Westminster School

Northern Virginia Private School

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    • Admissions

      • Open Houses
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      • Apply Now
      • Admission Process
      • Tuition & Financial Aid
      • Meet the Director
      • HS and College Attendance

    • Westminster School seeks families who are looking for an outstanding educational program and an all-around experience that will help their child grow in character, confidence, and enthusiasm for learning and for life.


  • Academics & Specials
    • ACADEMICS & SPECIALS

      • The Westminster Educational Approach
        • Lower School, Grades K-2
        • Middle School, Grades 3-5
        • Upper School, Grades 6-8
      • After-School Program
      • Arts
      • Athletics
      • STEAM Program & Makerspace
      • Westminster School Library And Resources

    • Westminster’s academic program is based on the belief that children between the ages of five and fourteen are naturally dominated by curiosity and enthusiasm for life, and want nothing so much as to understand the world around them, discover how they fit into it, and show what they can do.


  • About Us
    • ABOUT US

      • Meet the Head of School
      • Mission & Philosophy
        • Classical Education
        • School Traditions
        • School Community
        • History of Westminster
      • School Community
        • Our Staff
        • Board of Trustees
        • Alumni
      • Employment
      • Campus Tour
      • Blog
      • Media Room

    • Westminster School is dedicated to providing a superior elementary and middle-school education whose fundamental goals for each child are a disciplined and well-informed mind, strength of character, dedication to learning, generosity of spirit, and joy in the possibilities of life. The school community represents a diverse body of learners who are engaged in a rigorous academic program, enriched by the arts, athletics, and extracurricular activities.


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Curriculum Highlights: First Grade

Back To Curriculum Highlights

Language Arts

  • Alphabet mastery
  • Consonant sounds (digraphs and blends)
  • Vowel sounds (short and long)
  • Word analysis skills
  • Nouns, verbs, pronouns
  • Scrambled sentences
  • Listening skills
  • Dictation
  • Pre-decodable and decodable books
  • Comprehension
  • Sight words
  • Oral expression
  • Handwriting
  • Creative writing
  • Junior Great Books
  • Summer workbook

Mathematics

  • Numeration, 0 – 1,000
  • Counting by 2’s, 3’s, 4’s, 5’s, and 10’s
  • Estimating, comparing, measuring
  • Place value
  • Addition, subtraction of 2-, 3-digit numbers
  • Simple fractions
  • Patterns
  • Functions
  • Congruence, symmetry
  • Money:  coins and bills
  • Telling time to quarter-hour
  • Calendars
  • Graphs
  • Logical problem solving
  • Summer workbook

Social Studies

  • Appreciating self and others
  • Composition and needs of families
  • Community helpers
  • Differences among people, cultures
  • Native American culture
  • Holidays in our country and other lands
  • Outstanding individuals, contributions
  • Basic principles and procedures of a democracy
  • Economy:  jobs & money exchange
  • Finding facts, recognizing non-facts

Science

  • Animal kingdom: dinosaurs and fossils
  • Animal growth
  • Human body and nutrition
  • Plants
  • Sound
  • Heat energy
  • Light energy
  • States of matter
  • Air and weather
  • Changes on Earth
  • Our solar system
  • Frequent hands-on activities/labs

Geography

  • The globe as a model of Earth
  • Earth’s bodies of land and water
  • Conceptual introduction to maps
  • Map symbols and keys
  • Directions
  • North Pole/South Pole
  • Compass rose
  • Map grid and scale
  • Political map
  • Introduction to the United States
  • Landform map

Physical Education

  • Daily P.E. class
  • Fitness and conditioning
  • Body control:  agility, flexibility, endurance, balance,  gross motor coordination, hand-eye coordination, spatial skills
  • Movement skills, including dance
  • Manipulative activities
  • Game skills
  • Good health habits:  hygiene, diet, safety
  • Respect, cooperation, confidence

Visual Arts

  • Dedicated art studio
  • Art class twice weekly
  • Develop color sense, basic mixing
  • Lines, symmetry, texture
  • Drawing and coloring:  pencil, eraser, markers, oil pastels, crayons
  • Painting:  tempera paint, watercolors
  • Printmaking:  plexiglass, water-soluble printing inks, various printing tools
  • Sculpture:  plasticene, air-drying clay
  • Collage:  paper, glue, scissors, fabric, tissue paper
  • Introduction to bookmaking
  • Self expression, respect, confidence
  • Annual, school-wide art contest

Performing Arts

Music

  • Listening to music
  • Differentiating musical sounds
  • Foundations of musical literacy
  • Rhythmic speech in counterpoint
  • Introduce musical notation
  • Group singing
  • Develop sense of interpretation
  • Instruments:  tambourines, triangles, drums, etc.
  • Performance: two music programs each year

Drama

  • Attendance at dramatic productions
  • Speaking role in class play
  • Develop acting skills
  • Use of costumes and props
  • Ensemble/solo singing, choreography
  • Public speaking, confidence

Modern/Classical Languages

French

  • Listening comprehension
  • Pronunciation skills
  • Daily greetings and instructions
  • Vocabulary building
  • Gender in nouns, articles, and adjectives
  • Simple plurals
  • Dialogue, mini-conversations
  • Songs, poems
  • Writing simple sentences
  • French culture

Library

  • Story time/read-alouds
  • Book selection/check-out
  • Fiction, alphabetical location
  • Non-fiction, topic location
  • Reference books
  • Folk tales, fairy tales
  • Curriculum-related books
  • Seasonal books
  • Highlight authors
  • Oral book reporting
  • Book fair

Technology

  • StarBoards in each classroom
  • Rolling laptop cart for classroom computer use
  • Basic familiarity with computers

Field Trips

Several field trips per year; recent examples include:

  • American Indian Museum
  • National Museum of African Art
  • Kennedy Center
  • Discovery Theater
  • GMU, Center for the Arts
  • Whole Foods Market
  • Curiosity Zone
  • Rachel Schlesinger Concert Hall
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CONTACT US DIRECTIONS
Westminster School
3819 Gallows Rd,
Annandale, VA 22003
703 -256 -3620

Copyright © 2019 Westminster School

Westminster School
  • Admissions
    • Open Houses
    • Visit Us
    • Apply Now
    • Admission Process
      • Meet The Director
      • Checklist
      • Criteria
    • Tuition & Financial Aid
      • Fee Schedule
      • Military Discount
    • Transportation
    • HS & College Attendance
  • Academics & Specials
    • The Westminster Educational Approach
      • Lower School, Grades K-2
      • Middle School, Grades 3-5
      • Upper School, Grades 6-8
    • After-School Program
    • Arts
    • Athletics
    • STEAM Program & Makerspace
    • Westminster School Library And Resources
  • About Us
    • Meet the Head of School
    • Mission & Philosophy
      • Classical Education
      • School Traditions
      • School Community
      • History of Westminster
    • School Community
      • Our Staff
      • Board of Trustees
      • Alumni
    • Employment
    • Campus Tour
    • Blog
    • Media Room
  • Preschool
  • Camp Griffin
  • Contact Us