Ambleside’s Lower School Program is designed to cultivate the whole child by engaging the mind, forming the heart and guiding the will. Through Grades 1-5, students continue to engage in “A Living Education” through a rich curriculum. Highlights include raising chicks, field trips to the Museum of Natural History, bluebird monitoring, and more. The Lower School stage promotes higher orders of thinking and develops habits of attention, responsibility, and perseverance in preparation for middle school.
CORE SKILLS: Literature, Language Arts, Mathematics, Science and Nature Study, Arts and Drama, Handwork, Spanish
Literature: Students immerse themselves in classic literature, fables, and novels that convey noble ideas and stir the imagination. Starting in Second Grade, students read and discuss full novels such as Black Beauty. Drawn from the classical Western tradition, these “living books” enrich the mind and instruct the conscience in morality and beauty.
Language Arts: Through dictation, copywork, grammar lessons, and written narrations, children grow in spelling, punctuation, and style. By Fifth Grade, they compose well-structured essays and creative writing pieces. Daily recitation of studied passages cultivates memory and elocution.
Mathematics: Ambleside follows the Singapore math curriculum in preparation for Pre-Algebra and beyond. In lower grades, manipulatives and story problems establish mathematical relationships in the mind. By upper grades, students confidently solve long division, fractions, and introductory algebra concepts.
Science and Nature Study: Students observe and record details from God’s creation. Each child keeps an illustrated nature notebook, strengthening habits of careful observation and delight in the natural world. The formal science curriculum begins in Third Grade with dinosaurs and mammals, progressing to geology and herpetology by Fifth Grade.
Handwork: Students learn sewing, crochet, mosaics, calligraphy and more: skills that train patience, precision, and creativity. Projects often serve the community, such as making bookmarks for younger students or exquisite corporate art projects for school events.
Spanish: Regular Spanish classes begin in Kindergarten and continue through the upper grades. Rather than an elective, all students participate in a curriculum that employs songs, stories and recitations to instill a foundational understanding of the Spanish language.
Arts and Drama: Students engage with beauty daily through music, art, picture study, handwork, and poetry. They learn songs and hymns, study the works of great artists and composers, and practice the fundamentals of drawing, painting, and craft. These experiences cultivate creativity, joy, and an appreciation for excellence. During school events such as Veterans’ Chapel and the beloved Shakespeare Festival, students enjoy performing the songs, poems and plays they have learned.
FAITH AND COMMUNITY: Bible stories, hymns, habits of kindness and attention.
Bible: Students attend daily assembly in the chapel where they sing a hymn and pray together. In class they study Biblical stories as students get to know God more and strengthen their faith through His Word. Each grade memorizes and narrates passages and reflects on Biblical truth. All students engage in deep discussions about faith and character, applying God’s Word to their own lives.
Our Second Graders receive their personalized Bibles to take with them as a cherished gift from Ambleside. Before Second Grade, children read and listen to illustrated Bible stories. Once they receive their Bibles, they read and narrate directly from God’s Word, both Old and New Testaments, and discuss the characters and themes they encounter.
OUTDOOR TIME: Recess, nature walks, playtime, field trips
Students enjoy daily outdoor recess, nature walks, and active play. P.E. classes incorporate both fitness skills and sports such as kickball, capture the flag, and basketball. Beginning in Fourth Grade, older students are paired with younger students in a buddy system that builds strong bonds between the students and teaches the older ones the beginnings of mentorship and responsibility. Buddies often play games at recess, read books aloud in the library, or work on craft projects together.
Regular field studies include Mount Vernon, the National Gallery of Art, Colonial Williamsburg, and Great Falls National Park. During these off-campus visits, children give close attention to docents on tours, sketch and write in their journals, narrate what they have observed, and become acquainted with important national landmarks of history, culture, and nature.
LOWER SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS:
First Graders hatch and care for chicks; they also make paper-mâché puppets, using them to perform beloved stories such as The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Pinocchio.
Second Graders receive personalized Bibles at our annual 2nd Grade Bible chapel, that they keep for the rest of their lives.
Third Graders visit the National Zoo and the Museum of Natural History to engage with the animals they study in Science.
Fourth Graders monitor bluebird houses at nearby Riverbend Park.
Fifth Graders take on greater responsibility by serving as carpool Safety Patrol officers and performing Shakespeare’s plays.
Want to see Ambleside’s Lower School for yourself? Please schedule a visit and our Admissions Team will connect with you. We would love to meet you!
“The more of a person we succeed in making a child the better will he both fulfill his own life and serve society.”