The Lower School at Carolina Day
As Aristotle taught, people do not naturally or spontaneously grow up to be morally excellent or practically wise. They become so, if at all, only as the result of a lifelong personal and community effort.
- Jon Moline
Students begin their journey toward becoming lifelong learners in Carolina Day's Lower School. Our team of teachers is committed to creating an environment in which children can thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. Our students learn to stretch their minds and challenge their thinking in a supportive atmosphere where they can gain self-confidence and experience success. And throughout each day the essential qualities of respect and responsibility are stressed so that students continue to grow in their understanding of what it means to be responsible citizens in their school community.
Carolina Day's Lower School consists of pre-kindergarten through grade five. We are committed to an ongoing review of the curriculum to ensure that it is developmentally appropriate and consistent for students across all grade levels. We recognize that learning is a process which is most successful when viewed as a whole and when all subjects are integrated.
Language Arts
Our language arts program includes a strong phonics program, balanced with a rich language and literary experiences. Each student is given opportunities to acquire and develop the skills of writing, reading, listening, speaking, and critical thinking through diverse, multi-sensory experiences. We begin teaching cursive writing in kindergarten, integrating it with the teaching of reading. This increases writing fluency, and it also reduces reversals and other handwriting challenges.
Language arts skills are developed by giving each student daily opportunities to read actively and thoughtfully, to write clearly, to appreciate and enjoy different kinds of literature, and through class discussions, to listen actively and speak well.
Mathematics
It is essential for students in today's world to develop strong problem-solving and critical-thinking skills, and this is the major focus in our math curriculum. Through a manipulative, hands-on approach students begin to develop these important skills and conceptual understandings, while at the same time they also acquire strong computational skills.
Science
Experiences in science are used to foster a respect for nature so that students can understand the processes of science—observation, description, experimentation, and data collection. The goal is to increase the student's knowledge of life, earth, and physical science. As this knowledge is acquired, students learn to appreciate the roles that science and technology play in shaping our world, and they become involved in local environmental issues. The science curriculum is explored through experimentation and cooperative learning experiences.
These third graders enjoy feeding their frog they've been raising.
Social Studies
A primary goal of the social studies curriculum is to give students an understanding of their role in the world and to help them become responsible citizens. Yearly themes provide cohesiveness and give meaning as students are taught essential skills in history and geography, as well as thinking, communication, and research skills. By studying the past and the forces that have shaped the world's nations, students begin to appreciate and respect differences among people and to gain an understanding of their immediate environment, their state, nation, and world.
Environmental Education
Students in the Lower School at Carolina Day have many opportunities to enjoy outdoor education experiences.
Fifth graders are involved in several off-campus outdoor education experiences each year, including their overnight "Cornerstone" program in the fall and the four-day "High Country School" experience in the spring. These units enrich the curriculum and build a growing awareness in our students of the needs of their environment and their role in helping to protect and preserve it.
A Typical Day
Each day in the Lower School is filled with a wide variety of learning opportunities that encourage the development of the whole child. Activities in the classroom and in special classes encourage cognitive, physical, social, emotional, and moral growth. Several times a week children enjoy classes taught by specialists in music, art, Spanish, and physical education. They visit the school library once a week, where younger children enjoy hearing stories read to them and older students learn to use our computerized card catalogue and other computer resources, and begin to develop research skills as well.
A Partnership
A child's lower school program is carefully monitored by the classroom teacher. As a school we strongly support communication between family and school, and we strive for a working partnership so that we can best meet the needs of each of our learners.
Lower School Parent Meetings for 2007-2008
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