Holy Family Classical School

Elementary Curriculum

In grades 1-8, Holy Family Classical School works to form the faculties of the senses, memory, imagination, passions, intellect and will through progressively increasing mastery across subject areas. Students will encounter truth, goodness, beauty, and unity in their interactions with their teachers and fellow students, in their classwork, and in co-curricular activities such as art, music, and physical education. 

In Reading and Spelling, students learn using explicit phonics and phonemic awareness in grades 1-2 and transition to phonics-based spelling in grades 3-6.

Holy Family uses the Institute for Excellence in Writing curriculum for grammar and composition in grades 4-8.

In literature, students read works that expose them to truth, beauty, goodness, and unity. At higher levels, literature corresponds to the students’ chronological time period in history. Sample texts include:

GradeSample Texts
1st GradeAesop’s Fables, Animal Stories (James Herriot), Boxcar Children
2nd GradeThe Velveteen Rabbit, Trumpet of the Swan, Charlotte’s Web
3rd GradeMy Father’s Dragon, Swiss Family Robinson (abridged), Excerpts from Gulliver’s Travels
4th GradeThe Hobbit, The Horse and His Boy, The Good Master
5th GradeBlack Ships Before Troy, The Wind in the Willows, Treasure Island
6th GradeFingal’s Quest,
7th GradeMacbeth, The Prince and the Pauper, A Christmas Carol
8th GradeVicar of Wakefield, Castle of Otranto, Woman in White, Father Brown Mysteries, Space Trilogy

Arithmetic and geometry are two of the seven liberal arts, a part of the trivium that focuses on understanding the ordered nature of created reality. Arithmetic deals with number, or quantity, while geometry deals with number extended in space. In teaching math, students are taught that math does not begin as something abstract, but as something that is deeply grounded in reality.

History is taught on a four-year cycle in grades one through eight, allowing students to revisit the same time periods at a deeper level, making additional connections. The same cycle is repeated with primary sources in high school.

GradeTime Period
1st GradeAncient History
2nd GradeMedieval History
3rd GradeModern History
4th GradeAmerican History
5th GradeAncient History
6th GradeMedieval History
7th GradeModern History
8th GradeAmerican History

Science is taught at Holy Family Classical School as a means of understanding the created nature of reality as being distinctively ordered. This is done with a focus on wonder at the beauty of creation and finding joy in recognizing God’s handiwork. Similar to history, science is taught on a repeating cycle that leads to revisiting similar concepts at a progressively deeper level.

 

GradeField of Study
1st GradeEarth Science & Astronomy
2nd GradeLife Science
3rd GradeChemistry
4th GradePhysics
5th GradeEarth Science & Astronomy
6th GradeLife Science
7th GradePhysical Science (Chemistry & Physics)
8th GradeEarth Science & Astronomy

As one of the seven liberal arts, music is an essential part of the education of students at Holy Family Classical School. Music begins in the Montessori program, focusing on basic elements of pitch, rhythm, melody, and harmony. In fourth grade, students begin their study of instrumental music with strings, and are able to choose between strings and choir in grades 5-8.

Physical education is a key component of an education that strives to form the whole person – body, mind, and soul. All students at Holy Family Classical School have physical education twice a week.