Academics

Spanish K-8

The Spanish curriculum at Ring Mountain Day School encourages language proficiency in students beginning in Preschool and the primary elementary grades. Our program not only develops immediate language skills but also equips students with useful, lifelong language acquisition strategies. Our objectives are to develop, reinforce, and refine communicative competency in listening, speaking, reading and writing.  Through essentially an inductive approach, students gain an intuitive understanding of how the language is acquired and how they can use this knowledge to express themselves linguistically.

Exploring Spanish speaking cultures is also a critical aspect of Ring Mountain’s Spanish curriculum. Through projects, music, dance, field trips and guest speakers, students will have the chance to apply their new language skills within the context of a Spanish speaking culture. As students utilize their language skills to interact with other cultures they will begin to open the many wonderful doors that learning a foreign language allows, and in turn gain enthusiasm and gusto for the subject.
Classes are multilevel and multiage. We differentiate the language instruction as we adapt contents and techniques to the varying abilities and needs of the students. The various methodologies employed take into consideration different learning styles. Students acquire first the vocabulary, phrases, structures and eventually the grammatical skills appropriate to and useful in their everyday environment.
 The classrooms are equipped with listening centers, video projectors, library, games, music libraries, microphone and speakers, over head projectors, textbooks and Spanish novels (3rd through 8th grade), writing material and art sources. Spanish is held three times a week for Preschool-8th grade.

Kindergarten

 Kindergarten Spanish curriculum is designed to give students a fun, dynamic and meaningful introduction to the Spanish language. Through games, songs, videos, art projects and drama students will be introduced to basic vocabulary and phrases. Some of the main vocabulary topics will include:  numbers 1-20, colors, days of the week, directions, animals, adjectives, body parts, clothing, family, community, food and feelings. Communication is emphasized as students will learn to both ask and answer basic questions which they will then develop into short dialogues.
Cultural activities, such as field trips, Spanish cuisine cooking classes, Mexican salsa dance classes and Day of the Dead alter making, will be integrated into students’ different thematic units so that they can utilize their new language skills in the context of a Spanish speaking culture. These activities will help improve their language skills while also exciting them about Spanish as they explore its uses outside the classroom. Cultural activities will include field trips, guest speakers, dance lessons, cooking classes and art projects. Each class is 45 minutes.  Parents are encouraged to explore the language and the culture of Spanish speaking countries outside the classroom with their students.

First/Second Grade

The first and second grade Spanish curriculum is designed to promote students’ growth with the Spanish language as they review and master the material learned in Kindergarten and then expand both their vocabulary and conversation skills. In addition to new vocabulary, such as numbers 20-100, sports, weather and verbs, students will have the opportunity to develop their speaking skills as they will work on communicating in small groups throughout the school year. Students will learn a variety of new questions and phrases ranging from telling time to describing their food likes and dislikes. They will also learn how to form sentences and they will be introduced to reading, writing and basic grammar, such as masculine and feminine words, articles and punctuation. While both grades will work on the same material, the scope and depth of the work they are doing will depend both on their age as well as their skill level.

Cultural activities, such as field trips, Spanish cuisine cooking classes, Mexican salsa dance classes and Day of the Dead alter making, will be emphasized throughout the course in order to give students the opportunity to apply their newfound Spanish communication skills in a real world setting. These activities will help improve their language skills while also exciting them about Spanish as they explore its application outside the classroom. Spanish is offered for 45 minutes, three days a week. Homework will be given once a week and parents are encouraged to explore the language and the culture of Spanish speaking countries outside the classroom with their students.