Primary: Class 1-3

CLASS ONE
In Class One the world of formal learning opens. Having completed the Kindergarten phase the emerging seven year old is entering the second seven-year cycle of growth and development (from seven to thirteen - the primary school years). An important task for the teacher is to create a rhythm for the children's life at school that enables them to grow and learn in a healthy way.

The year begins with the discovery that behind all forms lie the two basic principles: the straight line and the curved line. The children find these forms in their own bodies, in the class room, in the world beyond and in the rich stories that form a vital component of their learning. The straight and curved lines are then practiced through walking, drawing in the air and in the sand outside, before finally appearing in crayon on paper. The subject Form Drawing is thus introduced. It teaches many things amongst which are fine motor skills, the awakening of the child's powers of observation as well as providing a foundation for writing.

Through the wonder and richness of fairy stories the children are introduced to each letter of the alphabet. In this way the children experience the development of written language in a very concrete yet creative way - instead of abstract symbols the letters become characters from a story with which the children can form a real relationship. In a similar way, the children first experience the qualities of numbers before learning the formal process of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. These mathematical processes are also introduced in creative story form - the king who divides with his sword, the farmer who through sewing seeds adds to his yield. Stones, nuts or other natural objects are used to introduce counting and rhythmic songs and games filled with stepping and clapping, are used to introduce multiplication tables. In this way the children befriend themselves with the form and movement of the number element. Only after considerable practical experience in adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing are the written symbols for these operations introduced.

Class Ones enter the world of music through the pentatonic scale. In this scale all the notes have a harmonious sound in any order in which they are played. Knitting is an indispensable activity in Class One as a close relationship exists between finger movement, speech and thinking. Our Class Ones knit their recorder bags and thereby retain a wonderful reminder of their first handwork year as they progress through the primary years. Painting in Class One is intended to give the children a developing sense of colour, while drawing in crayon is intended to encourage the drawing of whole shapes rather than filling in outlines.

The imaginative genius of early childhood makes this an ideal time to learn through hearing and speaking other languages. isiZulu and Afrikaans are given equal measure in Class One.
Children learn best at this age by entering with love, sympathy and wonder into the subject they are studying: the imaginative pictures and stories help to inspire the love, sympathy and wonder they will need for the task. Vivid, dramatic stories that draw the children's feelings to the fore, without any unnecessary emotional sentimentalism, allow the children to access facts and information in a relevant and meaningful manner.

 
CLASS TWO
The work begun in Class One is expanded in Class Two. The great adventure of reading is consolidated in Class Two once the art of writing has been well established. New themes are covered now. The children are told animal fables, those from Aesop, Lafontain, traditional African fables and others. These fables show the unique characteristics of each animal: the-regal lion, the cunning jackal, the foolish chicken, the wise owl. These characteristics are also found in the human community. As the teacher tells these stories, children are encouraged to make their own comparisons and judgments in a non-threatening way. Class Two is also the year the children are told stories of the Saints; for example St George and the Dragon, St Francis and the Wolf, St Kevin and the Birds, St Christopher etc. These show that spiritual strength is different from physical strength and has to be won in a different way. The children discover that certain human beings have overcome their weaknesses through the grace of self discipline and courage and have become examples to all humankind. Through these stories of animals and saints and those created by the teacher to characterize local hills, trees and animals, the truth of the different elements of the environment is imaginatively revealed to the children. In this way the feelings of reverence, love, wonder and gratitude for creation are evoked.

CLASS THREE
Nine year-olds define themselves as separate from others. In this ever increasing consciousness of separateness they experience aloneness and the loss of a security of being cradled within a loving family. This is an age in which uncertainty becomes an ever greater reality and the mundane realities of everyday life outweighs the colourful world of imagination that has until now held the child. We often refer to this developmental stage as an experience of 'the expulsion from Paradise.' The nine year-old 'crisis' is met in the building and farming projects that form an integral part of Class Three. In studying farming the children are exposed to the production of food, coupled with responsibility for the earth and an appreciation for the cycles of nature - the days, the seasons, the rains and the droughts. A feeling of wonder and thankfulness for the working together of all things that live in the world is fostered. A vegetable garden is dug, composted and planted to involve the children fully and practically. In studying building the children are exposed to homes in different parts of the world. Again there is a practical focus, with modeling, visiting a local building site and the building of a simple structure.

Stories of God's order, authority and power taken from the Old Testament provide a reassuring structure to the developing world of the nine year old!