Jewish Montessori Curriculum for Elementary

In our Elementary School, the curriculum is designed to be immersive, ensuring an enriching learning environment for students. We focus on key subjects and essential skills that contribute to well-rounded development.

Our lower elementary classroom includes boys, grades 1-3 and girls, grades 1-5.

Judaic Curriculum

Hebrew Language/ Kriyah/ Chumash

Our curriculum is exciting and allows us to connect with one another and the material. We work on learning the skills needed to delve into our Torah and enjoy taking deeper looks into the Parsha and Midrash stories we have learned about since we were young.
This includes:
  • Develop a strong foundation in Alef Beis sounds and names, Nekudos (vowels), and reading words accurately and fluently.
  • Dive into Shorashim (root words), prefixes and suffixes, and frequent Chumash words.
  • Gain Yedios Klaliyos (general Jewish knowledge).
  • Engage in learning inside the Chumash and Navi, including exploring Rashi. ​

Jewish Culture / Human Culture / History​

In our classroom, we learn about the basic needs of all human beings as well as our needs as Jewish people. We celebrate our differences and similarities and focus on respect and kindness for all.
  • Learn about the basic human needs and the specific needs of Jewish people.
  • Explore seasons, time, history, money, and community building.
  • Understand and celebrate Jewish holidays, weekly Parsha.
  • Discover Jewish beliefs, values, middos (character traits), and Mitzvos.

Tefillah (Prayer)

Ensuring a child’s relationship with G-D is fluent and meaningful is a high priority at SCDS, which is why we work with students to make tefillah more than just a routine. Students are taught the meaning and relevance of the prayers and have the opportunity to join local congregations so they understand the communal aspects of tefillah so they are comfortable with both the public and personal forms of Jewish prayer. ​

General Studies

English  Language

We lay a strong foundation in English language skills:
  • Develop phonetic reading and sight word proficiency.
  • Expand vocabulary and learn parts of speech and sentence diagramming.
  • Hone creative writing, grammar, and spelling skills.
  • Practice handwriting (print and cursive).
  • Participate in DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) sessions.

Math

Our math curriculum follows a hands-on approach that progresses from concrete to abstract:
  • Understand teens and tens, decimal system, and place value.
  • Learn addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division (static and dynamic).
  • Explore squares and cubes, fractions, and geometry.
  • Solve word problems.

Science

Our science curriculum encourages curiosity and independent research:
  • Learn the scientific method.
  • Conduct self-propelled research.
  • Study botany, zoology, physics, earth science, and anatomy and physiology.
  • Experience the joy of taking care of classroom animals.

Geography

​Our geography curriculum starts from the micro and expands to the macro:
  • Start with understanding the concept of maps, beginning with the map of a hand.
  • Explore the world map and maps of each continent.
  • Learn about oceans, landforms, and unique attributes of different countries and cultures.
  • Study the map of the United States, including cities, states, capitals, flags, and interesting state facts.