EXPERIENCE THE LOWER SCHOOL

 

At the Lower School, students have the opportunity to explore and develop their passions in and out of the classroom. In addition to our rigorous and relevant academic courses, students also participate in a rich student life that encourages fun, altruism, leadership, and a dedication to serving others as Christ has called. Through their involvement in clubs, class retreats, and projects, students forge lifelong friendships and integrate a growing biblical worldview into everyday actions. 

At TPCS, it is our role to see that each student is provided with a secure, caring, and stimulating atmosphere in which to grow and mature emotionally, intellectually, physically, socially, and spiritually. It's our desire to work alongside our teachers and staff to provide an environment that is safe, supports risk-taking, and invites sharing of ideas. Building and maintaining a strong spiritual foundation and faith is key, individually and as a family in Christ. This requires us to live in community and support each other daily through prayer and positive words and actions.

Hands-On Learning

We recognize the power and importance of hands-on, experiential “learning by doing.” By using best practices, TPCS is growing its progressive and innovative philosophy, where children enjoy learning to read and write through our reading/writing workshop models, explore the wonders of mathematics using manipulatives to build understanding, see themselves as young scientists through integrated STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) projects, and get excited about outdoor and environmental education in our beautiful outdoor learning labs and spaces. 

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CURRICULUM 

The Lower School prepares students to succeed at a higher level through differentiated learning and a rigorous curriculum taught from a biblical worldview. Onsite Reading specialists work with our K-6 students on a personalized level to help them achieve their highest individualized potential. In addition to the core subjects of Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, Science, and Bible, students also participate in weekly co-curriculars. These include Art, Physical Education, Library/Media, Worship Arts, and Outdoor Education.

TPCS utilizes Amplify for our K-6 Language Arts curriculum. Amplify is a personalized learning program with captivating storylines to engage students in powerful reading instruction and practice. Whether students are learning to read fluently or sharpening close reading skills, Amplify accelerates their growth at all age levels. 

Adapting to each reader’s unique needs across 13 skill areas, students embark on individuals journeys that offer both remediation and enrichment through a comprehensive range of instruction. In addition to providing explicit, systematic foundational skills, it’s the only program that focuses on the things we do while we’re reading that allows us to make sense of text—also known as comprehension processes.  Learn more about Amplify Curriculum

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Bridges in Mathematics is a comprehensive curriculum that equips teachers to fully address state standards in a rigorous, engaging, and accessible manner. Students gain a deep understanding of concepts, proficiency with key skills, and the ability to solve complex problems. The curriculum is composed of three distinct but integrated components: Problems & Investigations, Work Places, and Number Corner.

Seeing, touching, and sketching ideas create pictures in the mind’s eye, helping learners construct, understand, and apply mathematical ideas. One of the few elementary math programs that achieved EdReport's highest rating, Bridges incorporates increasingly complex visual models, including the number line and the array models, in a coherent framework across the curriculum. Learn more about Bridges Math.

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Curriculum Overview K - 4th

Kindergarten Curriculum Overview

 

Humanities

  • Nursery Rhymes and Fables
  • Stories
  • Native Americans
  • Kings and Queens
  • Columbus and Pilgrims
  • Colonial Towns and Townspeople
  • Presidents and American Symbols
  • Character traits taught through the Bible
  • US and World Map

Language Arts

  • Direction of print

  • Upper and lower case letters- recognition & sounds

  • Long and short sounds of 5 major vowels

  • Count the number of words in a sentence 

  • Orally pronounce, blend and segment words into syllables

  • Identify and produce rhyming words

  • Blend consonant-vowel-consonant sounds to read words

  • Read common high frequency and "tricky words" by sight 109 of the 220 Dolch Words

  • Identify the beginning, middle and final sounds in words with 2-3 phonemes

  • Add, delete or substitute sounds to change one-syllable words

  • Orally read emergent-reader texts, maintaining an appropriate pace and self-correcting strategies

 

Reading Foundational Skills

  • Actively engage in group reading activities
  • Author and Illustrator
  • Illustrations
  • Main Topic and Key Details
  • Retell
  • Character, Settings or Events
  • Compare and Contrast stories/characters/etc.
  • Ask and answer questions about unknown words and story elements
  • Participate in collaborative conversations
  • Give, restate and follow simple two-step directions

 

Literature

  • Nursery Rhymes and Fables- Hush: A Thai Lullaby by Minfong Ho
  • The Five Senses- Rainbow Joe and Me by Maria Diaz Strom
  • Stories- Red Riding Hood by James Marshall
  • Plants- The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle
  • Farms- The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred by Samantha R. Vamos
  • Native Americans- D is for Drum by Debbie and Michael Shoulders
  • Kings and Queens- Princess Hyacinth (the Surprisingly Tale of a Girl who Floated) by Florence Parry Heide
  • Seasons and Weather- Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco
  • Columbus and Pilgrims- Pilgrims of Plymouth by Susan E. Goodman
  • Colonial Towns and Townspeople- Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall
  • Taking Care of the Earth- The Wump World by Bill Peet
  • Presidents and American Symbols- If I Were President by Catherine Stier

 

Writing

  • Use words and pictures to relay story or information

  • Develop a main idea and provide some information about a topic

  • Capitalization, Punctuation and Spacing

  • Write most uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet, correctly shaping and spacing the letters of the words

  • Apply the writing process with support to revise writing by adding simple details and correcting errors: opinion, personal narrative, and nonfiction writing

  • Nouns and Verbs

  • Different kinds of sentences: . ?!

  • Beginning Writing

  • Opinion Writing

  • Informative Writing

  • How To Writing

  • Personal Narrative Writing

 

Mathematics

  • Counting by 1's, 10's, 5's, and 2's & also counting on 

  • Read and write numbers to 20, read number words 1-10

  • Cardinality-how many numbers in a set

  • Compare numerals- greater/less than symbol

  • Identify combinations that equal 5 and 10

  • Sort objects by a variety of attributes

  • Discuss measurable attributes of an object- length, weight, volume, etc.

  • 2D and 3D shapes-identify, sort, describe attributes, model, draw

  • Use positional words to describe location

  • Solve addition and subtraction problems with numbers 1-10

  • Represent and solve addition and subtraction story problems

  • Decompose numbers into pairs in more than one way, record each decomposition (number tree, unifix cubes, tens frame,etc.)

 

Special Events

  • Pumpkin Drop

  • Hayride Days

  • Lead Thanksgiving Chapel

  • End of Kindergarten Celebration

  • Pumpkin Exploration Station Day

  • Guest Readers (parents and staff)

  • Field Day

  • Camp-Learned-a-Lot

  • Class Celebrations: Thanksgiving, Christmas, 100th Day, Valentine's Day, and Easter

 

 

Science

  • PLTW Themes:

    Human Body

    Pushes and Pulls

    Explore and Design

  • Plants

  • Birds

  • The Five Senses

  • Farms

  • Recycling

  • Seasons/weather

 

Bible

  • Creation

  • God Cares for His Creation

  • Adam and Eve

  • Cain and Abel

  • The Story of Noah

  • The Tower of Babel

  • Abraham and Isaac

  • Jacob and Esau

  • Joseph and His New Coat

  • Joseph in Egypt

  • Moses and the Princess

 

Art

  • Drawing: Caves
  • Painting: Color Wheel, Sun/Moon/Stars, Self Portrait with Warm and Cool Colors
  • Paper Arts: Grayscale Collage
  • Ceramics: Hand Building Animals
  • 3-D: Weaving

1st Grade Curriculum Overview

 

Humanities

  • Early World Civilizations - Egypt and Mesopotamia
  • Early American Civilizations
  • American Independence
  • Frontier Explorers
  • Me on the Map

 

Language Arts/Literature

  • Strong Content Knowledge
  • Explicit, Systematic Approach to Phonics
  • Writing in Response to Reading
  • Spelling

 

Mathematics

  • Numbers All Around Us
  • Strategies with Dice and Dominoes
  • Adding
  • Subtracting
  • Counting and Comparing
  • Utilizing a Number Line
  • Geometry
  • Facts and Measurement
  • One Hundred and Beyond
  • Time, Measurement and Data

 

Special Events

  • Pumpkin Drop - STEAM
  • Dull's Pumpkin Patch 
  • Children's Museum - Paleontologist
  • Jameson Camp - Outdoor Ed

 

 

Science

  • The Human Body
  • Astronomy
    • PLTW-Observing the Sun, Moon, Stars
  • History of the Earth - Geology/Paleontology
  • Animals and Habitats
    • PLTW-Animal Adaptations
  • PLTW - Light and Sound
  • PLTW - Animated Storytelling (Coding)

 

Outdoor Education

  • Vermicomposting

 

Bible

  • The World
  • Special Promises
  • Worship
  • A Savior
  • Children
  • Friends
  • Special Blessings
  • Weekly Scripture Memorization
  • Weekly Chapel 

 

Art

  • Drawing: Landscape (Outdoors)
  • Painting: Monochromatic
  • Paper Arts: Mosaics
  • Ceramics: Hand Building Pinch Pots
  • 3-D: Found Object Creature Heads

 

2nd Grade Curriculum Overview

 

Humanities

  • Early Asian Civilization
  • Early Greek Civilization
  • War of 1812
  • Westward Expansion
  • Maps
  • Roles of Citizens
  • Immigration
  • Local Economics
  • Local Community History, Timeline, Leaders
  • Civil War
  • Greek Myths

Language Arts/Literature

  • Decoding and encoding CVC, CVr, V, VV, VCe, Cle syllable types
  • Paragraph development
  • Reading decodable text
  • Fairy Tales and Folktales
  • Intro to Persuasive Writing
  • Guided Research Writing
  • Personal Narratives
  • Book Reports
  • Spelling
  • Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
  • Stone Fox

 

Mathematics

  • Addition within 1000
  • Subtraction within 1000
  • Money and Change
  • Measurement
  • Reading time to the nearest 5 minutes

 

Special Events

  • Pancake Day
  • Monarch Butterfly Release
  • Pumpkin Drop
  • Children's Museum STEM lab - Weather Tools

 

 

 

Science

  • Science of Nature
  • Insects
  • Human Body, Building Blocks and Nutrition
  • Grids and Games with Two Button Control
  • Form and Function, How God's creation influences our inventions
  • Properties of Matter
  • The Changing Earth 
  • Various Project Lead the Way (PLTW) assignments 

 

Outdoor Education

  • Monarch Butterfly Project
  • Pancakes by the Bonfire with ELA Skills Unit

 

Bible

  • The Life of Moses
  • Adornment Book - 12 names of Jesus
  • Scripture memorization: The Lord's Prayer, the Armor of God (Eph 6:10-19), (1 Cor 13:4-8, 13) Christmas Story (Luke 2:7-20)

 

Art 

  • Drawing: Caves
  • Painting: Color Wheel, Sun/Moon, Self Portrait with Warm and Cool Colors
  • Paper Arts: Grayscale Collage
  • Ceramics: Hand Building Animals
  • 3-D Design: Weaving

 

Physical Education

  • Human Body, Building Blocks, and Nutrition

3rd Grade Curriculum Overview

 

Humanities

Colonial History

Pioneer Life and the Oregon Trail

Major Landforms

Economics

Current Events

Language Arts/Literature

Amplify Curriculum

Writing with increased stamina

Personal Narratives

Expository Writing

Opinion Based Writing

Charlotte's Web

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe

 

Mathematics

Bridges Mathematics

Students focus intensively on the four critical areas specified by the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics in Grade Three:

    • Developing understanding of multiplication and division and strategies for multiplication and division within 100

    • Developing understanding of fractions, especially unit fractions (fractions with numerator 1)

    • Developing understanding of the structure of rectangular arrays and of area

    • Describing and analyzing two-dimensional shapes

Content Outline/Scope and Sequence

 

Special Events

Animal Tracks

Wilbur Day

Mini Mall

Classroom Solar System Models

Rube Goldberg Project

Apply Valley One Room Pioneer School

Pioneer Day 

 

 

Science

Indiana Mammals

Weather

Computer Programming

Plant Life Cycle

Astronomy

Simple Machines

 

Bible

Weekly Chapels

Scripture Memorization

Abraham and Sarah

Isaac

Jacob

Joseph

Ruth

Daniel

 

Art

Drawing: Cultural Pattern with Charcoal

Painting: Portrait Painting with Tempera

Paper Arts: Mosaic Art in One Color

Ceramics: Hand Building Imaginative Creatures

3-D Design: Nature Sculptures

4th Grade Curriculum Overview

Humanities

  • Indiana History 
    • Geography
    • Government
    • Early People
  • Hispanic Heritage
  • Black History
  • Women's History
  • Asian/Pacific Islander
  • Famous Hoosiers

 

Language Arts

  • Character and Plot Development Through Novels
  • Narrative Writing
  • Poetry - Analyzing and Creating
  • Fables
  • Types of Sentences
  • Parts of Speech
  • Paragraph Writing
  • Informative Writing
  • Persuasive Writing

 

Literature

  • The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate Dicamillo
  • Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
  • The Tale of Despereaux by Kate Dicamillo
  • The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Spears
  • The Wild Robot by Peter Brown

 

Mathematics

  • Addition and Subtract Strategies
  • Long Multiplication and Division Strategies
  • Factors and Multiples
  • Fractions: Comparing, Common Denominators, Simplifying, Converting Mixed Numbers to Improper, Ordering
  • Identifying Shapes and Attributes
  • Area and Perimeter
  • March Madness Project (data analysis, fractions, decimals, and percentages)

 

Special Events

  • Grinch Day
  • Pizzeria Room Transformation
  • Bread Baking Fractions
  • Famous Hoosiers Wax Museum
  • Food Truck Creations and Presentations
  • Native American Nation Presentations

 

Science

  • Adaptations
  • PLTW- Physical Science: Energy Collisions and Conversions
  • Engineering Process
  • PLTW - Engineering:Input/Output of the Human Brain
  • Energy, Heat, and Light
  • Weathering and Erosion

 

Bible

  • The Life of Jesus
  • How the Holy Spirit Works in Us
  • Life of Paul
  • Weekly Chapel
  • Scripture Memorization

 

Art

  • Sketchbook: Process Documentation and Nature Studies
  • Drawing: Self-Portrait with Ratio and Proportion
  • Painting:Color Wheel Painting (Increased Fidelity) with Color Theory and Artist's Choice using Technique and Composition
  • Paper Arts: Symmetry Art
  • Ceramics: Architectural Building with Slab Forms
  • 3-D: Nature Sculptures

 


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  • Turning visitors into leads.

Curriculum Overview 5th - 6th

5th Grade Curriculum Overview

Humanities

  • Ways of Life Before and After the Arrival of Europeans to 1610
  • Colonization and Settlements: 1607 to 1763
  • The American Revolution: 1763 to 1783
  • The American Revolution: 1763 to 1783
  • JA Biztown
  • Making the United States Constitution and Establishing the Federal Republic: 1763 to 1800
  • Chronological Thinking, Historical Comparison, Analysis and Interpretation, Research
  • Civics and Government

Language Arts/Literature

  • Personal Narratives
  • Early American Civilizations (Research Project)
  • Poetry
  • Adventures of Don Quixote
  • The Renaissance
  • The Reformation
  • Native Americans
  • Chemical Matter

Mathematics - Bridges Math

Content Outline

Scope and Sequence

Students focus intensively on the three critical areas specified by the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics in Grade Five:

  • Developing fluency with addition and subtraction of fractions, and developing understanding of the multiplication of fractions and of division of fractions in limited cases (unit fractions divided by whole numbers and whole numbers divided by unit fractions)

  • Extending division to 2-digit divisors, integrating decimal fractions into the place value system, developing understanding of operations with decimals to hundredths, and developing fluency with whole number and decimal operations

Special Events

  • Pumpkin Drop (STEM)
  • Hayride Days
  • American Revolution Wax Museum
  • Twin Lakes Overnight 
  • JA Biztown

Science

  • Property and Structure of Matter
  • PLTW - Matter Properties and Reactions
  • Astronomy
  • PLTW - Patterns in the Universe
  • Infection
  • Ecosystems: The Flow of Energy

Outdoor Education

  • Hayride Days
  • Twin Lakes Overnight

Bible

  • Old Testament

Art

  • Sketchbook: Process Documentation and Nature Studies
  • Drawing: Cityscape with Perspective
  • Painting: Experimental Acrylic, Artist's Choice
  • Paper Arts: Printmaking and Symmetry
  • Ceramics: Ancient Relief Sculpture
  • 3-D: Weaving (Increased Fidelity)

5th Grade Curriculum Overview

Humanities

Language Arts

Small Moment Stories

Argumentative Essays

Informative Essays

Literary Essays

 

Literature

Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl

Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson

The Secret of the Yellow Death by Suzanne Jurmain

The Candy Bomber by Michale O. Tunnell

The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien

Excerpts from The Titanic

Excerpts from Prometheus, Odysseus, and Arachne

 

Mathematics

Numerical Expressions and Factors

Fractions and Decimals

Algebraic Expressions and Properties

Areas of Polygons

Ratios and Rates
 
Integers and the Coordinate Plane
 
Equations and Inequalities
 
Surface Area and Volume
 
Statistical Measures
 
Data Displays

 

Art

Sketchbook: Process Documentation & Nature Studies

Drawing: Still Life
Painting: Self-portrait Painting with Acrylic

Paper Arts: Bookbinding/Making
Ceramics: Hand Building Ancient Vessels

3-D Design: Mobile Art

 

Special Events

Story Telling Festival

Sheep Brain Dissections

PLTW Medical Detectives

JA Biztown

Marengo Cave Overnight

Science

Earth and Space - EV3 Lego Mindstorms Integration
Ecosystems
Forces and Energy
Science Fair


Outdoor Education

  • Hayride Days
  • Marengo Cave Overnight

Bible - Positive Action Bible Curriculum

Scope and Sequence

Preparation: God's Word: Seeking and Listening
 
Inner Strength: Designed for His glory, Purpose, Filled with the Spirit, Our Worship, Repentance
The Path: Righteousness, Honor and Obedience, To Help or Rebel, A Heart for God, A Life of Dedication, Courage to Stand
 
Weights and Distractions: Foolishness, Greed and Envy, Enemies of God, How We Sin, Overcoming Temptation, Conformed to His Image, The Church in the World

The Goal: The Lamb of God, The Miracles of Jesus, A New Life in Christ, The Sermon on the Mount, The Crucifixion, The Resurrection, The Power of the Spirit
 
The Prize: Revealing the Future, Messages from the Son, The Church in Heaven, Judging the World, The Reign of Christ, The Final Victory
 
Weekly Scripture Memory
 
 

Art

Sketchbook: Process Documentation and Nature Studies

Drawing: Still Life

Painting: Self Portrait with Acrylic

Paper Arts: Bookbinding/Making

Ceramics: Hand Building Ancient Vessels

3D Design: Mobile Art