready, they’ll be able to “crack the code” and read words.
2nd grade
In 2nd grade, students have adjusted to the more rigorous learning environment they initially encounter in 1st grade and so they are able to further deepen and expand their skills and knowledge.
In 2nd grade they become more experienced writers, readers and mathematicians as they practice these skills more and in more complex and comprehensive ways. They read longer and more complicated books, they write longer and more complex pieces and they learn more of the concepts underlying the math they do.
In addition, 2nd graders begin to develop their research and critical thinking projects as they create individual and group work to share and presenting what they learn through different forms, including writing, speaking, and art.
3rd grade
Third grade marks an important time in children’s education as they transition from what is often known as the “lower grades” to the “upper grades.” It is a crucial time in students’ learning as they become more independent and mature learners.
In 3rd grade students progress from practicing basic skills to mastering them and moving on to further developing more complex skills. Third graders become more advanced readers, writers, mathematicians and thinkers, digging deeper into topics and beginning to analyze what they learn.
4th grade
As members of the “upper” grades of elementary school, 4th graders deepen their learning and skills, preparing them for middle school. Fourth graders are still viewed as and learn as elementary school students do. Developmentally most 4th graders are very much still children; they enjoy and learn from play and thrive in nurturing and warm environments. However, the content of most 4th grade curricula push students to think, analyze and learn in more sophisticated and structured ways.
Students are taught to deeply think about and make connections in what they read and learn, write with clarity, flow and structure similar to that of traditional essays, and learn more complex concepts across all subjects.
In addition, 4th graders are encouraged to be more independent in their learning, depending less on the teacher‘s guidance and researching, planning and revising their work more by themselves.
5th grade
As the last year of elementary school, 5th grade is an important time for students to cement the skills they have gained throughout the upper grades as well as develop them even further in preparation for middle school.
Fifth grade is about helping students to practice, refine and grow their skills, taking all that they have learned to the next step. Fifth graders build on what they learn in 4th grade by thinking and analyzing in deeper ways about what they learn and read, writing structure, and clear and detailed pieces.
They are also encouraged and expected to be more independent in their learning, requiring less guidance and support from adults and teachers. For example, when a student is asked to research a topic, he/she should be able to know what to do and how to accomplish this goal. Students certainly may need the assistance of a teacher throughout the research but he/she also has the basic tools to do so by himself/herself.
