Curriculum
The Foundation
Christ's love is the motivating force in our curriculum. The Bible provides orientation for all subjects and learning experiences. Subjects are taught to meet or exceed standards set for Lutheran Schools and by the State of Colorado. Our teachers are Christian men and women dedicated to sharing their faith in Christ with their students, and all are certified graduates of accredited institutions.
Christian Studies
Mt. Zion Lutheran School uses curriculum materials prepared for Lutheran
schools with a strong emphasis on the Gospel message of salvation
in Jesus Christ.
Students learn about God the Father who created them, God the Son, their
friend, who died for them, and God the Holy Spirit who creates faith in their
hearts. All students learn they are God's children, special, unique, and loved.
In 5th grade, students study the life of Martin Luther in addition to the regular
curriculum.
Texts: Voyages Curriculum by Concordia Publishing House
(preschool-2nd);
The Holy Bible, New International Version
Language Arts: Reading, English, Spelling, Writing
Foundations are built with phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary,
and comprehension. Development continues with grammar skills, writing
mechanics, composition, reference and study strategies, study of literature
types, and basic steps of the writing process. Literature in addition
to the text increases in level of difficulty while guiding the acquisition
of written language fluency. Mt. Zion uses D'Nealian as the style
of printing and cursive. Cursive handwriting is introduced in 2nd grade.
Texts: Saxon Phonics (1st-2nd); Houghton Mifflin Literature (1st-2nd)
Mathematics
Mathematical strands are introduced throughout the year, building on concepts from prior learning. Lessons are presented including review and repetition with built-in practice time. Basic concepts in all areas of mathematics include computation, problem solving strategies, measurement, geometry, money, time, identifying patterns, fractions, graphs, and charts.
Texts: Saxon Math (1st-2nd); The Mathematical Experience (K)
Social Studies
Topics covered include communities, states and regions, locations, map and globe skills, government and ancient civilizations.
Texts: Prentice Hall Publishing (1st-2nd)
Science
Topics explored in science are plants, animals, weather, motion, energy,
and
much
more. Students use process skills such as classifying, interpreting,
and hypothesizing to discover concepts. Students see how science is used
to solve complex human issues like protecting the environment.
Texts: Discover the Wonder Scott Foresman (1st-2nd)
Spanish
Spanish is introduced with fun activities using materials developed by teachers for teachers. As students progress, they learn vocabulary, conversational phrases and sentences and the elements of Spanish grammar.
Texts: Hola Ninos and Cuentame TPRS Publishing (1st-2nd)
Physical Education and Health
Through a variety of P.E. classes, activities, health classes, and extra
curricular
sports, Mt. Zion aims to achieve three major objectives: 1) Develop personal
physical fitness habits; 2) Develop and enhance movement competency;
3) Develop an understanding of recreational, individual, and team sports
and games to promote maximum participation in physical education activities
for life. Health is taught in grades 1-2.
The Fine Arts
Students are encouraged to develop their creativity and appreciation of art. Their skills are developed through experiencing color, texture, balance, form, etc. in a variety of media.
Music is considered an integral part of Mt. Zion's curriculum. Beginning in Preschool, students learn beat, melodic contour, tempo, and an appreciation of music. As students progress, they will be able to recognize simple forms of musical composition and begin to analyze and apply their knowledge of musical forms, styles, and harmonic structure.
Standardized Testing
The Iowa Tests of Basic Skills are administered to students of grades 1-2 each Spring as one means of measuring educational progress over the course of the year.
The following results are from the April, 2007 testing of Mt. Zion students, grades 1-8. Numbers represent average percentile scores, comparing Mt. Zion students with students across the country. A score of 50 is in the middle, with 1 being low and 99 being high.
Reading
Vocabulary 78.4
Comprehension 73.7
Total Reading 77.3Language
Listening (Gr. 1-2) 81.6
Spelling (Gr. 3-8) 60.7
Capitalization (3-8) 56.8
Punctuation (3-8) 51.4
Usage (Gr. 1-8) 73.9
Total Language 69.4Mathematics
Concepts 66.8
Problems 72.9
Computation 62.7
Total Mathematics 70.9
(not including computation)CORE (reading, language, math) TOTAL 74.1
Social Studies 70.5
Science 77.8
Sources of Information (Gr. 3-8)
Maps/Diagrams 68.9
Reference Material 59.6
Total Sources 71.7COMPOSITE (all tests) 74.6