The Roman Forum (Image by Lori Ramey)
Learning is changing in the lower grades. Mrs. Spearman, a founding member of the curriculum committee at NCS, has been working on the elementary-level history and Bible curriculum to provide better consistency within each grade’s Bible and History content for each year. She and Mr Ramey worked to develop a 4 year cycle of integrated Bible and history: the 3rd-6th graders now study history from creation through modern history within that cycle, which repeats again in the high school. The committee felt these changes fit with the classical framework of the school.
Before these changes, the 3rd and 4th grades would learn American and world history, which was a lot to cram into one year. Now, students can learn the information at a slower pace so that all that history and Bible would soak in.
Mrs. Lamb now teaches the 3rd graders Ancient History and Mrs. Long is teaching her class about the Middle Ages, and they are both enjoying it. To get the classes on the right schedule, Mr. Huguet is also teaching his 5th grade class about Ancient History. Next year, Mr Huguet will start teaching Early Modern History in 5th. Mrs. Spearman is hoping that the 6th grade will complete the 4 year cycle with Modern History.
I interviewed Mrs. Spearman and asked her what the committee wanted to accomplish with these changes. “The best measure of success would be to have students who truly enjoy history, seeing it as a story of God’s hand at work ‘behind the scenes’ in everything that has occurred since the beginning of the world. It would be wonderful if New Covenant School produced students who knew history and enjoyed history!”
These changes make the younger grades’ classes less scattered with history and Bible. It should make us aware of change next year and encourage us to make it as good as possible.
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