Education Philosophy
Solid Foundation Preparatory Arts Academy (SFPAA) was developed under the premise that all children will learn if given the opportunity and the exposure.
The Faculty and Staff of SFPAA encourages excellence from all of its students. The SFPAA Faculty promote and challenge each student to utilize their time, talent and efforts to aid in the development of his or her skills and abilities and use them for the Glory of God and for the good of our fellow man.
We believe students will develop a love for learning when they are taught the “true” value of an education. We consider a “true” education being given by an educational facility that focuses on educating the young and ensuring each student understands the knowledge acquired should be used for the advancement of all people.
We take great delight in being called a “parent-friendly” facility. It is an organization, in some aspects, that caters to the needs of the student and their parents. We understand many of our parents are of the working class and would benefit from a longer school day. Our school hours are tailored to the more popular work shift of 8 to 5.
We strive to teach each student appropriate behavior and self-control. We have several incentives in place to motivate students to display appropriate behaviors. We simply do not call parents unless we have exhausted every means to change the unwanted behavior displayed.
SFPAA’s Commitment to Its Students and Families
It is important for SFPAA Faculty, Staff and Parents to have a tight link of communication. We take pride in ensuring information is passed on to each parent/guardian verbally, by electronic mail or printed correspondence on a weekly basis. A newsletter is also distributed each month. We have an open-door policy and we encourage parents to call or stop by at any time if there is an issue of concern needing to be addressed.
We are focused on being a part of developing a well-rounded student. We believe a student with a spiritual base, a sound academic background, morals and values will become a productive citizen in our world. Students are taught to respect every person regardless of his or her social, economic, ethnic and/or physical circumstances.
SFPAA’s Student and Family Requirements
Our experiences have proven that students who have parents who participate and take an active interest in their child’s academics are better students. With that known, we require our parents to volunteer, visit, participate in programs, accompany students on field trips, and be guest speakers throughout the year and during our career days. Students who see their parents valuing their education will in turn value it themselves. We believe the home, church and school should complement each other to promote student’s spiritual growth.
We believe students must be present at school every day, complete all assignments and participate in classroom activities in order to maximize their learning experience at SFPAA. Our expectations are for students to complete their own work, turn in neat work in a timely manner, develop good study habits and take pride in becoming the best student they know they must be.
The Faculty and Staff of Solid Foundation Preparatory Arts Academy is dedicated to providing a nurturing atmosphere that is filled with love and is conducive to learning. We respect all students and their families and understand the importance being and showing concern for each and every student enrolled at SFPAA.
Curriculum
Year at a Glance
Here is our Year at a Glance for each of the grades we teach here are Solid Foundation.
Pre-Kindergarten 3
Recognition of name, sound and picture for short vowels and consonants
Formation of vowels and consonants in upper and lower case
Language development and listening skills that include color words, shapes, animals, transportation, countries, community helpers, health, safety, manners and science.
Penmanship: name, alphabet and numbers
Simple counting 1 – 100
Number concepts 1 – 50
Music
Arts and Crafts
Pre-Kindergarten 4
Recognition of name, sound and picture for long and short vowels and consonants
Sounding of blends and one- and two-vowel words
Reading of sentences and stories with on- and two vowel words
Language development and listening skills that include color words, shapes, animals, transportation,countries, community helpers, health, safety, manners and science.
Penmanship: name, alphabet, numbers and simple sentence structure
Number recognition and counting 1 -100
Number concepts 1 – 100, largest and smallest and simple addition and subtraction
Music
Arts and Crafts
Kindergarten
Recognition of name, sound and picture for long and short vowels and consonants
Sounding of blends and one- and two-vowel words
Reading of sentences and stories with on- and two-vowel words
Beginning phonics rules and special sounds
Reading of sentences and stories from twelve books containing one- and two-vowel words and special sounds
Language : recognition of sentence structure – capitalization and punctuation
Penmanship: letters, blends, words and sentences
Science: Plants, Animals, Health and Human Biology and Earth and Science
Number recognition and counting 1 -100,
Number concepts 1 – 100,
Numbers largest and smallest 1-100, numbers before and after 1-100, counting and writing by 2’s, 5’s and 10’s
Number sentences by ones
Using number words 1-10 and first-tenth
Value of coins and dollar bill
Telling time
Using the calendar, days of the week, addition facts through 10, one-step story problems in addition and beginning subtraction
Social Studies: Community Helpers, Children of the World, America: Our Great Country (map studies, famous Americans and places)
Music
Arts and Crafts
First Grade
Language Arts
Phonics and Reading – Review of vowels, consonants, blends one- and two-vowel words, consonant blends, recognition and use of all phonics special sounds in reading, spelling rules, oral reading
Spelling and poetry – weekly phonics-based word list, weekly test with phonics, reinforcement activities and eight poems committed to memory
Language-Capitalization for first word in a sentence, proper names, days of the week and months of the year, correct punctuation at the ends of sentences, recognition of complete sentences, words using suffixes, prefixes, syllables, compound words, rhyming words, opposite words, same meaning words and contractions, alphabetizing words, writing complete sentences and short stories and creative writing
History and Geography
This is My America: My America’s Flag, Freedoms, Symbols, Great People of America, Growth of America and Patriotic Songs
This is my World: Studies on Mexico, Peru, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Bahamas, England, the Netherlands, Norway, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Israel, Egypt, Kenya, India, China, Australia, Guam and American Samoa
Science
Health and Human Biology
Energy
Animals
Plants
Seasons
Health, Safety and Manners
Health: Eating good foods, exercising, rest, posture and care of body, clothes and home
Safety: At home and away from home, on streets, playgrounds and water
Manners: At home, school, church and in public
Arithmetic
Number recognition, counting and writing 1 – 1,000, Greatest and least, counting and writing by 2’s, 3’s, 4’s, 5’s, and 10’s, number sentences, ordinal numbers, addition facts through 13 and three-digit addition with carrying, subtraction facts through 13 and twodigit subtraction, story problems, numbers before and after by ones, twos, tens, between numbers, counting and combining coins, telling time to the nearest five minutes, recognizing odd and even numbers, English and some metric measures, place value in ones, tens and hundreds, unit fractions, reading a thermometer, using a ruler, multiple combinations, concept of multiplication, calendars, reading pictographs and bar graphs, developing listening skills and roman numerals
Fine Arts
Music
Art
Second Grade
Language Arts
Phonics and Reading – Review of vowels, consonants, blends one- and two-vowel words, consonant blends, recognition and use of all phonics special sounds in reading, spelling rules, oral reading
Spelling and poetry – weekly phonics-based word list, vocabulary words and definitions, weekly test, reinforcement activities, spelling glossary and seven poems committed to memory
Language-Capitalization for first word in a sentence, proper names, days of the week and months of the year, special holidays, people and places, correct punctuation at the
ends of sentences, recognition of complete sentences, words using suffixes, prefixes, syllables, singular possessive words, compound words, rhyming words, opposite words, same meaning words and ontractions, alphabetizing words and other dictionary skills, word usage rules, writing of complete sentences, questions, exclamations and short stories, writing letter and thank-you notes and creative writing
History and Geography
America, Our Home:
The People Who Built America
Tomorrow’s America
Science
Plants
Animals
Health and Human Biology
Earth and Space
Matter
Energy
Conservation
Arithmetic
Number recognition, counting and writing 1 – 10,000, Numbers greatest and least 1 – 1,000, counting and writing by 2’s, 3’s, 4’s, 5’s, and 10’s, counting and writing to
hundred thousands, number sentences, ordinal numbers, addition facts through 18 and four-digit addition with carrying, subtraction facts through 18 and four-digit subtraction with borrowing, multiplication facts 0 – 5, division facts 1 – 5, story problems, multiple combinations, estimation, rounding, numbers before and after by ones, twos, tens, between numbers, counting and combining coins, making change, telling time to the nearest minute, recognizing odd and even numbers, English and some metric measures, place value in ones, tens and hundreds, unit fractions, reading a thermometer, drawing and measuring lines to one-half inch, multiple combinations, concept of multiplication, calendars, reading pictographs and bar graphs, developing listening skills and roman numerals
Fine Arts
Music
Art
Third Grade
Language Arts
Phonics and Reading – Review of all phonics rules, oral reading and reading comprehension
Spelling and poetry – Weekly word list with vocabulary, sentence dictation using spelling words
Language Writing Process: Complete sentences, punctuation and capitalization rules, creative writing, friendly letters Grammar: Recognition of simple nouns, subjects, verbs and adjectives, word usage, forming plurals and common contractions, recognition of antonyms, homonyms and synonyms, dictionary skills
History and Geography
Continents and oceans of the world, study of world geography and states of the United States
Study of our American Heritage through the lives of great people
Science
Plants
Animals
Health and Human Biology
Conservation
Health, Safety and Manners
Arithmetic
Recognition of the place value of numbers, addition facts and checking addition problems with carrying, subtraction facts and checking subtraction problems with borrowing, multiplication tables 0-12 and multiplication problems with carrying, how to show a multiplication fact six ways, division tables 1-12 and working and checking a division problem, terminology for four processes, English and metric measures, telling time, roman numerals 1-1,000, using a ruler, solving story problems with up to four steps, recognizing and solving number sentences, converting measures and solving measurement equations, recognizing and working with greater than (>) and less than (<), counting money and solving money problems using the decimal point correctly, solving problems containing parentheses, fraction terminology and basic understanding of fractions, averaging numbers, reading a thermometer, recognizing geometric shapes, finding the unknown number in an equation
Fine Arts
Music
Art
Fourth Grade
Language Arts
Oral reading, reading comprehension, speed reading and vocabulary building
Spelling Poetry: weekly word lists based on phonics and spelling rules, challenging words and vocabulary, reinforcement activities and six poems committed to memory
Language: Writing Process: Sentence structure, kinds of sentences, punctuation, capitalization facts, abbreviations, possessive words, letters-business, friendly, post cards, thank-you notes, gathering information, writing with details, writing an encyclopedia report, creative writing and dictionary skills Grammar: Recognizing and using all eight parts of speech, diagramming verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, correctly using troublesome words
History and Geography
Map study, state history for six weeks, eight documents memorized, the years of discovery, the years of conquest, the first Americans, the English, the New England colonies, the middle and southern colonies, The Great Awakening, A picture of colonial life, the French and Indian war, the American war for Independence
Science
Plants
Animals
Matter
Energy
Earth and Space
Health
Physical Fitness
Personal Hygiene
Interpersonal Relationships
Arithmetic
Place value of whole numbers and decimals, mastery of fundamental operations, story problems, estimating answers, English and metric measures, converting measures within the same system and solving measurement equations, roman numerals, addition, subtraction and multiplication involving fractions, estimation, averaging, factoring, divisibility rules, introduction to decimals, making change, reading a thermometer, solving equations using addition and subtraction axioms, graphs and scale drawing, basic geometric shapes, perimeter and area, using an English and metric ruler and time lapse
Fine Arts
Music
Art
Fifth Grade
Language Arts
Oral reading, reading comprehension, speed reading and vocabulary building
Spelling Poetry: weekly word on various categories and vocabulary study and six poems committed to memory
Language: Writing Process: Sentences and sentence parts, punctuation, capitalization, and quotation facts, synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, dictionary, thesaurus skills, letters – business, friendly, post cards, thank-you notes, making an outline, writing a library research paper, writing book reports and creative writing Grammar: Recognizing and diagramming all eight parts of speech, recognizing and diagramming complements
History and Geography
Eight documents memorized, geography facts, introduction to history and geography, Fertile Crescent, Ancient Middle East, Africa, Ancient Greece, Rome, Christianity, England, Other countries of Western Europe and Eastern Europe
Science
Plants
Energy
Engines
Matter
Earth and Space
Health
Circulatory System
Nutrition and Physical Fitness
Digestive System
Interpersonal Relationships
Arithmetic
Place value of whole numbers and decimals, mastery of fundamental operations, story problems, problem solving strategies, roman numerals, measuring to the quarter inch, calculating time, making change, rounding off whole numbers, money, decimals and mixed numbers, English and metric measures, converting measures within the same system and solving measurement equations, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division involving fractions, finding parts of a whole, factoring, divisibility rules, probability, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division involving decimals, introductions to percents, reading a thermometer, negative temperature, converting from a Celsius scale to a Fahrenheit scale and from a Fahrenheit scale to a Celsius scale, solving algebraic equations, graphs and scale drawings, graphing ordered pairs, reading schedules and charts, basic geometric shapes, perimeter and area, squares and square roots and estimation
Fine Arts
Music
Art