ELEMENTARY LEVELS
Kindergarten - 6th
Meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays with an Enrichment Friday option
8:45am-2:45pm
In a spirit of describing the nature of our students, we give names to our class levels:
Kindergarteners are Discoverers
1st & 2nd Graders are Explorers
3rd & 4th Graders are Adventurers
5th & 6th Graders are Voyagers
In Early Elementary Years (K-4), the educational experience at DaySpring is dynamic alive, and relevant. It exposes students to rich literature, a variety of writing styles, conceptual math skills, an overview of historical events, science concepts, and the arts. Our curriculum and book choices help build curiosity about the world and teachers provide many hands-on activities that engage young bodies and minds.
In Upper Elementary Grades (5th and 6th), education begins to take on a more structured approach. We focus on mechanics, study skills, digging deeper into our literature and history books and making more connections in math and science and in real life. Classes still incorporate many hands-on activities that keep students moving and engaged. There is also a strong focus on communication and collaboration through group and partner work. Focus is given to building our students' study, time management, computer, cultural, and character building skills.
For Early Elementary, parents should expect to direct and work side by side at home with their child. The at-home work on Mondays and Wednesdays will require parents to read to children, teach a math lesson, interpret directions, engage in hands-on activities, guide them in writing assignments, help them do research....Parents should expect to spend about 4 hours per day on school depending on the attention span of their student.
For the Upper Elementary years, parents will need to monitor students' work and make sure that they are understanding assignments and concepts. When necessary, some assignments may need to be done with parent input. The goal is to begin to develop personal work ethic and study skills, with growing independence and responsibility. The at-home days will require 4 to 6 hours depending on your student's personal work speed.
All the students in these levels do Academics on Tuesdays and Thursdays in their regular classroom with their teacher and peers.
On Fridays, students have the unique opportunity to take a day of specialty classes to receive quality, hands-on professional training in dance, music, theatre, art, literature, and robotics classes. Students can choose classes that they are most interested in to build their Friday schedule.
This model gives students a well rounded education. They get classroom time to learn with others, individual time at home with parents, and a full day (Friday) to explore their own choices of enriching classes.
ENRICHMENT
FRIDAYS
Kindergarten thru 6th Grade
These Friday specialty classes enrich the educational experience of our students: giving them the opportunity to explore art, music, dance, engineering, circus, drama and much more. We also open these classes to the greater Saint Louis homeschool community.