Curriculum

Kindergarten

Kindergarten is a small group experience at SRVCA with class size of 10 or 11.  Students attend a 3 hour morning or afternoon session.  God's word is incorporated into all areas of our curriculum.  Our reading program correlates reading, handwriting, auditory and oral language skills.  We use a hands-on math program so students will develop and understanding of mathematics through concrete materials.  We explore God's world in science with hands-on lessons.  Days are busy and full as we add music, special units, Spanish, library, chapel, art, and P.E.

First Grade

First grade at SRVCA is an exciting year of "firsts" for our students.  This is our first year in which we attend school all day!  We have spelling tests with words and sentences, daily journals, reading groups, and math speed drills, all for the first time.  We use the ABEKA Language Arts Curriculum for an integrated program of reading, phonics, language, spelling and writing.  We study our community and take many interesting trips to visit "community helpers" in the San Ramon Valley and even further.  We learn about our world and memorize the continents, large bodies of water, and other important facts.  We learn about animals, and each student writes their first report on an animal.  We sing, compute, count in Spanish, run the mile in PE, lose and gain new teeth, and learn to be organized, self-motivated students.  Our Old Testament studies and ever-expanding knowledge of and relationship with Jesus give us a rich spiritual foundation for the rest of our lives.

Second Grade

Second grade at SRVCA is a year of growth and development.  Our 2nd graders love to explore God's beautiful creation through special trips and creative writing.  We learn how to write descriptively and read with expression!  We study math by using hands-on materials that make math come alive!  Through our Hands-On-Science we explore and become scientists.  We learn how to ask questions and predict what each experiment will hold.  God has blessed us with His beautiful creation and we learn how to treat it with care.  Through our different studies of Alaska and Hawaii , we learn for the first time how to research and discover how different each state's culture really is.  With exciting field trips throughout the Bay Area we explore the beauty of nature, outdoors, animals and how factories work.  By the end of the year, we become excellent readers, writers and mathematicians!  Through our wonderful Biblical education, we are ready to share our faith with people who don't know about Jesus Christ and His love.  We learn to trust the Lord in ALL circumstances because He is the author of our lives.

Third Grade

Third Grade is an exciting and fun-filled transition year between the primary and upper grades.  Third graders learn to set individual goals and take more personal responsibility for their learning.  They work on developing reading comprehension and study skills that provides success in fourth and fifth grade.

All subjects reinforce a biblical worldview.  Students are taught to look at life from God's perspective.  As we study God's Word daily, our goal is that students become not only hearers but also doers of the Word.  Monthly character traits also encourage students to put God's precepts into practice.  Our theme verse is "Whatever you do, work at it with all you heart as working for the Lord, not for men."  Col. 3:23

Third graders look forward to learning cursive, multiplication tables, long division, researching and writing reports, exploring the biomes of the world, investigating electricity, simple machines and space, and giving a costumed oral presentation on a famous American.

Field trips to Guide Dogs for the Blind, the Oakland Zoo, Lawrence Hall of Science, Chabot Observatory, Macedo Ranch, and the Tassajara One Room Schoolhouse reinforce our science and social studies curriculum

Fourth Grade

Fourth grade at SRVCA is rewarding and fun.  Our 4th graders love to meet in prayer groups to support one another.  We learn amazing things about California 's history like the Native Americans, the 21 missions, and the gold rush.  We are a hands-on group and love to learn science using all of our senses and critical thinking skills.  We are fascinated by crayfish, ocean creatures, and the weather around us.  Taking field trips to bring all the information we have learned into focus is one of our favorites things.  We enjoy touring Sacramento with the State Capital Building , Sutter's Fort, Old Towne, and the Railroad Museum .  We take walking trips to creeks and museums in our own backyard.  During our over-night camping trip, we go back in time to 1854, and live life as 49ers!  We love learning and writing about our experiences.  EUREKA !

Fifth Grade

Fifth grade at the Academy is truly an adventure.  Students learn to learn to apply God's Word to their lives, see the overall themes of the Bible, and actively share their faith with others.  We also travel back in time to the colonial days, spend three days at Borges Ranch as pioneers, and actually fight in the Civil War!  We experience the adventure of science by exploring the Tech Museum , comparing rocks at Mt. Diablo , dissecting grasshoppers, raising butterflies, and investigating God's creation at Outdoor Education.  Most of all, it is exciting to challenge and stretch ourselves, gain organizational skills, learn study strategies, and trust the Lord in all things, so that we'll be prepared for success in junior high.

Sixth Grade

Sixth Grade at SRVCA is the big transition year.  Students have more teachers, lockers, and classes with which to deal.  Electives are also offered in sixth grade. It is an exciting time.  Bible focuses on the New Testament and Jesus' life.  In English there is a strong emphasis on reading, writing and language arts. Students are required to read between 600 and 800 pages of outside reading each quarter.  Social Studies will find the student studying the ancient civilizations.  Forming civilizations and Greek Day with the "Olympics" are just some of the highlights. Our text gives us a wonderful Christian perspective on the civilization of man.  Geography is also emphasized.  All of this is helping to make the transition and preparation for high school easier.

Seventh Grade

Seventh Grade is a true transitional year moving from the tranquility of pre-teen to the tumultuous teen years.  We are involved with field trips, worship team for chapel, speech meet, spelling bee, the science fair, and traveling to Washington D.C.   Classes offered to our seventh graders are: Pre-Algebra, Social Studies, English, Spanish I, Bible (Old Testament Studies), Life Science, P.E., and various electives.  Applying God's word to our daily lives is a constant part of all we do at the Academy.

Eighth Grade

Our Eighth Grade Class is the final preparation before entering High School.  At the beginning of the school year we go away for a three-day retreat to build class unity, camaraderie, and just to have some fun.  This year is filled with activity:  the Science Fair, the Civil War Project; a Field Trip to the Chabot Space and Science Center; the Play; and Graduation.  Every other year we travel to Washington , D.C. where we have the opportunity to view close-at-hand the history of our great nation.  Closer to home we are involved in many service projects as part of the graduation requirements for SRVCA (Special Olympics, Miracle Ranch, volunteering as helpers at local area churches, etc.).  Some of our Eighth Graders take Algebra I in preparation for High School Geometry and most will take Spanish I in preparation for Spanish II in High School.  Application is the key word for our Bible class; where we learn to put into practice the principles of God's Word.