Curriculum

English Language Arts

English Language Arts (ELA) consists of reading, writing, speaking, and listening. ELA is the basis of all that we do at BCS. Our goal is to help students become confident, effective communicators. We provide students opportunities to share their excitement about books. We read to all of the students and provide exciting literature and nonfiction choices for independent reading. All students are also challenged to stretch their reading skills with guided reading, through which they learn reading strategies appropriate to their levels. In addition to independent and guided reading, we also work systematically with students on specific reading skills such as the sounds of letters and syllables. As the students grow at our school, they become more engaged in using the writing workshop model. This means that students gather ideas, write drafts, revise, edit, and publish pieces of writing.  

Mathematics 

Through exciting activities and lessons, we help our students become creative, skillful and articulate problem solvers. Our integrated projects allow students to apply their problem-solving and mathematical reasoning skills to a variety of situations. They come to understand how mathematical ideas connect across the curriculum. In all levels, we incorporate the Everyday Mathematics Program with the elements of mathematics included in the New York State Curriculum, including number sense and computation, geometry and measurement, data collection and probability. Students learn to estimate and compute, observe patterns, discuss, represent, and write about their ideas and strategies.

 Science 

Children are natural scientists. They play with, explore, and investigate their surroundings daily. This curiosity helps children discover how things work and answer their questions about the world around them. We capitalize on this natural curiosity by teaching science as we do all subjects, through active involvement in hands-on activities. We engage all students in the process of inquiry to help them begin to build the foundation of their science education. Each year students participate in our annual science fair. Students choose a topic, question, hypothesize, investigate, observe, measure, conclude, and communicate their results. Their projects are shared with our school community in the early spring. 

Art   

The art program at BCS emphasizes activities in which the student expresses individuality and demonstrates imagination. Students learn to trust their innate sense of creativity by experimenting with a wide range of materials and techniques. Whenever possible, the art teacher integrates the classroom themes into the weekly lesson.

Music

Our music program includes singing, rhythm, use of instruments, and movement.  Students also learn how to read music.  To make reading music meaningful, some classes learn to play the recorder. As with art, whenever possible, the music teacher and the classroom teachers integrate the music content with the classroom themes.  In addition, students participate in a musical performance twice a year.

Physical Education

The physical education program at BCS is designed to contribute to the total growth and development of the child through participation in a wide variety of movement experiences and physical activities.  Attention is focused on individual striving rather than a model of competition.  When an activity involves competition, good sportsmanship is emphasized.

In September, October and November, physical education classes are held outside at the school.  During the winter, students are transported to a skate and gym or a swim and gym program.  In both programs, students are divided by class and spend half their time in skating or swimming instruction, the other half in the gymnasium.

Physical development is also enhanced by unstructured, physical playground activities.

Social Studies 

Students learn about history, geography, and diverse cultures in a variety of ways at our school. Students thrive when given the opportunity to ‘live’ historical times and different cultures instead of just study them. We emphasize an understanding of multiple perspectives. Our younger students study family and community and use that familiar lens to explore historical times, events, and people. Our older students research and discuss the impact of historical developments on their lives and on the world. Students employ and develop their critical thinking skills as they analyze information, synthesize ideas and develop thoughtful questions. Through these investigations, we strive to instill a strong sense of our responsibility for the environment.

Spanish

At BCS, we celebrate multicultural differences, and one of the ways in which these differences are brought into the classroom is through the study of Spanish.  In the younger grades, there is an emphasis on music, drama and games as an approach to develop basic vocabulary.  In the upper grades, we include more reading, oral and written work.  Spanish-speaking countries from the Americas and Europe are introduced to our students in the classroom.  Exploration of Spanish-speaking cultures helps to develop a sense of our global community.

Technology

We have at least 2 computers in each classroom. The computers are used when doing so contributes to advancing the learning goals. In the early years, we help students become comfortable with the basic functions of a computer. As they advance, students use the computers for research and for organizing and presenting information.