The Whole Child Curriculum: Art, Music, Handwork, Practical Skills, Visual & Performing Arts

The hand informs the brain. Developing coordination and fine motor skills inform overall intellectual, cognitive, and creative ability, a precursor for formal education.

MUSIC
1st Grade
Music permeates all areas of the student's life in and out of the classroom. A part of this is the constant expansion of the repertoire of songs. Seasonal songs, songs about the rhythm of the day and multi-cultural songs. First graders learn to play the flute in the pentatonic scale.(DEGAB) In this scale all the notes have an harmonious sound in any order they are played. The songs often come out of seasonal moods. Aside from a rich musical experience, playing the pentatonic flute develops finger coordination, concentration and breath control. Music periods are devoted to singing and playing the pentatonic flute, which also helps develop finger dexterity.

2nd Grade
New songs are introduced, including some for different times of day, seasonal songs, traditional folk songs and some have a latent element of a keynote E/G. Singing melodies within the range of up to an octave. Continuation of the pentatonic flute.

3rd Grade
In class three the transition is made to music that relates to a keynote or diatonic perspective, when the children meet with an early 'grammar' or 'spelling' (notation) of music. The recorder is an instrument that shapes and differentiates the stream of the breath. Bowed instruments bring in a new important element. Sing in music for several voices in arrangements of rounds. Begin instruction in the Recorder. Begin string instrument work in groups.

4th Grade
Central to music in the 4th year is the connection with fractions, the fixing of rhythmical note value. Recorders and string instruments accompany the singing and thus form a musical community.

5th Grade
Music lessons now also involve the 'grammar of music'. Linked to arithmetic lessons in which fractions are studied, note lengths and time value are now added. Instruction in recorder and string instruments are continued.

6th Grade
Folksongs in several voices and ballads, orchestral wind instruments, music theory, inventing melodies, improvising, music as art - how different motifs belong to different epochs of history, etc.

7th Grade
Question and answer ballads, duets, world music, guitar, music theory, rhythmical improvisation, musical pieces with spoken text, biographies of composers.

8th Grade
Songs in 2 to 4 voices, a-capella, songs about death, songs criticizing contemporary life, songs with strong rhythms, humorous pieces, music composed for class plays, romantic orchestral works - i.e. Swan Lake, theory of melody, continue of composer biographies. Every student now has experience with string, wind, and percussion instruments and can read music

HANDWORK
1st Grade
Knitting is an indispensable 1st Grade activity as there exists a close relationship between finger movement, speech and thinking. Working through a difficult task enables them to manage practical everyday problems with ability and confidence, and it promotes cognitive development. The body and mind are intricately related: just as crawling and walking at the right ages develop the baby's and toddler's nervous systems, so knitting in Grade One promotes logical thinking. Understanding the origins of the materials that are used helps to develop appreciation for the trees, plants, and animals whose wood, fibers and fleece have provided them with the tools for their work. The pupils learn how to distinguish between different types of fibers, wind balls of yarn, finger knit, measure, make their own knitting needles, and knit. Cotton washcloths and wool recorder cases are examples of two projects.

2nd Grade
In the second grade, knitting is continued so that the children become more skillful and are able to complete many diverse projects, such as rabbits, cats, multicolored balls, dolls and hats.

3rd Grade
Continue crocheting and the knitting. Begin crocheting clothes (e.g. a cap). Create a hand puppet using a diversity of materials.

4th Grade
Learn Cross-stitch- through this an ability to concentrate is developed; Learn how to sew "neatly. Practice use of scissors, pins and sewing needles, and thimble. Practice different stitches.

5th Grade
Form drawing now gains a strongly constructive component in intertwining, interlacing ribbon motifs, particularly in Celtic knot-work and patterns. Beauty now combines with accuracy. Chiaroscuro is introduced. Wet on wet water color painting continues. Clay work and shaded drawing is integrated with other subjects.

6th Grade
Soft handwork is now joined by "hard' craftwork. Working with wood, the skills of sawing, carving, rasping and filing are practiced.

7th Grade
Leather, slippers, shoes, weaving, carve a bowl, make a wooden, toy, boxes with lids.

8th Grade
Sewing machine, costumes for plays, build a clay bread oven, build a teepee, make a picture frame, design and build a skateboard ramp.

PAINTING, DRAWING, AND MODELING
Pupils from 1st-8th grade illustrate their main lesson books every day. All children paint, sculpt, draw, and make music.

1st Grade
Pupils experience working with color rather than attempting to create formed 'pictures'. We will work with watercolors using the wet on wet technique. Primary colors are discovered as well as the quality and mood of the color. The children's feelings for form are encouraged through beeswax modeling.

2nd Grade
Continuation of wet on wet technique using watercolor. Exercises in complimentary colors. Beeswax modeling from stories told.

3rd Grade
Color exercises. Color tales in which the child experiences the events of a story in colors.

4th Grade
In fourth grade, the children begin to join pure color with form. The starting point is an artistic point of view. Painting inspired by nature studies about animals, plants, and stones. Myths also provide new themes.

5th Grade
Form drawing now gains a strongly constructive component in intertwining, interlacing ribbon motifs, particularly in Celtic knot work and patterns. Beauty now combines with accuracy. Chiaroscuro is introduced.

6th Grade
Art work complements the physics lessons on light. Veil painting is introduced. Layer after layer of color are added to create the final result. Chiaroscuro work is continued. Model geographic forms - mountains, etc. - as part of geography lessons.

7th Grade
Perspective drawing, ink brush and pen, continue with veil painting. Free drawing. Sphere, cone, etc. drawn as spatial solids.

8th Grade
Black and white drawing, continue with painting. Detailed copies. Sculpt figures with dramatic gestures.

VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS
Presentations related to curriculum, plays and musical performances are presented over the course of each year to the students, parents, and community.

COMPUTER
7th Grade
Computer as a tool, word processing.

8th Grade
Building a computer and basic computer science.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION, MOVEMENT
Kindergarten to 2nd Grade
Outdoor games, jump-rope, etc.

3rd Grade
Make a connection to the themes that area taken up in main lesson. Apparatus work and games. Surmounting obstacles helps pupils confront their environment and find their way in it. Gymnastics began on a meadow where trees, fallen tree stumps, ditches and so on served as obstacles. This natural gym equipment should come alive again to some degree for the imagination of the children. Thus the space between two benches becomes a river, a balance bean a narrow footbridge over an abyss, the wall-bars a steep mountain. Suitable games are those that begin with a circle, for example a cat and mouse game, and all sorts of catching games. Every attempt will be made to use Bothmer gymnastics, a gradual training to build awareness of body positions.

4th Grade
Continue obstacle course exercises, but in a more demanding way. Give some subtle stimulation for achievement, for example, by counting how many children in one group manage the jump over a "ditch" or obstacle. Competitive games should still be avoided and instead, those games promoted where the children can experience "what I do has its effect on the group", such as "hot potato" and the various types of ball dodging games.

5th Grade
Olympic sports - running, jumping, discus, javelin, wrestling - culminating in an inter-school Pentathlon.

6th Grade
Handstands, work on bars, rings, health and safety awareness, outdoor athletics, team sports, being a winner and a loser, outwitting opponents, keeping score, dodge ball, net games.

7th & 8th Grade
Somersault, falling, vaults, handsprings, experiencing your bodily weight through pushups etc., various wrestling styles, basketball, hockey, softball, tennis, crosscountry, orienteering using maps and marked courses. Playing with other schools.

SOCIAL COMPETENCE & HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
A central aim of the Ocean Charter School is cultivating social skills and social competence. We believe that the way to learn this is through action and example, not by buzz words or posters. At OCS, social awareness will be built into the organization and governance of the school and every person will be asked to work with mutually agreed-upon principles of behavior that demonstrate the values that we think are important. The OCS curriculum will also teach social competence by offering a balance of collaborative and self-directed work. Pupils learn to listen and speak with empathy and care. Older pupils learn about economic interdependence. OCS will weave being a person that takes responsibility for their own self-development, who is socially aware, and environmentally responsible into every activity and aspects of the curriculum.

LIFE SKILLS EDUCATION
In accordance with the Health Framework for California Public Schools and state and district standards, Ocean Charter School will develop a collaborative, comprehensive program to teach health, nutrition, and life skills education. The curriculum will focus on the developmental tasks of early adolescence, health education, nutrition, and life skills education. The Life Skills Education course at Ocean Charter School will explore the innate mysteries of individuality as well as nurture the interpersonal connections that make us human.

Students in 5th - 8th grade will participate in process-oriented course work that will explore issues of self-esteem, self-awareness, and appreciation of others. Individuation tasks in the formation of identity, cognitive skills such as perspective taking, skills necessary for making good choices regarding health, sexuality, and nutrition will be examined.

Students in 5th and 6th grade will study Human Development and Sexuality, with an age-appropriate emphasis on puberty and the physical, emotional and social changes of adolescence. When human reproductive organs are included, permission of a parent or guardian will be obtained (Education code, Section 51550).

During 7th grade, as the students' developmental shifts take them further from the realm of family and closer to independence, life skills course work will focus on making healthy life choices. Drug education, examination of cultural and social messages and their impact on teen consumers, as well as a focus on organizational/study skills will prepare young people to navigate their personal and school lives in a healthy manner.

8th grades will work on a Ropes Course/Outdoor Experience and will continue their study of health, fitness, and nutrition with the added elements of HIV awareness, stress reduction, and gender issues. Eighth grade also provides an opportunity for job shadowing where students can get a taste of the myriad possibilities in the word of work.

Health, Nutrition, Human Reproduction, & Basics of Child Care

6th and 7th: Health, nutrition, and reproduction are introduced just before the students enter puberty, while they are still relatively less self-preoccupied can experience the nature of the human being in a general way.

LEADERSHIP & SOCIAL SKILLS
An important facet of the Ocean Charter School is the involvement of the larger community. This will be accomplished by establishing relationships with community groups, other educational institutions, as well as through community service projects. Our aim is to both serve and be served by the community. We plan to invite guest teachers, take field trips, and become an outlet for people who want to make artistic, social, and cultural contributions of performances, sports, etc. to the children of our city.

One of our goals at Ocean Charter School is to educate children in such a way that they are able to envision and create a peaceful world as adults. Doing things for others contributes to a sense of selfsufficiency, self esteem, and accomplishment, as well as strengthen qualities of self-discipline, perseverance, patience, and imagination. Ocean Charter School will utilize resources on the internet recommended by the Alliance for Childhood 21 such as "Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children's Entertainment" (www.truceteachers.org) which prepares an annual guide to help parents choose good toys and The Lion and Lamb Project ( www.lionlamb.org) which focuses on how to avoid toys of violence. We will contact peace education and conflict resolution programs such as Educators for Social Responsibility (www.esrnational.org ), the National Peace Foundation (www.nationalpeace.org ) for ideas on how to create "peace places" at schools where students can go to mediate conflicts and resolve disputes nonviolently. Other resources for global understanding are the Karuna Center for Peacebuilding (www.karunacenter.org) Facing History and Ourselves (www.facinghistory.org) and the Public Conversations Project (www.publicconversations.org).

Community service is an intrinsic part of that goal. Bringing children into contact with those less fortunate than themselves and caring for the environment helps broaden their understanding of the realities of our society. It helps them develop compassion and empathy for others as well as a desire and will to help. A service project for a class also helps build a spirit of community within the class. Working together towards a common goal helps develop skills in cooperation and working together. This is one reason why service projects are important even in the early grades. The children learn to work together and to trust one another. Taking care and beautifying a corner of the school property, or making a contribution to a school festival celebration are appropriate tasks for the early grades. This introduces them to the satisfaction of doing something practical that benefits others and where they can see an immediate effect.

Examples and possibilities:

1st & 2nd Grade
Toy drive: participate in a school wide toy drive to benefit others who otherwise would have to do without; school beautification: improve school grounds by planting flowers, picking up trash; donating winter coats and clothing to charity.

3rd, 4th, & 5th Grades
Meals on Wheels: make tray favors -such as beeswax sculptures, decorated candles, felted hearts through out the year, make sandwiches and food bags to feed the homeless; toy drive, clothing donations.

6th Grade
Recycling for the school, collect blue containers of recyclable trash from each class room and offices and empty them into recycling bin, toy drive, clothing donations. 21 "Eight Steps for Peace Education: From the Alliance for Childhood, December 2002 www.allianceforchildhood.net

7th Grade
Bi-weekly service activities helping in the office, kindergarten, public libraries, senior homes, toy drive, donations of clothing.

8th Grade
Organize events for socio-economically deprived children, perform music for seniors, cleaning up neighborhood with local fire dept., feeding the homeless, beach cleanups, toy drive, clothing donations. Choose a charity together and raise money to make a contribution, i.e. Heifer International (www.heifer.org), Habitat for Humanity, etc.

For more information about the curriculum, please email: curriculum@oceancharterschool.org