Language Arts

Reading/Vocabulary

The study of literature in the fourth and fifth grades helps to improve the art of reading. Required outside reading in a variety of English and American classics sharpens reading skills.

Vocabulary development accelerates when students relate Latin roots to words from literature. We emphasize the determination of meaning from contextual clues. The goal is to perfect articulation and to interpret words within paragraphs.

Grammar

The formal study of grammar, begun in the third grade, expands in the fourth and fifth grades through intensive instruction in all parts of speech, diagramming, syntax of the simple sentence, usage, punctuation, and capitalization. Students examine the types of sentences by means of sentence patterns. The patterns provide an analytical tool which the student uses to develop a high degree of grammatical sense and discrimination.

Composition

In conjunction with grammar and reading, we teach composition. The student progresses systematically from the sentence to the paragraph and finally to the essay. Emphasis is on conciseness, logical order, and originality.

Spelling

We teach spelling as a formal subject through the sixth grade. The student reviews the rules of phonics and word usage, applying them to words found in his general subject matter as well as formal spelling lists. We stress correct pronunciation as an indispensable part of correct spelling.