LOWER SCHOOL- Helping Each Other Grow
Rumsey's Lower School, Grades K-5, offers students a place to
develop as individuals at their own rates. Teachers and instruction
focus on each student's individual strengths and needs while
presenting a strong base of knowledge and skills to build upon
in the middle school years. Each class participates in a special
citizenship program which underscores the school's dedication
to honesty, kindness and respect.
Kindergarten
THE STRUCTURE
Children in kindergarten are in school from 8:00 a.m. until
2:30 p.m., with additional programs available from 2:30 p.m.
until 4:30 p.m. Weekly classes are provided in art, music, chorus
and physical education.
THE PHILOSOPHY
Rumsey's kindergarten nurtures each child to develop self-awareness,
self-expression, and a positive self-image. Rumsey teaches citizenship
values as an integral part of every activity. We believe art
and playtime are important parts of the curriculum.
THE PROGRAM
The kindergarten curriculum is child-centered and wonder-based.
Major units of study emerge from the interests of the children.
All aspects of the curriculum are presented through a variety
of modalities to appeal to each child's learning style. We provide
direct experiences whenever possible. Children learn about themselves
and their world in the context of the classroom, the Rumsey
family, and the Shepaug River Valley. Children are taught to
form and identify letters and to learn math concepts with manipulatives.
The interdisciplinary, literature based curriculum includes
science and social studies as a natural part of the math and
language arts work.
Pre-Primes - 1st Grade
Primes - 2nd Grade
LANGUAGE ARTS
Primes learn reading in a literature based and phonics program.
They are taught to print. They begin writing their own stories
and informational journals early in the Pre-Primes year. Spelling
is introduced formally in Primes.
MATH
The goal in Primes classes is to establish a concrete understanding
of numbers as well as teach specific skills and operations.
Learning evolves from chants, writing, songs and games, tactile
materials and an integration of math into everyday situations.
Rumsey children gain an understanding of numbers from the
concrete to abstract. The Primes math courses have been developed
by selecting strategies and activities from many established
texts. The teachers devise and individualize their programs
in response to the strengths and needs of their students.
SCIENCE AND SOCIAL STUDIES
The Primes social studies and science curricula are closely
related. In social studies, students progress from learning
about their own history to studying families and basic human
needs. Children identify their own place in the Rumsey community,
local towns and the state of Connecticut.
In science, Pre-Primes students use themselves, their families
and Rumsey's campus to begin to understand the scientific
method. The focus of their study is life-cycles. Primes students
explore local trees, rivers and farms. They study weather
patterns and observe weather at Rumsey. Primes children also
reach beyond their own observations and begin learning about
research with a unit on dinosaurs.
SPECIAL CLASSES
The Pre-Primes and Primes classes have art twice each week
and music three times each week, twice in a general music
class and once in chorus with other grades. They have physical
education classes three times each week and health once.
Forms I, II, III - Grades 3, 4, 5
READING AND ENGLISH
Two class periods each day are spent developing effective
readers and writers through the study of reading, composition
and English grammar. While these studies are naturally interrelated
and reinforced throughout the curriculum, each aspect is specifically
presented during the lower school years.
In grammar class, each Form builds on and expands the previous
Form's knowledge of parts of speech, kinds of sentences, sentence
structure, usage and punctuation. In composition, this knowledge
is applied in different kinds of paragraphs, poetry and book
reports. Students use process writing to develop their ideas.
Reading class develops decoding, comprehension, library and
study skills essential for learning in all areas. Different
forms of literature are introduced. Each week's plan provides
time for children to do independent reading, free writing
and to listen to teacher-read stories. Nearly all reading
lessons are taught through "trade books" rather
than basal readers. The teacher selects books according to
the needs and interests of the students. Instruction in spelling
and handwriting is given in each form.
MATH
First Form math emphasizes place value, rounding, estimating,
addition and subtraction with regrouping, multiplication and
division facts. Time, geometry and measurements for weight
and length are also units of study. Word and logic problems
are integrated into the curriculum throughout the year.
Second Form math students study numeration, rounding, estimating,
multiplication and regrouping division by two digit divisors,
graphing and addition and subtraction of fractions. Students
are taught and encouraged to try out various strategies for
problem solving.
Third Form math students review and work toward comfort calculating
long division and extended multiplication problems. The year
focuses on number properties, a thorough understanding of
fractions, decimal fractions and the metric system. Once again,
there is a strong emphasis on various methods of solving problems.
When it is appropriate, a third section of Third Form math
is offered to students with special needs or abilities.
SCIENCE
The science curriculum in the first three forms continues
to encourage the children to appreciate Rumsey Hall's beautiful
campus and to learn through first-hand observation of and
interaction with the natural surroundings and hands-on experiences.
In the First Form, the major units are the solar system, river
habitat, space and oceanography. In the Second Form the major
units are "what is science?", the environment, simple
machines and inventions, food chains and webs, earth's layers
and plants. In the Third Form, the major units are vertebrates
and invertebrates, matter and energy, and body systems. Units
have been selected and developed to complement work in social
studies and reading.
SOCIAL STUDIES
First Form social studies presents a different aspect of understanding
our world. The students learn how other cultures and civilizations
developed. The goal is for the students to have a timeline
and global concept with which to continue their studies of
history and geography. The major units of study are continents
and their natural resources and then civilizations in time:
Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece and Rome.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE AND LANGUAGE SKILLS
Students in the First and Second Form study French and Spanish
each for half a year. In the Third Form the children choose
French or Spanish for a full year of study. Emphasis is on
studying the language and culture, with practice in oral presentation
and reinforcement through games, songs, activities and stories.
Evaluation is informal throughout the term, with the Third
Form having a formal assessment at the end of the fall and
spring terms.
SPECIALS
Each class has art for two periods each week and general music
for two periods, as well as a combined chorus to rehearse
for performances. Every grade has one health class each week.
First Form and Second Form have physical education classes
as well.
|
