What Do We Study?
Philippians 4:6-9 - (From the USCCB NABRE)
"Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me. Then the God of peace will be with you."
We marinate them in what is TRUE, GOOD, and BEAUTIFUL!
Integration & Mastery
Aquinas Learning is rooted in the idea that authentic education seeks Truth as a whole. "Education starts in the family and ends in the Trinity," says Stratford Caldecott, author of a mentor required book, Beauty for Truth’s Sake.
We aim for mastery by following Blessed John Henry Newman’s advice to learn a few things and learn them well. We go beyond filling the bucket with information, we infuse the students in what is true, good, and beautiful by encouraging wondering, beholding, and inquiring. We honor the child’s quench to really “know” something by studying concepts in three repeating cycles and mastering material as they study them again three years later at a deeper level.
Schola Parva Level (PK-K)
Circle Group Activities
* Virtue, Prayer, Song, Weather, & some Memory Works
* Catechism: Old Testament (Cycle 1), New Testament (C2), Catechism of the Catholic Church (C3)
* History: Ancient & Classical Times (C1), Medieval Times (C2), Modern & American Times (C3)
* Song School Latin
* Oral Presentations - Show & Tell
* Story Time
Table Time Activities
* Latin Workbook
* Tactile Alphabet
* Art / Nature Crafts & Activities
* Centers for play - colors, shapes, manipulatives, tactile, letters, numbers
Large Motor Activities
* P.E. games and exercises
* Preschool/Kindergarten Songs with actions
* Timeline song with actions
Schola Prima Levels (Gr. 1-6)
IDEAS & INFORMATION - learned together as a class and as a family, understood at their individual level
1st–6th Grade
* Catechism: Old Testament (Cycle 1), New Testament (C2), Catechism of the Catholic Church (C3)
* History: Ancient & Classical Times (C1), Medieval Times (C2), Modern & American Times (C3)
* Geography: Africa & Middle East (C1), Europe & Asia (C2), Americas & the 50 United States (C3)
* Timeline: From Creation to Modern Times (C1-3)
* Science: Biology & Earth Science (C1), Astronomy & Physics (C2), Anatomy & Chemistry (C3)
* Latin & Greek: Prayers, Sayings, Roots, Greek alphabet (C1-3 variety)
* Civics: Government structures (C1) (integrated with the History curriculum), Founding Documents of Liberty (C2), U.S. Government & Presidents (C3) (Supplements available in other countries)
* Virtue: virtue study based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church
* Basic Math Facts: same math facts learned every year for memorization
* Fine Arts: Integrated with the historical time period
* Literature: “Good Books” (in preparation of the “Great Books”) in class read-aloud, family read-aloud, and poetry followed by Socratic discussions on ideas found in the stories
* Science Investigations: integrated with Science memory works
SKILLS learned individually
1st–3rd Grade
* Penmanship
* Copywork
* Philosophy – short discussions based on leading ideas to ponder
* Centers of Interest - tactile, reading, crafts, game/play, prayer, etc.
* Oral Presentation – a re-presentation of something they’ve learned - simple oration skills
* Math - independent study using recommended texts (Right Start Math, Math Mammoth, Life of Fred, Singapore)
* Phonics/Decoding Language - some phonics in class with the majority of phonics lessons as independent study at home using recommended curricula of your choice (Little Angel Readers, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, All About Spelling)
4th – 6th Grade
* Composition – Institute for Excellence in Writing
* English Grammar Intensive (with parsing and diagramming)
* Philosophy – short discussions based on leading ideas to ponder
* Oral Presentation – a re-presentation of something they’ve learned - intermediate oration skills with visual aids
* Math - independent study using recommended texts (Right Start Math, Math Mammoth, Life of Fred, Singapore)
* Spelling & Vocabulary - some spelling & vocabulary are integrated within the curriculum and are addressed at “the point of need” (corrected during their writing or speaking activities). If you want to supplement with more directed spelling lessons, we recommend Spelling Power or Phonetic Zoo (IEW). Students learn more vocabulary & grammar through the study of Latin (or a language that is not their own).
Schola Alta - Upper School (Gr. 7-12)
Integrated Humanities Courses for middle school (Alta I - Gr. 7-9) and high school (Alta II - Gr. 10-12) students
History – C1 – Ancient Times; C2 – Medieval Times & the Founding of Christendom; C3 – Modern & American History
Fine Arts – Art & Music appreciation integrated to the time frame they are currently studying
Theology – C1 – Old Testament; C2 – New Testament; C3 – Catechism of the Catholic Church; Seniors – Intro to Theology
Logic – To order thinking in order to perceive truth and to act rightly based on right reason. Informal Logic (Fallacies), Formal Logic, Rhetoric (Speech & Debate).
Classic Language Studies – Intro Latin, Latin I & Latin II – in preparation for the National Latin Exams
Literature – “Good & Great Books” study integrated with history cycle
Composition – Advanced IEW and Classical Composition (Lost Tools of Writing)
Rhetoric – oral Presentations, speeches, and debates
Math - Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1, Geometry
Science - Earth Science, Biology (Novare Series), we are currently beta testing other Science courses and we will upload them for others once we’ve gone through them ourselves.
For more detail, please contact your center director or send an email to: info@aquinaslearning.com