Lower School

First and Second grades build a foundation of reading with phonics skills, comprehension skills, and vocabulary development. Students are introduced to the literary world through selections of fiction, non-fiction, biographies, poetry, and information articles. The student will link phonics knowledge and skills to the decoding and encoding of words with comprehension of the written context. Each student will develop the ability to answer literal, critical thinking, interpretive, and appreciative questions about the selection read.

Third and fourth grade students will be introduced to reading materials that will encourage them to have a love for reading and a desire to read thoughtfully and fluently. They will become confident, eager readers who, hopefully, will want to read all their lives. Students will obtain enjoyment and understanding from a variety of selections, such as family stories, adventure stories, Christian realism, historical fiction, Bible accounts retold, biographies, information articles, folktales, poems, and plays.

The Language Arts program in Lower School consists of Reading, Phonics (1st and 2nd grades), Grammar, and Spelling.

The formal teaching of Grammar at Veritas begins in first grade. The curriculum is used throughout 1st-4th grade and incorporates the use of rhythm, repetition, and student/teacher interaction. Students actively participate which then prepares them for new challenges at each subsequent grade level. The students will memorize jingles, the question and answer flow, and begin to learn how to construct sentences which leads to paragraph writing. Creative, journal, and research writing as well as vocabulary development are done at all levels.

Students use Purposeful Design Spelling curriculum to strengthen their reading and writing ability. Spelling strategies such as word sorting by phonetic pattern, developing vocabulary through word study, and using the writing process to compose original stories are found throughout the grade levels.

Students help to build and develop the link between vocabulary and reading comprehension by utilizing Wordly Wise as a supplement to our current reading curriculum.  Students are engaged in robust activities and differentiated instruction which enables students to have success learning and practicing vocabulary.

Math is a subject that builds on itself. Our goal is to have students understand math so that they can become problem solvers as well as develop a biblical worldview. Each year in Lower School students will develop a deeper understanding of the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Students will be able to apply these skills to fractions, decimals, integers, and other math concepts as they are introduced. The students will also master concepts of measurement, collecting date, and money.

Learning history chronologically has been proven to be invaluable in the lives of many children. Having students memorize names, dates, places, and events gives them a valuable tool for understanding how God is working today and what He has done durinrg many past events. 2nd grade students begin a three-year study using the Veritas Press curriculum. Students will begin with creation and work their way to the fall of Ancient Egypt (2nd grade), the Minoan Culture to the end of the Western Roman Empire (3rd grade), and the conversion of Saint Augustine to Christianity through learning about John Knox, the Scottish reformer (4th grade).

Knowledge of science helps students to understand the world they live in and why things happen as they do. The relationships that exist in our world were established by God at the time of creation. The laws of science are human descriptions of these relationships. They are as accurate as our understanding of nature is at the moment, but they are never absolute. We read in the Bible that God is the only absolute in our world who never changes. These laws are continuously refined, expanded, and sometimes abandoned as we discover new information. Science points students to the evidence in creation of God's love, wisdom, power, and majesty. Connections made between concepts of science and the Word of God will help students to respond with love, gratitude, awe, and reverence toward their Creator. The main concepts that will be stressed throughout the Lower School science experience will be life science of humans and animals, earth and space, and physical science.