Congratulations! Our students and teachers have had a very busy and successful first term! As we reflect on their progress through report cards and parent-teacher interviews, we hope each student will continue to build on their work this term to strive for even greater accomplishments in terms 2 & 3.First term has also allowed us to settle into our routines this year, and now we are all well underway. Some things are being done a little differently this year and we have made some adjustments that we wanted to ensure parents understand. If you have any questions or concerns, please do contact your child’s teacher, or you can email Mrs. Goodyear as well: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Computer Lab
Computer Lab learning is being directed primarily by the classroom teacher this year. The skills that your children are being taught are grade – level appropriate and are interconnected with other curriculum objectives. For instance, while our intermediate students spend some time doing internet research for a history essay, they are absorbing the historical content, while also being taught skills on how to evaluate the quality of the information they glean from online sources – a very important media literacy goal. Our junior students who use their computer lab time to prepare final drafts of book reports are getting word processing software instruction, as are our students who spend time in Math class using Excel to calculate measures of central tendency. We have chosen this year to embed our computer instruction in other curriculum areas to maximize the potential of the time students spend in the lab.
Mathematics
You may have noticed that for our students in Grade 1-6 this year, we are using the A Beka curriculum as the main source in our Mathematics classes. This curriculum is a strong resource for Numeracy and Computation instruction. At most grades, it exceeds the Ministry of Education’s numeracy objectives. It does have some gaps, however, and your child’s teacher will also be teaching lessons each term from other materials to address the Ministry of Education’s Math objectives in areas such as Geometry, Measurement, Patterning, and Data Management. Grade 7 & 8 students are still using the excellent resource, “Mathematics: Making Connections” (McGraw-Hill)
Junior Division Science
We have provided our Science teachers in the Junior division (grade 4-6) with a new resource this year. We structure our Science curriculum according to the Ontario Ministry of Education, in terms of what areas of study are done in each grade. We feel this best prepares them for when they continue their science education beyond their elementary years at Wesley. We have purchased some textbook and teacher resources from a Christian publisher called Christian Schools International. These resources address our desire to have quality science materials that are presented from a Christian worldview accessible to our teachers and students. We are not using this curriculum exclusively, but rather, as another resource our teachers have at their disposal to teach the mandated areas of study. No one curriculum adequately addresses the Ministry of Education objectives as well as our own desires to equip our students with a Christian worldview and understanding of Science. Our teachers draw from many sources, this new curriculum being one among them, to ensure your children receive the instruction they need in Science class that is balanced between ‘book-learning’ and ‘hands-on’ experience as well to address our school’s goals for high academic standards and a Christian worldview.
