Curriculum
Rhodora J. Donahue Academy of Ave Maria Curriculum Framework
This curriculum guide should be viewed as a beginning guide only. It is not a hard and fast program but is a work in constant process and is subject to revision during the school year at the discrestion of the faculty and with the approval of the headmaster. Particular themes, events, or pedagogical needs or opportunities present in a particular class are among the reasons a change might be made. There may be some adaptations in the books used. While much of the literature is period based, some non-period based literature will also be explored in a typical year. The faculty will make adaptations with the “big picture” in mind so as to assist the present student body in its actual needs and abilities. As we are still in our early stages as a school and undergoing rapid growth, new students need not fear that they are already “behind.” We will work with the good of each student and his or her current abilities in mind and adapt the curriculum as appropriate within the larger picture.
The curriculum of Rhodora J. Donahue Academy of Ave Maria draws on the philosophy and design animating the Core Curriculum at Ave Maria University. Other sources for the creation of this curriculum include Spiritus Sanctus Academies in Michigan, Trinity Classical School in Minnesota, Kolbe Academy in California, Ville de Maria Academy in Arizona, Trivium Academy in Massachusetts and Veritas Academy in North Carolina. The curriculum is also influenced by Wise and Bauer’s The Well Trained Mind, and Berquist’s Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum. Various other schools, academies, and homeschool programs, including Mother of Divine Grace and the Great Books Academy have been reviewed or consulted in designing the curriculum and selecting the texts.
Grammar | Grades 1-4 | “What/That” | Knowledge | Direct Instruction | Amassing Facts |
Logic | Grades 5-8 | “How” | Understanding | Supervised Practice | Using Facts to Reason Clearly -Dialectic |
Rhetoric | Grades 9-12 | “Why” | Wisdom | Socratic Dialogue | Communication and Eloquence |
Download a PDF version of the curriculum here.
Kindergarten:
Language Arts:
Saxon Kindergarten Phonics, Spelling and Handwriting
Berquist, Harp and Laurel Wreath: Poetry and Dictation for the Classical Curriculum (1999)
Literature:
Daily read aloud of classic and popular children literature including:
Lang Andrew, The Fairy Books
Mother Goose
McClosky, Robert Make Way for Ducklings (1998)
Burton, Virginia Lee Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel (1977)
Potter, Beatrix The Complete Adventures of Peter Rabbit (1984)
Brown, Margaret Wise The Runaway Bunny (1942)
Keats, Ezra Jack The Snowy Day
Williams, Margery The Velveteen Rabbit
Watson, Richard Jesse Tom Thumb (1993)
Petersham Maud and Miska The Rooster Crows
History/Geography:
Read aloud material presented through literature including:
Flack and Wiese, The Story about Ping
Cherry, Lynne The Great Kapok Tree
Polacco, Patricia Rechenka’s Eggs
Leaf, Munro The Story of Ferdinand
Bemelmens, Ludwig Madeline
Baylor, Byrd When Clay Sings
Fox, Mem Possum Magic
Aardema,Verna Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain
Religion:
Who Am I?Kindergarten level catechetics by Ignatius Press Image of God Series (1994)
Selected Lives of the Saints by Windeatt, Mary Fabyan
Remain in Me Faith Formation,Dominican Sisters of Mary Mother of the Eucharist(2001)
Math:
Saxon Math using kindergarten and first grade materials (2006)
Science:
Plants and Animals, The Earth and Astronomy through stories and hands on experiences
Latin:
Sign of the Cross; Ave Maria (Hail Mary); Gloria
GRAMMAR | Developing Knowledge | Asking “Why” | ||
Cognitive Taxonomy | Knowledge | Comprehension | ||
Description | Recalling or remembering something without necessarily understanding, using or changing it. | Understanding something that has been communicated without necessarily relating it to anything else. | ||
Skills | Define, describe, identify, label, list, match, memorize, observe, point to, read, recite, recall, re-tell select, state. | Alter, account for, annotate, calculate, change, convert, dictate, group, explain, generalize, give examples, illustrate, infer, interpret, paraphrase, review, summarize, and translate. | ||
Grades | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th |
Assessments |
| Iowa Tests | Iowa Tests | Iowa Tests |
Evaluation Tools | Student Portfolios | Student Portfolios | Student Portfolios | Student Portfolios |
History (Daily) | Ancient History 5000BC-400AD | Medieval-Early Renaissance History 400AD-1600 | Late Renaissance-Early Modern History 1600-1850 | Modern History 1850-Present |
Literature (Daily) | Book of Greek Myths (D’Aulaire’s 1962)
| Junior Great Books (Short stories from 12 adapted novels) | Gulliver’s Travels (Swift, 1726) All adaptations | Heidi (Spyri, 1880 ) |
Language Arts and | Saxon Phonics, Handwriting and Spelling (2007) | Saxon Phonics, Handwriting and Spelling (2007) | Handwriting Book D, Universal Publishing (2006) | Voyages in English 4, Loyola-(1995)) |
Religion (Daily) | Faith & Life Gr.1, Casa Maria (2004) | Faith & Life Gr.2, Casa Maria (2004) | Faith & Life Gr.3, Casa Maria (2004) | Faith & Life Gr4, Casa Maria (2004) |
Mathematics (Daily) | Math I, Saxon (2004) | Math 2, Saxon (2004) | Math 3, Saxon (2004) | Saxon Math 5/4, Saxon (2004) |
Science (2-3x a week) | Emphasis on Biology | Emphasis on Earth Science | Emphasis on Biology | Emphasis on Physics and Chemistry |
Spanish (2 days a week) | Classroom Hands on Activities and Songs | Viva el Espanol Learning System A | Hola Viva el Espanol, SRA, McGraw-Hill (2006) | Hola Viva el Espanol, SRA, McGraw-Hill (2006) |
Latin (Occasional) | Prayers | Prayers | Prayers | Prayers |
Art and Chorus 2x a week/Physical Education 3x a week | Christian Heritage Art program | Christian Heritage Art program | Christian Heritage Art program | Christian Heritage Art program |
LOGIC | Developing Understanding | Asking “How” | ||
Cognitive Taxonomy | Application | Analysis | ||
Description | Using a general concept to solve problems in a particular Situation; using learned material in new and concrete situations. | Breaking something down into its parts; may focus on identification of parts or analysis of relationships between parts, or recognition of organizational principles. | ||
Skills | Apply, adopt, collect, construct, demonstrate, discover, illustrate, | Analyze, compare, contrast, diagram, differentiate, dissect, distinguish, identify, illustrate, infer, outline, paraphrase, point out, review, select, separate, sort, and subdivide. | ||
Grades | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th |
Assessments | Iowa Tests | Iowa Tests | Iowa Tests | Iowa Tests |
Evaluation Tools | Student Portfolios | Student Portfolios | Student Portfolios | Student Portfolios |
History (Daily) and Geography History and Literature (below) are taught in one block class. | Ancient History 5000BC-400AD | Medieval-Early Renaissance History 400AD-1600 | Late Renaissance-Early Modern History 1600-1850 | Modern History 1850-Present |
Literature (Daily) | Tales of Ancient Egypt (Green, 1996)& Tales of Greek Heroes & Tale of Troy(1996) | Son of Charlemagne | Don Quixote (excerpts- Cervantes 1605) | Amos Fortune Free Man(Yates, 1989) |
Language Arts- Grammar and Composition (Daily) | Voyages in English 5- Loyola-(1995) | Voyages in English 6 Loyola-(1995) | Voyages in English 7 - Loyola-(1995) | Voyages in English 8 - Loyola-(1995) |
Religion (Daily) | Faith & Life Gr.5, Casa Maria (2004) | Faith & Life Gr.6, Casa Maria (2004) | Faith & Life Gr.7, Casa Maria (2004) | Faith & Life Gr.8, Casa Maria (2004) |
Mathematics (Daily) | Saxon Intermediate 5 (2004) | Saxon Course 1 (2004) | Pre-Algebra, (McDougal Littell, 2005) | Algebra 1, (McDougal Littell, 2005) |
Science (4x 5th, -5x 6-8th per week) | Emphasis on Biology | Emphasis on Biology | Emphasis on Chemistry | Emphasis on Physics |
Spanish (2 days a week in 5th) | Paso a Paso A, SRA McGraw-Hill (2000) | Intensive English Grammar Review | Oxford Latin Course 1 (2006) | Oxford Latin Course II (2006) |
Art /Chorus / Physical Education 2x a week each | Various Projects and Performances | Various Projects and Performances | Various Projects and Performances | Various Projects and Performances |
RHETORIC | Developing Wisdom | Asking “Why” | ||
Cognitive Taxonomy | Synthesis | Evaluation | ||
Description | Creating something new by putting parts of different ideas together to make a whole. | Judging the value of material or methods as they might be applied in a particular situation; judging with the use of definite criteria. | ||
Thinking Skills | Blend, build, change, combine, compile, compose, conceive, create, design, formulate, generate, hypothesize, plan, predict, produce, reorder, revise, tell, and write. | Accept, appraise, arbitrate, argue, articulate, assess, award, choose, conclude, criticize, defend, evaluate, grade, judge, prioritize, recommend, referee, reject, select, support. | ||
Grades | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th |
Assessments | PSAT | PSAT | PSAT/SAT | SAT/ACT/AP |
Evaluation Tools | Student Portfolios | Student Portfolios | Student Portfolios | Student Portfolios/Senior Thesis |
History History and Literature (below) are taught in one block class. | Ancient History 5000BC-400AD | Ancient and Medieval Renaissance History 400AD-1600 | Renaissance-Early Modern History 1600-1850 | Modern History 1850-Present |
Literature | Ten Plays (Euripides, 430) | The Iliad Selections (Homer,850 BC) | Hamlet (Shakespeare, 1600) | King Lear ( Shakespeare, 1610)
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Classical Studies | Traditional Logic; Introduction to Formal Logic Book I and Advanced Formal Logic Book II (Cothran, 2000 ) | Classical Rhetoric with Aristotle (Cothran, 2000 ) |
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Religion English | Catechism of the Catholic Church Part One Profession of the Faith- (1993) | Catechism of the Catholic Church Part Two -Celebration of the Christian Mystery (1993) | Catechism of the Catholic Church Part Three -Life in Christ (1993) | Catechism of the Catholic Church Part Four -Christian Prayer. (1993) |
Mathematics | Geometry, Larson (2005) | Dressler, Algebra II (2003) Sullivan, Pre-Calculus (2003) | Sullivan, Pre-Calculus (2003) | Advanced Mathematical Theory |
Science | Modern Biology, Holt, (2002) | Modern Chemistry Holt (2006) | Tippen, Physics | Advanced Scientific Theory |
Latin (2yrs) | Oxford Latin- Classical Course | Oxford Latin- Classical Course | Modern or Classical Language | Modern or Classical Language |
Art /Chorus / Physical Education 2x a week each | Various | Various | Various | Various |