Lower School Curriculum
The Lower School student at Cathedral Academy learns in an environment that provides a rich blend of strong academics combined with opportunities for individual and social growth, all from a Christian perspective. Emphasis on a basic foundation in fundamental skills incorporates a variety of experiences to enrich each day. A student develops a love for learning, discovers individual capabilities and gains knowledge and an understanding of how all things fit together in God's plan as revealed in His Word.
Grades 1-5
- Bible themes include God's love and care, acceptance of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, conforming to the image of Christ, developing a personal life-changing relationship with Jesus, and growing in relationship to Christ through Bible study, prayer, devotions, worship and praise.
- Weekly Chapel
- Reading program combining phonics skills and comprehension instruction with reading of texts and quality literature
- Auditory comprehension
- Language development and vocabulary enrichment
- Writing mechanics: spelling, capitalization, punctuation, usage and penmanship
- Writing process challenging students to analyze relationships, organizational principles with writing skill development/application of topic development, supporting details, examples and styles
- History, geography, Christian citizenship, economics and culture
- Mathematics content (number systems, operations, geometry/ spatial sense, measurement, statistics/probability, fractions, decimals/percent, use of algebraic variables and logical reasoning)
- Mathematics processes (communication, reasoning, problem solving, computation, and patterns and relationships)
- Science program engages students in science through action, inquiry-oriented experiences by asking questions, conducting investigations, using tools, finding evidence and sharing evidence and ideas.
- Integrated social studies program from the child and home, to community, and city of Charleston, to South Carolina, and regions of the U.S. and other countries
- Computer Lab and Media Center
- Art
- Music
- Field trips
- Physical Education
- Extended Day Program available
Kennedy Space Center Trip
The fifth grade, under the instruction of their teacher, Lisa Harrell, does a study of engines and rocketry using the A Beka science curriculum. This unit is followed by a study of space. Fifth grade students build and then launch their own rockets in a rocket launch that is attended by the invited lower school guests. At the conclusion of the rocket study, students have participated in a series of hands-on labs that set the stage for the understanding of Bernoulli's principles and Newton's laws of motion. Students are then taken on a field trip to the Kennedy Space Center Complex at Cape Canaveral, Florida. For two days they participate in hands-on demonstrations, simulations, and tour the Kennedy Space Center facility. This experience brings life and real-world experience to the units of study.
