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The Lower School celebrates the unique gift that each child brings to Penn Charter and provides the essential tools for lifelong learning. It is a home for the mind and the spirit, a place where every student can fall in love with books and Beethoven.
We support the integrity of ideas and help nurture a hunger for learning, allowing children to discover their intellectual passions. It is a place where all students can experience mathematics as a mathematician, writing as a poet and science as a scientist.
Our curriculum strives to introduce students to the richness of the past while at the same time preparing them for the challenges of the future.
Quakerism & Religion
Every Lower School student attends weekly Meeting for Worship,
a time of silent meditation punctuated by thoughts any member
of the group wants to share. Adults within the group are often
moved by the clarity, simplicity and truth of the words of
Lower School children. Parents of children who have gone through
the school comment that the period of silence is a time for
children to refine their own moral positions, consider their
own spiritual roots and strengthen the student’s own
religious traditions in a way that supports the training of
the family.
Language
Arts
Reading: The ability to read well is the foundation for all
education and a rich source for learning about life. Young
readers’ enthusiasm for good literature contributes
to the development of their critical thinking and reading
skills, an awareness of cultural diversity and an appreciation
of one’s self in relation to others. Writing is a personal
means of expression, but also a craft. Since it improves with
practice, frequent and varied writing assignments give children
experience with the writing process. Having developed confidence
and fluency through practice, having learned the conventions
of language—grammar, usage, spelling, punctuation, syntax
and style—children can go on to become effective and
powerful writers. Library Skills are stressed. Children learn
to use a library effectively. This encourages an interest
in books and in reading for pleasure, as well as in developing
early research skills.
Mathematics
Mathematics in the Lower School emphasizes reasoning, problem-solving
and communicating mathematical thinking. As connections are
made between mathematics, real life and other school subjects,
children develop a deeper understanding of concepts and master
basic skills.
Technology
The computer and related technologies are integrated into
our curriculum to enhance critical thinking, research, writing
and communications skills. We strive to use the computer as
a tool to further cultivate these skills. The focus of the
computer is placed in the classroom with the lab as an agent
to prepare students with skills to be utilized in their classroom
endeavors.
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Social
Studies
Social Studies seeks to educate children to live in a changing
world. As a Friends school, we emphasize the interdependence
of all people, the need to understand and accept differences
and the need for cooperation and sharing.
Science
Science in the Lower School introduces students to the natural
and physical world through experimentation, and channels natural
curiosity toward the solution of problems using logic and
observation.
Art
Art encourages a critical perception, a comprehension of tools
and techniques, an appreciation of creativity and the enjoyment
of art in our lives.
Music
Music includes singing, sight reading, listening, creating
and performing, and is designed to awaken the children’s
aesthetic sensitivity and increase their knowledge and love
of music. Recorder instruction begins in the third grade.
Chorus and bell choir are fourth and fifth grade activities.
Health
and Physical Education
Physical education allows children to work on social skills
and to maximize their own physical fitness. In addition, children
are helped to acquire attitudes and practices which increase
their potential for good health in the years ahead.
Foreign
Language
Foreign language in the Lower School introduces students to
the basics of Spanish. Students are given a foundation to
prepare them for more intensive foreign language study in
the Middle and Upper School. Students receive foreign language
instruction in kindergarten through fifth grade. Language
classes consist of vocabulary units and grammatical structures
designed to explore the language. Cultural units are presented
to illustrate the language content of each unit (music, arts,
food, traditions, etc.). Students learn Spanish through games,
songs, writing and speaking. The program is integrated into
our Lower School curriculum.
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