Academics
Lower School Curriculum
(Grades K-5)
St. Thomas More Academy K-5 curriculum has nine fundamental components:
1. Faith and the Virtues
Each day begins with Holy Mass in St. Patrick’s church. Scripture, stories of the saints, prayers, and hymns are woven into the fabric of each day. Two periods a week are formally devoted to Catechesis; STMA’s Catechesis curriculum incorporates elements of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. For the 2nd graders, Catechesis includes preparation for First Communion and First Confession. Students learn about and practice the virtues, and STMA’s discipline policies incorporate the language of virtue. Students are surrounded by an environment of beauty in the school building, classrooms, and church that brings peace to their soul, and draws their hearts and minds to God.
2. Integrated Humanities
STMA is using core elements of the St. Patrick’s Curriculum developed by Diana Philpott and Lisa Kearns. Salvation history provides the spine of this curriculum, and it includes geography, art, architecture, religion, music, literature (with read alouds), poetry, and science. The skills of the Trivium, including reading, spelling, writing, handwriting, copywork, grammar, logic, vocabulary, and rhetoric are practiced in the context of true, good, and beautiful books. Children are introduced to historical lands and cultures as the story of the Israelites interweaves with great civilizations. They recognize the Incarnation as the center of history, and follow the birth and growth of the Church as she spreads the Gospel to all lands. Children also grow to see that this story of salvation is their story. They learn that God has a plan, life is meaningful, and how they live matters greatly. Stories of saints and heroes develop strong imaginations and inspire virtuous ideals of goodness, nobility, and holiness. An explanation of the St. Patrick Curriculum can be found HERE. Students also learn key historical facts each year and build their knowledge of geography.
3. Language Arts Skills (The Trivium)
Every day, students study phonics, spelling, vocabulary, grammar, or writing with their teachers in a formal way. Skills learned during this time are reviewed and practiced throughout the rest of the day.
4. Latin (The Trivium)
Kindergarteners and 1st graders are exposed to the Latin language through hymns and prayers. Students begin to formally learn Latin in 2nd grade with the help of the University of Dallas’s Latin through Stories. Latin is an extremely logical language, and as students learn their grammar and syntax, they better understand the workings of the English language, and learn to think more logically. The study of Latin has a privileged place in STMA’s curriculum because it is the language of the Roman Catholic Church, and the root of modern Romance languages.
5. Mathematics (The Quadrivium)
By the end of 5th grade, students have mastered arithmetic and are ready for PreAlgebra.
6. Science (The Quadrivium)
Twice a week, younger students will use James Partridge’s Natural Science Through the Seasons, as well as Anna Comstock’s Handbook of Nature Study and Nature Notebook Series, to learn to observe what is seasonally happening in the natural world around them, and begin to deduce the order intrinsic in the universe. Every day, students will have some time to observe plants in the classroom gardens, noting how they are developing in a systematic way. Once a week, they will go on an observation walk around the school grounds. In grades 4 and 5, students will begin their study of Bernard Nebel’s Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding.
7. The Fine Arts
Students will have dedicated time for Music four times a week. In Music class, in addition to learning modern music theory and folk songs, students will learn to sing hymns and Gregorian chant through the Ward Method so that they can sing at Mass as an all-school choir. Students will have dedicated time for Art twice a week in the 1st two trimesters, and dedicated time for Drama twice a week in the 3rd trimester. The Fine Arts have a privileged place in STMA’s curriculum in order to develop the students’ creative powers, train their aesthetic sense, and properly order their affections.
8. Recess/Gym
Children need to exercise their bodies in order to exercise their minds, and so STMA will have at least 2 short recesses daily, punctuating blocks of study. This will also give them time to socialize. The students will practice playing organized games and sports once a week during a longer Gym period.
9. Lunch
Lunch is an opportunity for students to socialize, practice good manners, and serve one another by helping with cleanup.