In the middle grades (grade 1, 2, and 3) astonishment about the world forms the foundation of the themes. In this phase of development, the child gathers knowledge he or she faces and asks “why” many times. We start at the beginning: how everything has come into existence? In the lower grades different cycles are discussed, such as the cycle from seed to plant. Children from middle grades will ask where the seed came from.
We also prepare children for higher grades by learning the (sense of) time with Timeline of the year and Cycle of the seasons. The world is pictured on a flat surface and functions as a World carpet to play twister to gain a sense of the places on earth.
These themes are the foundation of a solid curriculum. Each theme is comprised of a block of 7 lessons and 1 lesson to end the theme. One theme takes 8 weeks. Within each theme all subjects of Science and History are discussed: Geography, History, Biology, Engineering, Sociology, Physics, Chemistry, Healthcare, and Philosophy (or view) of life. All subjects are integrated in one lesson a week. The remaining time is used to work individually, in groups or as a whole class to process the information. Children are also prepared for higher grades by teaching them a sense of time, learning how to monitor and plan one’s work, making a mind map, and what preparation needs to be done for a test. The tests are different from one another. It could be a drawing assignment in which children learn to draw the beginning of life. It could be a written piece, a presentation or a quiz. We do this to avoid testing only the skills necessary for language and reading comprehension.
DaVinci suppliesthe following materials for the middle grades:
