First grade is truly a new beginning. A young child’s grade school journey begins on the first day of school with the ‘Rose Ceremony’ during which the Grade Eight class welcomes the new Grade One students into the grade school community. The transition from Kindergarten to more structured learning in Grade One is an important step for students who are excited to join ‘the big school’ and this ceremony marks this important passage.
The first grader is learning how to learn. They’re learning from and with one another. And they’re learning from the world around them. First graders are deeply connected to people, animals, nature and the sun and the moon.
A love of language starts with nature stories and fairy tales. Letters become actual characters with which students develop a relationship. In arithmetic, students begin by experiencing the qualities of numbers, instead of seeing them as abstract symbols. From here, students explore addition, subtraction, multiplication and division through physical objects.
Through the rhythm of each day, the first grader’s world is filled with richness and beauty and possibility. The rhythm of the main lessons focus on balancing quiet focus and active movement. Movement activities deepen learning and balance children’s natural desires to move with the quiet listening and writing activities of the lesson. The Grade One year is also structured around the rhythm of the seasons and its festivals.
Your first grader will learn
Language Arts: Letters and vocabulary through pictures, poems, class plays and storytelling
Literature: Folk and fairy tales
Mathematics: Number patterns and concepts, the four operations
Science: Nature study
French and German: Greetings, colors, numbers, and basic phrases
Physical Education: Cooperative clapping and rhyming games, chasing games, jump rope, parachute play and dancing
Handwork: Basic knitting stitch leads to increasingly complex projects like a pouch, ball and cat
Art: Watercolor painting, beeswax modeling and form drawing
Music: Recorder and singing