The 10-year-old child:

Following the 9 year old transformation, children have a stronger sense of their individuality and it is time to help them really learn to be comfortable with who they are. The overarching question now becomes: “Where do I fit in?” At this age, they are now greater able to view the world around them objectively and encounter the environment with greater capacities of thinking and feeling. As such History and Geography are introduced. Both of these subjects begin where the child is and then over the years we slowly take them further and further outward. In this time we can see the beginning of the transformation from imagination to objectivity and more detailed observation.

This is the year that fractions are introduced as the children can now better comprehend the breaking up of a whole into its parts. This is the time to help children learn to find a calm space inside so that they can live from that space. For this reason many activities are introduced which require greater focus, concentration and balance. This is a good year to introduce circus games e.g. juggling, walking on a line above the ground etc. to get the children to go into themselves. This is the time to help children know who they are through looking at family traditions, local traditions and involving them in many projects and activities which challenge them to think more deeply and ask more questions.

Norse Myths

These stories speak strongly to the 10 year old child. The gods of Asgard are portrayed as individuals with distinct, powerful personalities who encounter significant consequences for both their good and bad behaviour. The vivid images evoked in these stories provide ample inspiration for the expanded creative and expository writing skills required of the child at this grade. The strong alliterations of their verses strengthen the ten year old child’s clarity and dexterity of speech, and reinforces their developing confidence.

Farming and Gardening

This Main Lesson Block is focused on showing the children the fruits of the earth and the wonder of nature. How the earth serves us and is able to give us what we need if we learn how to use and work the soil.  This is extended during our class Farm Outing where the children get to experience life on a working farm. We will not only learn how foods are grown, but also how they are processed.

Mathematics

Place value will be extended into the thousands including concepts of borrowing and carrying. We will work to solidify these concepts and put them to work in all four operations.  We will also continue our work with the multiplication tables. We will strongly focus on developing their mental math skills and problem solving abilities. Measurement will be extended to include calculations and conversions between different units. Volume, capacity and weight will be explored. Fractions will be introduced towards the end of the year.

We will continue to strengthen and develop math language, comprehension, vocabulary through speech.

Factors, estimation, rounding numbers, word problems.

Language

3 key areas of focus:

• Reading: we will now have a weekly reading period where different reading methods and strategies will be explored. We will have a class reader through which we will also practice comprehension, prediction, vocabulary, sentence structure and grow our community of reading. All main lessons provide a wide range of content which will be used to strengthen and develop reading skills.
• Grammar: We will extend our knowledge of punctuation and explore various parts of speech as we really get into the structure of the English Language. The aim is to use these to make our language interesting, colorful, active, clear and meaningful.
• Writing: In addition to copying paragraphs that I have written on the board, the children will begin writing their own short compositions based on our main lesson blocks. The children will also continue to shape the content of their books by deciding as a class what we will write.
• Children will also be challenged to work more independently through regular dictation practice, learning of spelling words and English games e.g. crossword puzzles

Fibres

This main lesson helps children further explore the gifts the earth gives us. We will look at various fibres/textiles we get from nature and how man has transformed these to be useful fabrics, practical in day life especially in clothing and for use in house building. We will focus on what is available to us here in Guatemala.

The Environment

A first introduction to Geography, starting where the children spend most of their time: home and school. Children will learn the 4 Cardinal points (North, South, East, West) They will be challenged to draw the first maps from a birds-eye view. They will learn to draw their route to school and as such be able to have greater awareness of the world around them. This lesson will be combined with family traditions, family tree etc. as we help the children to feel confident in where and who they are. The goal of the geography curriculum is to engender an understanding of the interrelatedness of human activity and the local physical conditions of the earth.

Animal Study

Animal study is introduced growing out of a descriptive study of the human being and our place in nature. The child develops an understanding and appreciation of the animal kingdom as it reflects the environment to which each species has adapted. Through detailed study of the forms and habitats of animals, the children begin to get a feeling for the fascinating assortment of skills and qualities that the animals possess. At the same time, the children begin to see the unique and responsible position they hold as human beings upon the earth.

This detailed study offers opportunities for the child to develop his/her comparative, conceptual, and observational skills, and it provides additional material for artistic, dramatic, and language arts activities.

Guatemala City

An extension of geography as we explore the wonders of the City we live in. This Main Lesson also serves as an introduction to History as we will explore the local history mainly through biographies of those who lived here before us.

Form Drawing

This year, the big step for the class will be working with forms that meet and cross each other, to create a new form out of their intermingling. We will also work with forms within a circle, lemniscate forms and transformations of straight lines into curves. Towards the later part of the year we will start drawing Celtic knots where the children learn to give forms a more 3D appearance.

Hebrew Scriptures

The stories from the Old Testament form the backbone of the year. These stories provide archetypal images which help the children through the transformation on a soul level. The laws, guidelines, guidance, struggles of the Israelites and stories of the characters chosen by God foster inner security during this unsettling period.  In these stories the children encounter a Higher power that can be relied on. These stories will be told until the later part of the year.

Theses stories speak to the children in a deep way as they are filled with archetypal pictures which mirror what the children are going through at this time. These will also be of great benefit to the older children of the class who are also dealing with this transformation in themselves.