Once a week, the faculty and student body in grades one through five gather together in the Worship Center to express devotion to our Lord through praise and worship. Biblical truths and principles of life are taught by our staff, pastors, and guest speakers. We welcome parents to attend with their children and worship with us.

The A Beka Bible curriculum contains an extensive series of beautifully illustrated Bible Story cards for the child to be drawn to and visually stimulated with while each account is accurately and dramatically shared. The series are as follows:

* Salvation Series

* Genesis Series (OT)                                    * Life of Christ Series (NT)

       Creation, Adam, Cain                                      The First Christmas

       Enoch, Noah, Babel                                         Boyhood and early ministry of Jesus

      Abraham and Isaac                                           Jesus Heals and Helps

      Jacob                                                                Later Ministry

      Joseph                                                              Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ

                                                                               Life of Paul

Also, a Bible section is chosen for each month to be learned, understood and memorized.

Along with the daily opportunity to begin each day with Bible time, singing and worship time play a vital role as the first graders learn to communicate their love and faith through praising Jesus Christ.

Willamette Christian School incorporates a logical phonics system, coupled with reading texts that are interesting, challenging and geared to the development of Christian character. Besides building the necessary background for word attack skills and confident reading, phonics teaching trains students to listen carefully, to develop good habits of thinking, analyzing, organizing, memorizing and applying important facts and rules. A workbook, Letters and Sounds 1, provides daily seat work activities to reinforce the phonics concepts vital to the mastery of reading skills.

The A Beka reading program leads to early independence in reading by developing early word analysis and comprehension skills. The A Beka Christian readers are the basic readers for the first grade. A wide variety of quality reading selections stimulates the students’ appreciation of literature and enjoyment of reading. The stories for these readers are chosen for character-building themes, Biblical principles, literary excellence and appeal to young readers.

Part of God’s plan for our lives includes the ability to communicate with one another and with God. Writing requires accurate spelling. Thus, spelling becomes an important part of the communication process. Writing allows the transfer of information over space and time. This ability is unique to humans and is a clear reflection of the nature of God.

The A Beka spelling curriculum is utilized in grade one. A set of spelling words is taught each week, with a weekly spelling test at the end of the week. The weekly spelling lists are arranged phonetically and coincide beautifully with the phonics that are being taught. Along with the weekly spelling words, fifteen "Priority" words are learned throughout the year. These words are the most frequently used words in the English language and it is critical that these words are mastered. The Priority" words include "the, of, and, a, to, is, etc."

In addition, the children receive daily practice in the principles of language in both written and oral communication. The workbook, Language 1, provides an interesting introduction to written language for the first grader. Designed for use during seat work time, this write-in text increases thinking skills, improves reading comprehension and develops creative writing ability. By the end of the year, first graders will write in complete sentences, capitalize the first word of a sentence and the days and months, place a period at the end of a sentence, know and use suffices and prefixes, determined the number of syllables in a word, and alphabetize to the first letter. Lively reading comprehension and creative writing exercises appear throughout the book and special story sheets at the end of the book are provided for additional creative writing. Through classroom discussions, students review previously learned skills and learn new applications.

Students solve verbal or representational analogies daily, which enables students to understand the connecting relationships between words. By this process, students develop skills in critical and creative thinking, vocabulary and test taking skills.

Daily practice in writing reinforces phonics concepts, beginning with single letters and progressing to blends, special sounds and words. The students learn to be neat, exacting and persistent by having a standard to follow.

Students receive mini-mental exercises weekly where they need it the most through the Daily Mathematics series.:

                * Number sense                             * Patterns

                * Estimation                                   * Mental mathematics

                * Geometry

Critical thinking skills are incorporated into daily problem solving, which helps students see the connections among a variety of math topics. Problems emphasize real-world situations, reinforcing the importance of mathematics in student’s daily lives.

In addition, the A Beka math curriculum is used as the core textbook. This is a complete math program that provides daily activities including oral drills, the teaching of new material, the practice of new material and review of basic facts. Learning centers and games are used to reinforce math skills learned during lessons. Besides training students in the basic skills that are needed in life, the mathematics curriculum teaches students to believe in absolutes, to work diligently to get right answers and to see the facts of mathematics as part of the truth and order that God has built into the real universe. Listed below are many of the skills the first grade child will learn:

            * Classifying

            * Numeration: counting, writing, one-to-one matching, place value, order,

               comparing,  missing numbers

            * Multiplication: by twos, fives and tens

            * Fractions: identification of basic fractions

            * Measurement: clock time, calendar time, money, length, weight, thermometers,

               metric measures

            * Geometry: identification of simple geometric figures

            * Problem Solving

            * Rounding and Estimating

            * Graphing

            * Roman Numerals

Science is the study of God’s order, provision, and general revelation as discovered in His physical creation. The science and health program at WCS offers a comprehensive study which gives the students understanding of the content and processes of life, physical and earth sciences. As children study the wonders of creation, they are led to a deeper reverence for the God who planned it all.

We use the Bob Jones’ Science for Christian Schools I

            * Teeth

            * Seasons

            * Health, safety, manners

We use the Simply Science curriculum for the following:

            * Weather

            * Matter, heat, energy

            * Frogs (amphibians)

Based upon the foundational truths of the scriptures, Willamette Christian’s history program presents the firm conviction that "the earth is the Lord’s, ;and the fullness thereof". History, therefore, is a revelation of God in His dealings with man and the universe.

Willamette Christian School uses the Bob Jones curriculum which covers the time span from Christopher Columbus to the Pilgrims. We study geography, history, government, economics and culture of this "New World" period. Students will participate in exciting activities, games and discussions, as well as learning simple map skills and symbols.

Willamette Christian School uses My America and My World in the A Beka first grade history curriculum that will be utilized. The students will learn how our country was founded and what our basic freedoms are. May American symbols will be introduced as well as learning about several famous American patriots. Through taking an imaginary trip across the US, the students will get a chance to learn about various important landmarks. Included with this will be the memorizing of the names and locations of the seven continents and four oceans, as well as basic knowledge of the globe, north/south/east/west directions and a beginning awareness of important people in our history.

WCS students participate in a multimedia Spanish curriculum. Viva el Español is a complete language development program designed for teaching Spanish in elementary and middle schools. The main objectives in our Spanish program guide students through the development of listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills, with a special emphasis on communicative activities to create actual and practical uses of the language. While learning Spanish, students also explore the culture of the Hispanic world. Viva el Español makes learning Spanish fun and creates a positive attitude toward learning languages and experiencing a different culture.

We design art classes at Willamette Christian School to stretch the imagination of the children and challenge their creativity. Our curriculum introduces children to great artists, their works, various art techniques, and a wide selection of art products. This is accomplished through the use of theme units such as Holidays, A Trip Around the World, and mixed mediums. Students learn about color mixing, shading, texture, size and color value. Foil art, origami, crayon rubbings, gingerbread houses, pop-up cards, and soap carvings are just a few examples of the fun and exciting projects we offer to our art students.

A general introduction to computer terms and basics begins the class. Students become familiar with simple tasks such as mouse movement and how to enter and close programs. Interactive reading and the paint programs are utilized to accomplish this. A basic computer keyboard program, Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing for Kids, is the primary teaching tool used for this age level. Students are exposed to a more advanced level typing program toward the end of the school year. During special season, holidays, etc., students learn to make posters and cards from the Print Artist 3.0 program.

God created music as a gift for us. In turn, we must use it for Him. Music is a skill that must be trained and developed, and in doing so, students will learn music as an avenue to praise and worship God. Melody, harmony, and rhythm will be points of study, with community resources being used to help enhance this program. Students will learn to listen, write, read, and lead others. Participants in the music program will go on field trips and minister to others in our community. Willamette Christian School students will perform a yearly Christmas Musical.

Fitness and skill development are the primary goals of the P.E. program. Students participate in exercises to promote cardiovascular endurance, muscle strength, and flexibility. Basic motor and manipulative skills are sequenced or combined for greater movement challenges. Games, relays, and drills are designed to enhance skill related fitness or specific sport skills. Partner and group activities are used to meet growing social needs, while emphasizing individual development.

Throughout the year there are opportunities for students to participate in various ACSI sponsored academic competitions with students from other Christian schools. Competitions at the classroom level select second grade representatives from WCS for the ACSI Spelling Bee and Speech Meet. More activities are available in the upper grades, beginning with the addition of the Math Olympics in third grade.

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