Religion
Students understand that Jesus, their Savior, died to take away their sins. They learn how important the Bible is to them and that it contains the knowledge of what Jesus has done for them, how they should live, and how they can be in heaven. Enjoying Bible stories, these students ask to hear them and have favorites. Learning to ask for forgiveness for specific sins is a big step for them. As the students begin to learn more about the Lord and what He expects of us, they recognize differences in other people who are non-Christians. Realizing that everything they have comes from God is a major step for these students. Beginning to gain an appreciation for Martin Luther and his teachings as well as recognizing the liturgical seasons help in their understanding of the church body.

Math
Students learn basic math facts as they begin to explore the concepts of simple addition and subtraction. Manipulatives that enhance the students’ understanding of word problems, patterns, and fractions are used. Objects are ordered by measurements including metrics. The concepts of money and time are introduced.

Language Arts
Incorporating reading, listening, writing, speaking, and thinking skills provides a broad foundational base upon which students can build each year. Word attack skills strengthened by phonetic decoding enable the students to be successful. They continue to develop their oral language and communication skills and move to becoming independent readers and writers. Distinguishing features of stories, poems, and informational texts is introduced. They regularly read (orally and silently) in texts of appropriate difficulty with fluency and understanding. The use of the writing process enables students to work independently and cooperatively in achieving success.

Handwriting
First graders will continue to use proper formation in writing manuscript letters and numerals, paying attention to correct placement of letters on the line. An awareness of the effects of posture on writing skills is developed as they continue to self-evaluate their work.

Social Studies
God places special responsibilities on families and the members of each family. As these students progress through this grade, the emphasis is on helping them grow as members of both their school and biological families. They look at changes in the family and what causes these changes, choices that people make and how those choices affect their family, and the placement of individuals in a family and how special and unique each individual is. Maps of school and neighborhoods begin to be more significant to the students as they see how they personally relate to these maps and understand where they belong. Following and participating in examples of good citizenship help them understand the importance of individual and collective participation.

Science
Survival and protection of God’s creations are relevant topics as the students study about habitats, plant and animal life and what is required for many plants and animals to survive as well as what is needed for their daily existence. Learning about the properties of water, rocks, and air provides them with a beginning basis for earth science. With hands-on investigations, studies such as magnets, the interaction of objects, and pivot points in the constructing of mobiles enable the students to form a basis of understanding in the realm of physical science. They learn what is needed for a healthy body such as nutrition and safety issues. Identifying how the body works aids their understanding of disease control and health habits.

Computer Science
Students at this level begin to concentrate on expanding their keyboarding skills by recognizing additional keys and the proper fingering for using the keyboard effectively. In addition to the word processing skills, students begin basic desktop publishing as they learn how to use graphics. They also have the opportunities to strengthen classroom objectives by using educational software.

Art
Students experiment with colors as they mix them together and find out what results from their actions. This experimentation encourages the students to recognize God’s creation as a source of beauty and variety. Through different mediums, they express themselves individually yet in an artistic way. Blending of patterns such as geometric designs and differing line types and qualities allows the students to be creative with their projects. Understanding realistic art, like in a photograph, versus drawings or sketches gives students a chance to be aware of concepts such as similarities and differences.

Music
Students become more involved in response to musical pieces and can display their involvement in moving, clapping, echoing, and distinguishing beats and rhythms. They become more aware of the melody and the pitch of musical pieces and can respond in a variety of ways. As they relate to music and what is around them, they have the opportunity to be creatively involved.

Spanish
Sequentially taught, students are introduced to greetings, simple commands, phrases, numbers, colors, and other daily-use vocabulary. Students speak, count, and sing in Spanish. This well-rounded approach to acquiring another language also includes learning about the traditions and holidays of Spanish speaking countries and playing games.

Physical Education
Learning to follow the rules of a game can be a challenge at this age, but work on this idea occurs as they interact with others and learn to cooperate to accomplish the sport of a game. Activities such as jumping rope, bouncing a ball, and hopping on one foot challenge their physical development. At the same time, students learn to respect the differences of one another. From other activities, both individually and collectively, a positive self-concept begins to evolve.

Voyages, Concordia Publishing House, 2000
Saxon Math, Saxon, 2001
Johnny Can Spell (Spalding Spelling), Alice Nine, 2001
Science, Scott Foresman, 2003
Literacy Place, Scholastic, 2000
Take Home Mini Books, Scholastic, 2000
My World, HBJ, 1997
Dynamic Physical Education for Elementary School Children, Allyn & Bacon, 2001