Core Curriculum
To view a particular grade level’s core curriculum click below:
PreK 3’s | PreK 4’s | K | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th
The Melrose School Early Childhood Learning Center provides a balanced, age appropriate curriculum designed to encourage positive group interaction, advance individual growth, and begin to foster a lifelong enthusiasm for learning.
Our teachers provide a safe and engaging learning experience in which children are encouraged to explore and start to develop their cognitive, language, social-intellectual, and motor skills while having “fun” in a structured but nurturing environment.
The Three Year Old Program Includes:
Please note that students must be 3 or turn 3 by December 1 of the year they are enrolling for to be eligible for this program. Students are also required to be toliet trained.
- Character Development: Facilitate social and emotional development individually and in groups, through play experiences, free play, and more structured activities. Focus is on developing respect, sharing and learning to be part of a group.
- Pre-Reading Skills: Introduce skills through developing oral language, phonics and literature. Letter/sound of the week, songs, rhymes and games are utilized. Fine motor skills are reinforced through daily craft and writing activities.
- Math: Introduce math concepts using manipulatives, games and activities. Concepts introduced are: counting (1-10), number recognition, shapes and colors.
- Science: Introduction to seasons, animals and their life cycles, parts of the body.
- French: Introduce basic language concepts such as family names, colors, and animals through songs, puppets, and stories.
- Physical Education: Develop large motor skills and coordination through movement activities, games and using various equipment such as parachutes, cones and scooters.
- Music: Teach songs, fingerplays and instruments to develop rhythm and have fun!
- Art: Utilize different mediums such as painting, collage and clay to encourage individual self-expression and enhance learning.
Pre-Kindergarten 4’s
Please note that students must be 4 or turn 4 by December 1 of the year they are enrolling for to be eligible for this program. Students are also required to be toliet trained.
The Melrose School Pre-Kindergarten Program is academic, playful, and interactive. The program exposes and offers educational stimulation to children based on their developmental readiness and level of parental support. Flexibility within the program allows for introductory level academics for new learners as well as enrichment for children who already possess given skills. The program includes Reading, Phonics Activities, Math Games and Manipulatives, French, Science and Nature, Free Choice Learning Centers, Games, Circle Time, Storytime, Arts and Crafts, Music and Creative Movement, Library, Computer Lab, Physical Education, Field Trips, Rest (with quiet music or story) and Outside Play.
The Pre-Kindergarten Program is unit-based and theme-oriented, and capitalizes on the curiosity and the interest of young children. It is important for the students in the program to experience success and to be proud of their achievements. The children develop an understanding of concepts about themselves, others, and the world around them through observation, interacting with people and real objects, and seeking solutions to concrete problems.
Kindergarten
Please note that students must be 5 or turn 5 by December 1 of the year they are enrolling for to be eligible for this program.
Math:
- Counting forward and backward from 100
- Measurement basics
- Interpret bar graphs
- Identify patterns
- Introduction to addition and subtraction, solving simple questions
Language Arts:
- Sound and word recognition
- Pairing with upper level reading partners
- Storytelling
- Creative writing
Science:
- Parts of the body
- 5 senses
- The importance of good nutrition (food groups)
- Weather
- How plants grow
- Respect for the environment
Social Studies:
- Study American Indians
- Learn famous Presidents
- Respect for diversity
First Grade
Math:
- Place value to 100
- Patterns in numbers
- Addition & subtraction
- Picture & word problems
- Measurement, time
- Area, charts, graphs, shapes, weight, linear
- Language of math
- Math journals
- Spatial problem solving
- Clocks, Calendars
Language Arts:
- Reading: individually and group, literature and author studies, Reading Partners
- Writing: strategies, journal, writing across the 1st grade curriculum
- Literature: book talk, reading response, reading log
- Spelling: phonics & dictation
Science:
- Chicken egg development
- Animal studies
- Liquid, solid & gas
- Day and night, seasons
- Weather
Social Studies:
- History of holidays
- Map skills
- Countries & the world
- Neighborhoods
- Friends around the world
Second Grade
Math:
- Place value to 1000
- Patterns in number grid
- Double digit addition & subtraction
- Fractions
- Clocks, Calendars
- 2 & 3 dimensions
- Two-step word problems
- Language of math
- Connections with literature
Language Arts:
- Reading: sustained silent reading, independent reading, book talks, discussion groups, Reading Partners
- Writing: based on genre being read, journals, book reports, Homonyms, Synonyms
- Literature: legends, poetry, fiction, nonfiction
- Spelling: phonics & dictation
Science:
- Properties of gases liquids, & solids
- Seeds and plants
- Solar System
- Shadows
- Properties of gases
- Properties of light
- Static electricity
- Magnetism
- Environmental awareness
- Dinosaurs
- Science project
Social Studies:
- Ancestors
- Living in America
- States & Capitals
- World Cultures
- Famous Americans
- Relationship between people & their environment
Third Grade
Math:
- Place value to 1,000,000
- Master addition & subtraction facts
- Multiplication: 2 & 3-digit numbers by 1 digit
- Division
- Geometry
- Charts & graphs
- Word problems: 2 or more steps
- Addition & subtraction of like fractions
Language Arts:
- Reading: comprehension
- Writing: response, writing process, book reports
- Literature: chapter books, nonfiction, fiction
- Grammar: capitalization & punctuation, parts of speech, nouns, verb, adjectives
- Spelling: phonics & dictation
- Cursive writing
Science:
- Electricity & magnetism
- Seeds & plants
- Five senses
- Simple machines
- Environmental awareness
- Science fair
- Rocks & geology
- Study of sound
- Light: reflection & refraction
- Human systems
- Endangered species
- Health & nutrition
Social Studies:
- Comparative study of Native American cultures
- Westward movement
- Immigrants
- People & their environments
- Regions of the US
- Geography & map skills
Fourth Grade
Math:
- Place value of large numbers
- Decimals, long division
- Master multiplication facts
- Estimation of sums, differences, products and quotient
- Addition & subtraction of like fractions
- Number sentences with variables
Language Arts:
- Reading: individualized program with opportunities for choice
- Writing: journals, book reports
- Literature: units on survival, fairy tales and fantasy
- Grammar: conventions of spelling, capitalization and punctuation
- Spelling: weekly units
Science:
- Density, freezing points
- Study of sound
- Solar system
- Research on planets
- Science Fair
Social Studies:
- U.S. Geography
- First Americans, begining with the Stone Age
- U.S. Exploration and Settlement
- Life in the American Colonies
Fifth Grade
Math:
- Place Value to billions
- Whole number operations
- Fractions: addition/subtraction
- Ratios as fractions
- Statistics and graphs
- Relationship between fractions and decimals
- Math labs, math projects
- Geometry
- Problem solving
Language Arts:
- Reading: class novels, read for information and content
- Writing: journals, writers’ notebooks, personal narratives, peer review
- Literature: mysteries, plays, short stories, legends, poetry
- Grammar: noun, verb, adjective, adverb
- Spelling: weekly units
Science:
- Classifying matter
- Physical & chemical changes in matter
- Electricity & magnetism
- The Human body
- Solar System
- Study of weather
- Plant growth & adaptation
- Simple living things
- Invertebrates
- Biomes
Social Studies:
- American history: from the 1700’s to the 1960’s
- Industrial revolution
- Erie Canal
- United States as a world power
- The Cold War
- Rise of a political system
Sixth Grade
Math:
- Place value to thousandths decimals
- Two-digit divisor
- Multiplications & division of fractions & decimals
- Conversion of fractions, decimals & percent
- Perimeter, circumference, area
- Statistics & probability
- Problem solving
- Number theory
Language Arts:
- Reading: class novels, independent reading, reading for content
- Writing: journals, writers’ notebooks, essays, poetry, autobiography
- Literature: historical, fiction, novels, short stories, Greek myths and legends, drama
- Grammar: parts of speech, capitalization & punctuation
Science:
- Flowering plants
- Mitosis & meiosis
- Life in the oceans
- Evolution
- Ecosystems
- Acids & bases
- Ionic & molecular bonds
- Chemical & nuclear changes
- Light & sound
- Electrical energy
- Beyond the solar system
- Origin of the earth
Social Studies:
- Study of ancient Egypt, China, Africa, India, Middle East
- Study of Roman Republic
- Ancient Greece: art, mythology, architecture, history, philosophy
- Research paper
- Basic archaeology
Seventh Grade
Math:
- Positive & negative numbers
- Pre-Algebra
- Basic geometric formulas
- Units of measure
- Percents, fractions, decimals
- Logical reasoning
- Group approach in problem solving
- Ratios and proportion
- Number theory
- Probability
- Area and volume
Language Arts:
- Reading: class novels, independent reading
- Writing: historical fiction, life in history, newspaper, personal essay, adaptations
- Literature: short stories, drama, novels, poetry
- Author units: Poe, Twain, Hemingway
- Grammar: sentences, usage, paragraphs, vocabulary
Science:
The Life Sciences:
- Classification
- Cells
- Plants
- Genetics
- Evolution
- Human Body
- Ecology
- Animals
Social Studies:
Early civilizations:
- China, Japan, India, Africa
- Europe and the Middle Ages
- Modern Europe
- The Reformation
- Napoleon
- Rise of Asia, Africa, Americas
Eighth Grade
Math:
- Equations & inequalities
- Graph relations & functions
- Algebraic & graphic solutions
- Monomials & polynomials
- Roots and exponents
- Quadratic equations
- Applications
- Number theory
- Ratios, proportion, percents
- Geometry
- Area and volume
- Trigonometry functions
Language Arts:
- Reading: class novels, independent reading
- Writing: personal narratives, memoirs, monologues, essay
- Literature: Shakespeare, Dickens, Chaucer, romantic poets of 19th century, Holocaust readings, poetry
- Oral presentations: skits, dialogues, choral recitation
- Grammar
Science:
The Earth Sciences:
- Introduction to earth sciences
- Map skills
- Astronomy
- Earth in space
- Earth systems
- Geology
- Chemistry
- Meteorology
- Oceanography
Social Studies:
- Reconstruction Period
- Immigration
- Rise of political system
- US as a world power
- World War I & II
- Great Depression
- Vietnam War
