Curriculum Information Guide

There are four main areas of language talking, listening, reading and writing.

Our teachers are not just teachers – they are leaders and inspirations to our students and parents. Our teachers have a right mix of passion and practicality for teaching and for our core purpose.Hiring, professional development, supporting, holding accountable and motivating teachers is a top priority for us, as we know that only the most competent teachers provide the best education for our students.

Listening

Listening is a skill that is as important to children as talking. We try to create a considerate listening environment by providing ample opportunities for children to listen to both adults and children by story-telling using stick figures and puppetry. Children are motivated by creative and colorful presentation by the Language and Art teachers. Electronic listening post is used as an effective listening aid in the development of this skill.

Talking

Talking is the main method of communication for both children and adults and is vital to a child’s ability to think and learn. Development of spoken language is the basis from which come early reading and writing experiences.

Reading

Reading is of great importance in school, the aim being not just to recognize words on a page but also to encourage a love of books so children readily turn to them for information and pleasure. We use a variety of reading schemes and materials, carefully graded to develop a child’s reading, and children are quickly encouraged to read Real Books OSC as part of the process.The English Language teachers have also introduced class libraries which have yielded very positive results in the development of reading

Writing

Writing of a variety of kinds will take place in school from imagination to real experience, and for projects, science, poetry, languages etc. Each child is encouraged to write down his own thought freely so that his natural flow of ideas is allowed without the rigid need for correction. In the initial stages guided writing is introduced and gradually children move on to independent writing. Children prepare book reviews, project reports, summaries and acquire techniques of writing all kinds of letters. All this is done through a systematic approach beginning at the Montessori level and progressing further in the school years. It is important too that children feel their writing is appreciated and shared with other children, in the unit or in displays. Spelling is another skill which needs to be learned by children. More attention is paid to correct spelling as a child progresses through the school by encouraging them to learn new spellings with the use of a dictionary.