Classes and Curriculum

 Emmaus has been offering a quality, Christian education since 1976.  We offer Arizona state licensed three-year-old preschool and four-year-old pre-kindergarten programs.  We also have an elementary school for students in kindergarten through eighth grade.  

In 2014 our K-8 received exemplary school accreditation status through Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod School Accreditation (WELSSA) and National Council of Private School Accreditation (NCPSA).

Following is an abbreviated version of our curriculum, listing the topics we cover in each subject area. Our complete curriculum can be found on our website at EmmausLutheran.com/Curriculum.

Please click on a grade to read about the classes and curriculum we offer.




3-Year-Old Preschool

 
Emmaus Lutheran is committed to each and every day pointing the children of our school to their Savior from sin and reminding them of the forgiveness Jesus earned for them through His perfect life, innocent death, and glorious resurrection. Now each day is an opportunity to show love to an awesome God and others through thoughts, words, and actions.
 
The preschool classroom is also committed to providing a quality education that will prepare each child for pre-kindergarten. The great thing about the secular education that Emmaus provides is that its focus will always remain on God.
 
Word of God:
  • To listen to Bible lessons
  • To develop large and small motor skills
  • To know their Savior and love and respect His Word
Worksheets:
  • Hold a pencil or crayon correctly
  • To learn to write their letters and numbers properly
  • Learn to listen and follow directions
  • Identify  letters
  • Learn basic phonic sounds
  • Identify numbers 1 – 10
  • Identify shapes
  • Identify colors
Story Time/Activity Time:
  • To promote language skills
  • To promote thinking and imagination
Circle Time:
  • Learn to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and the Lord’s Prayer
  • Learn and identify the weather
  • Learn the days of the week, months of the year and reinforce counting by working with the calendar.
  • Learn responsibility through assigned jobs
Center Play Time:
  • To promote social skills
  • To encourage creativity, imagination, and independence
Recess:
  • To encourage exercise and fitness
  • To promote physical coordination
  • To promote social skills
  • To encourage creativity, imagination, and independence
Social Skills:
  • Learn to work and play with others
  • Learn to share
  • Learn how to work out conflicts in a Christian manner
Art:
  • To encourage creativity and imagination
  • To develop large and small motor skills
Music:
  • Learn an appreciation of music
  • To encourage creativity and imagination
  • To promote coordination and fitness with dancing and marching
  • To encourage coordination and creativity with rhythm instruments

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4-Year-Old Pre-Kindergarten

Emmaus Lutheran is committed to each and every day pointing the children of our school to their Savior from sin and reminding them of the forgiveness Jesus earned for them through His perfect life, innocent death, and glorious resurrection. Now each day is an opportunity to show love to an awesome God and others through thoughts, words, and actions.

The pre-kindergarten classroom is also committed to providing a quality education that will prepare each child for Kindergarten. The great thing about the secular education that Emmaus provides is that its focus will always remain on God.

Word of God: (Christ Light by WELS)
  • To listen to and discuss Bible lessons
  • To know their Savior and love and respect His Word
Worksheets:
  • Develop large and small motor skills
  • Hold a pencil correctly
  • Learn to write their letters and numbers properly
  • Learn to listen and follow directions
  • Identify upper and lower case letters
  • Learn basic phonic sounds
  • Identify numbers 1 – 20
  • Identify shapes
  • Identify colors
Story Time/Activity Time:
  • To promote language skills
  • To promote thinking and imagination
Circle Time:
  • Learn to recite the Pledge of Allegiance
  • Learn and identify the weather
  • Learn the days of the week, months of the year and reinforce counting by working with the calendar.
  • Learn responsibility through assigned jobs
Center Play Time:
  • To promote social skills
  • To encourage creativity, imagination, and independence
Recess:
  • To encourage exercise and fitness
  • To promote physical coordination
  • To promote social skills
  • To encourage creativity, imagination, and independence
Social Skills: Learn to work and play with others
  • Learn to share
  • Learn how to work out conflicts in a Christian manner
Music: (Sing and Make Music by WELS)
  • Learn an appreciation of music
  • To encourage creativity and imagination
  • Sing songs for fun and for church singing
  • To encourage coordination and creativity with rhythm instruments
Art:
  • To encourage creativity and imagination
  • To develop large and small motor skills

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Kindergarten

Emmaus Lutheran is committed to each and every day pointing the children of our school to their Savior from sin and reminding them of the forgiveness Jesus earned for them through His perfect life, innocent death, and glorious resurrection. Now each day is an opportunity to show love to an awesome God and others through thoughts, words, and actions.

The kindergarten classroom is also committed to providing a quality education that will prepare each child for first grade and ultimately high school. The great thing about the secular education that Emmaus provides is that its focus will always remain on God.

Word of God: (Christ Light by WELS)
  • To listen to, discuss, and retell Bible lessons
  • Learn memory treasures
  • To know their Savior and love and respect His Word
Math: (Houghton Mifflin)
  • Demonstrate 1 to 1 correspondence
  • Sort objects by position, shape, size, color, number of corners, etc…
  • Identify, copy, extend, and create patterns
  • Count to 100 by 1’s, 5’s and 10’s
  • Identify shapes
  • Identify numerals 1-20 and label sets with the correct numeral
  • Counting backwards from 10
  • Identify coins (penny, nickel, dime, quarter)
  • Tell time to the hour
  • Identify difference between half and whole
  • Divide sets into equal groups
  • Measure length using terms shorter, longer, taller, heavier, warmer, cooler, etc…
  • Interpret graphs
  • Use positional words correctly, left, right, on, off, inside, between, above, below, etc…
Language Arts: 
  • Learn to print top to bottom and left to right
  • Identify all uppercase and lowercase letters
  • Learn the beginning and ending sounds of words by printing the correct letter symbol with corresponding picture
  • Blend CVC sounds aloud to make a word
  • Learn to rhyme
  • Learn to read one syllable and common words by sight such as “the”, “I”, “is”
  • Identify characters, setting, and main idea of a story
  • Demonstrate comprehension of stories by orally retelling or acting out
  • Print name by correctly using Uppercase and lowercase letters on a line
  • Print alphabet letters legibly without a model
  • Write simple CVC words correctly and longer words phonetically
  • Orally state the names of the days of the week and months of the year
  • Identify the eight basic colors and read the corresponding color words
  • Understand and follow one and two step spoken directions
Fine Motor Skills:
  • Learn to correctly hold pencil and scissors
  • Learn to cut on lines
  • Learn to outline and color neatly within the lines
Gross Motor Skills:
  • Learn to hop on both feet together
  • Learn to hop on one foot (left and right)
  • Learn to march, gallop, and skip
  • Learn to throw and catch
Social Skills:
  • Learn to recite address from memory
  • Learn to recite telephone number from memory
  • Learn birth date including the year
  • Learn to put on and fasten out clothing unassisted
  • Learn to tie shoes
  • Learn to put forth best effort in completing work
  • Learn to use self-control
  • Learn to work independently
  • Learn to complete work in a reasonable amount of time
  • Learn to follow directions
  • Learn to listen to others
  • Learn to stay on task
  • Learn to willingly participate in activities
  • Learn respect for community and the wonders of God’s creation
Music: (Sing and Make Music by WELS)
  • Music theory
  • Learn an appreciation of music
  • To encourage creativity and imagination
  • Sing songs for fun and for church singing
  • To encourage coordination and creativity with rhythm instruments
Art:
  • Use different types of mediums and techniques
  • Encourage creativity and imagination

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First and Second

Emmaus Lutheran is committed to each and every day pointing the children of our school to their Savior from sin and reminding them of the forgiveness Jesus earned for them through His perfect life, innocent death, and glorious resurrection. Now each day is an opportunity to show love to an awesome God and others through thoughts, words, and actions.

Each classroom is also committed to providing a quality education that will prepare each child for their next grade level and ultimately for high school. The great thing about the secular education that Emmaus provides is that its focus will always remain on God.

Word of God: (Christ Light by WELS)
  • To listen to, discuss, and retell Bible lessons
  • Learn hymns and memory treasures
  • To know their Savior and to love and respect His Word.
Handwriting: (Zaner-Bloser style of writing)
  • To develop fine motor skills
  • Hold a pencil correctly
  • To learn to write their letters and numbers properly
  • First grade will learn manuscript and second graders will review manuscript and start cursive writing.
Language Arts:
  • English: (Houghton Mifflin Journeys)
  • Reading: (Houghton Mifflin Journeys)
  • Spelling: (Houghton Mifflin Journeys)
  • Identify consonants and their sounds.
  • Identify vowels and their sounds. (short and long vowels)
  • Learn about antonyms and synonyms
  • Learn about compound words
  • Learn about consonant clusters
  • Learn about contractions
  • Learn about homophones
  • Learning poetry
  • Learning about prefixes and suffixes
  • Learn the VCC pattern
  • Learning the writing process – prewriting, writing, revising, proofreading, and publishing
  • Identify word families
  • Phonics practice
  • Practice lowercase and uppercase letters
  • Practice ABC order
  • Capitalization
  • Grammar – Learn sentences, sentence parts and type of sentences
  • Parts of speech – nouns, verbs, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs
  • Punctuation – periods, question marks, exclamation marks, and commas
  • Reading stories
  • Rhyming
  • Using a thesaurus and dictionary
  • Word families
  • Write letters and stories
Math: (Houghton Mifflin)
  • First Grade
    • Addition and subtraction facts
    • Addition and subtraction with 2 digit numbers with and without regrouping
    • Bar graphs
    • Congruency
    • Counting pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters
    • Fractions
    • Using geoboards
    • Greater, less than, equal to
    • Identify numbers
    • Learn ordinal positions
    • Learning patterns
    • Learning months and days of the week
    • Lines – vertical, horizontal, and oblique
    • Measuring
    • Odd and even numbers
    • Using pattern blocks
    • Pictographs
    • Telling time
    • Identifying ones, tens and hundreds
    • Reading a thermometer
    • Identifying shapes
    • Word problems
    • Writing a date
    • Fact Families
  • In addition second grade will learn:
    • Early multiplications and division facts
    • Writing expanded numbers
    • Perimeter
    • Venn diagrams
Science: 
  • Animals and Habitats
  • Earth and Space
  • Fire Safety
  • Human Body
  • Living things
  • Light and Color
  • Magnets
  • Matter – solids, liquid, gas
  • Nutrition
  • Plants
  • Weather, Seasons
Social Studies: 
  • Community Helpers
  • Family
  • Important people from our country
  • Holidays
  • Map Skills
  • Our Country, Government and Flag
  • People
  • Resources
  • Traditions
Music: (Sing and Make Music by WELS)
  • Appreciate music
  • Sing songs for fun and for church singing
  • Music theory
  • Rhythm instruments
Art:
  • Students are exposed to many different mediums and techniques in art throughout the year.  The main purposes of art are to give students an opportunity to use their God-given artistic talents and improve listening and following directions skills.
Physical Education:
  • Students learn the importance of being physically fit as they learn the rules and how to play the sports; softball, soccer, volleyball, basketball, and track.  Students will also play other games that teach a variety of skills, but most importantly, get the body moving.

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Third and Fourth

Emmaus Lutheran is committed to each and every day pointing the children of our school to their Savior from sin and reminding them of the forgiveness Jesus earned for them through His perfect life, innocent death, and glorious resurrection. Now each day is an opportunity to show love to an awesome God and others through thoughts, words, and actions.

Each classroom is also committed to providing a quality education that will prepare each child for their next grade level and ultimately high school. The great thing about the secular education that Emmaus provides is that its focus will always remain on God.

Word of God: (Christ Light by WELS)
Students will learn about Jesus as their Savior through Bible Stories
Learn Memory Treasures and Hymns
Students are lead to the spiritual truth of God and will reflect Christ’s love for them in their daily lives. 

Math: (Houghton Mifflin)
  • Third Grade:
    • Learn to problem solve
    • Count and add money
    • Write, compare, add and subtract fractions
    • Add and subtract mentally
    • Add and subtract three or more single-digit numbers
    • Identify liquid measurements
    • Identify measures of weight and mass
    • Identify right, obtuse, and acute angles
    • Multiplications facts 0 to 10
    • Division facts 2-9
    • Find the area of shapes
  • Fourth Grade: 
    • Review basic math concepts that they learned in third grade
    • Learn to multiplication facts through ten
    • Square roots
    • Use fractions and mixed numbers
    • Multiplying by multiples of  10, 100 and 1000
    • Multiplying three-digit numbers
    • Name place value
    • Name decimal numbers
    • Find radius and diameter of circles
    • Adding and subtracting fractions
    • Dividing two-digit numbers
    • Prime and Composite numbers
    • Fahrenheit and Cellsius numbers
    • Lines and angles
    • Perimeter and area
    • Graphing
Language: (Houghton Mifflin Journeys)
  • Use writing process (prewriting, writing, revising, proofreading, and publishing)
  • Write reports, articles, friendly letters, story writing, directions and descriptions
  • Learn nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, sentence parts and the four kinds of sentences.  
Spelling: (Houghton Mifflin Journeys)
  • Learn spelling strategies that will help them remember how to spell familiar and unfamiliar words. 
  • Third grade review and expand their spelling vocabulary through different spelling patterns combining base words with prefixes and suffixes
  • Fourth grade explore the effects of combining base words with prefixes and suffixes.  They will also learn how to spell words following the VCCV pattern versus the VCV pattern 
  • Each grade has a set of basic and challenge words each week to learn
Reading: (Houghton Mifflin Journeys)
  • Covers the five critical areas of instruction which are: Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Text Comprehension
  • Exposed to a variety of written texts such as short stories, poetry, and research articles
  • Taught several phonemic skills to help them in their daily reading assignments
  • Increased their vocabulary and reading fluency
  • Comprehend the written text
  • Identify different styles of writing
Handwriting: (Zaner-Bloser style of writing)
  • Continue with correctly and neatly writing in print and cursive  
Social Studies: (Adventures in Time and Place – McGraw Hill)
  • Third and fourth are taught together in a two year cycle
  • Learn about studying regions
  • Learn the relationship between people and land past and present
  • Learning about our nation’s capital
  • Learn geography skill lessons
  • Learn how to read elevation maps, use longitude and latitude, read and understand map scales and grid maps and are able to read and give directions
  • Students also spend time learning about Arizona state history and United States History
Science: 
  • Third and fourth grades are taught Science together in a two-year cycle
  • The Human Body
Music: (Sing and Make Music by WELS)
  • Students recognize music and the ability to make music as gifts from God
  • Understand and use music in worship
  • Sing independently and with others to the best of their abilities
  • Read notation and use music vocabulary
  • Students also learn the basic concepts of pitch, rhythm, harmony, dynamics, and tempo
  • Students also have the opportunity to play hand chimes
  • Students will sing and play hand chimes in church
Art:
  • Students are exposed to many different mediums and techniques in art throughout the year.  The main purposes of art are to give students an opportunity to use their God-given artistic talents and improve listening and following directions skills.
Physical Education:
  • Students learn the importance of being physically fit as they learn the rules and how to play the sports; softball, soccer, volleyball, basketball, and track.  Students will also play other games that teach a variety of skills, but most importantly, get the body moving.

Back to the Top

 
Fifth and Sixth

Emmaus Lutheran is committed to each and every day pointing the children of our school to their Savior from sin and reminding them of the forgiveness Jesus earned for them through His perfect life, innocent death, and glorious resurrection. Now each day is an opportunity to show love to an awesome God and others through thoughts, words, and actions.

Each classroom is also committed to providing a quality education that will prepare each child for their next grade level and ultimately high school. The great thing about the secular education that Emmaus provides is that its focus will always remain on God.

Religion: (ChristLight and Pre-Catechism)
  • Students are introduced to the Catechism that is more thoroughly covered in seventh and eighth grades.  They read Bible stories, Bible passages, and hypothetical stories for the purpose of discussing and evaluating how topics are applicable to them personally.  Students recite memory treasures and Catechism parts as a means to commit key points to memory and increase their knowledge of the Bible.  Following are the topics that will make up the majority of the Religion curriculum:
    • Baptism
    • The Use of the Keys and Confession
    • The Sacrament of Holy Communion and the Means of Grace
    • First Article
    • Second Article
    • Third Article
    • Ten Commandments
    • The Lord’s Prayer
Math: (Prentice Hall)
  • Fifth grade
    • Whole Numbers and Patterns
    • Introduction to Algebra
    • Decimals
    • Number Theory and Fractions
    • Fraction Operations
    • Collecting and Displaying Data
    • Proportional Relationships
    • Geometric Relationships
    • Measurement and Geometry
    • Measurement: Area and Volume
    • Integers, Graphs, and Functions
    • Probability
  • Sixth grade 
    • Algebraic Reasoning
    • Integers and Rational Numbers
    • Applying Rational Numbers
    • Patterns and Functions
    • Proportional Relationships
    • Percents
    • Collecting, Displaying, and Analyzing Data
    • Geometric Figures
    • Measurement: Two-Dimensional Figures
    • Measurement: Three-Dimensional Figures
    • Probability
    • Multi-Step Equations and Inequalities
Reading: 
  • The fifth and sixth graders have reading together.  Students read novels and answer factual and application questions, working with a variety of literary devices, comprehension strategies and learning basic annotating skills.
English: (Houghton Mifflin)
  • Students will review and become proficient in the use of sentences, the eight parts of speech, and different parts of speech.  Following is a more detailed listing of what will be covered:
  • Sentences
  • Parts of Speech (Nouns, Verbs, Pronouns, Adjectives, Adverbs, Prepositions, Conjunctions, and Interjections)
  • Writing (Narrating, Informing, Creating, Persuading, Describing, Researching, Imagining, and Classifying)
History:
  • The history curriculum covers World History and American History. Fifth and sixth graders have History together. One year they study World History and the next year they study American History from exploration through the American Revolution.  Following are the main topics covered in the two years:
    • World History (World: Adventures in Time & Place – McGraw Hill)
      • Ancient Egypt
      • Ancient Mesopotamia
      • Ancient China
      • Ancient Rome
      • Ancient Greece
      • Medieval Ages
      • The Renaissance
      • Feudal Japan
      • French Revolution
    • American History (U.S. :Adventures in Time & Place – McGraw Hill)
      • Exploration of America
      • European Settlements
      • English 13 Colonies
      • The American Revolution
Science: 
  • The main areas that are covered are: Biology, Ecology, Botany, Physiology, Physics, Chemistry, Astronomy, Meteorology, Geology, and Oceanography. Fifth and sixth graders have science together and over the course of two years cover the following areas:
    •  Genetics
    •  Ecosystems and Habitats
    • Earth and Its Resources
    • The Solid Earth
    •  Matter
    •  Atoms, Molecules, and the Periodic Table
    •  Diversity of Life
    •  Weather
    •  Space
    •  Forces and Motion
    •  Energy

Spelling: (Houghton Mifflin)

  • Students have a weekly spelling list that follows a certain phonetic rule.  They are tested on Monday and misspelled words are retested on Friday.  During the week students also work on different activity pages that improve their comprehension and vocabulary of the spelling words.

Music: (Sing and Make Music by WELS)

  • Students recognize music and the ability to make music as gifts from God
  • Understand and use music in worship
  • Sing independently and with others to the best of their abilities
  • Read notation and use music vocabulary
  • Students also learn the basic concepts of pitch, rhythm, harmony, dynamics, and tempo
  • Students also learn how to play hand chimes
  • Students will sing and play hand chimes in church

Handwriting: (Zaner-Bloser style of writing)

  • Students have weekly handwriting sheets that they write out to review and improve their cursive handwriting.

Art:

  • Students are exposed to many different mediums and techniques in art throughout the year.  The main purposes of art are to give students an opportunity to use their God-given artistic talents and improve listening and following directions skills.  

Physical Education:

  • Students learn the importance of being physically fit as they learn the rules and how to play the sports; softball, soccer, volleyball, basketball, and track.  Students will also play other games that teach a variety of skills, but most importantly, get the body moving.


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Seventh and Eighth

Emmaus Lutheran is committed to each and every day pointing the children of our school to their Savior from sin and reminding them of the forgiveness Jesus earned for them through His perfect life, innocent death, and glorious resurrection. Now each day is an opportunity to show love to an awesome God and others through thoughts, words, and actions.

Each classroom is also committed to providing a quality education that will prepare each child for their next grade level and ultimately high school. The great thing about the secular education that Emmaus provides is that its focus will always remain on God.

Catechism: (The Bible & Luther’s Catechism)

  • Catechism is taught by Pastor Else twice a week. Pastor will take the students through the 6 chief doctrines/teachings of the Bible. Students will recite bible passages and other Catechism parts as a means to commit key points to memory and increase their knowledge of the Bible. 

Religion:

  • Twice week the students will have a bible study on various topics. In a two year cycle students will study Mormonism, Islam, Evolution, Martin Luther, and other biblical topics.

Math: (Course 3, Pre-Algebra, Algebra – Prentice Hall)

  • There are three possible levels of math which a student can be placed in as a seventh and eighth grader. Students will be evaluated upon entering seventh grade for placement into either the Course 3 or Pre-Algebra book. A seventh grade student showing the ability to handle Pre-Algebra will then take Algebra as an 8th grader.

English: (Houghton Mifflin)

  • The three main focuses of this English series are sentence structure, parts of speech, and writing.
  • Parts of Speech (Nouns, Verbs, Pronouns, Adjectives, Adverbs, Prepositions, Conjunctions, and Interjections)
  • Writing styles (Narrative, Informative, Persuasive, Descriptive, and a Research Paper)

Science:

  • This science course will cover Earth, Life, and Physical Science. In a two year cycle, the following areas will be covered. To help learn the material, students will take notes and perform experiments.
    • Earth Materials and Resources
    • Earth’s Atmosphere and Weather
    • Earth’s Changing Surface
    • Oceans
    • Energy, Motion, and Forces
    • Work and Simple Machines
    • Electricity
    • Cells
    • The Human Body
    • Plants and Animals

History:

  • Seventh and eighth graders have History together.  One year they study World Geography and the next year they study American History from the Civil War up to the present.  In World Geography, students will take map quizzes on countries and capitals as well as key land features. In American History, an extensive unit on the US Constitution is also covered.  Following are the main topics covered in the two years:
    • Geography (World & Its People – Glencoe)
      • Map Skills
      • The United States and Canada
      • Latin America
      • Europe
      • Africa
      • Asia
      • Australia
      • Antarctica
    • American History American’s Journey – Glencoe)
      • Map Skills
      • US Constitution
      • Civil War and Reconstruction
      • World War I
      • The Great Depression
      • World War II
      • The Cold War
      • Korean War
      • The Civil Rights Movement
      • War in Vietnam
Reading:
  • Students read novels and answer factual and application questions, working with a variety of literary devices, comprehension strategies and learning basic annotating skills.

Spelling: (Houghton Mifflin)

  • Students have a weekly spelling list that follows a certain phonetic rule. They are tested on Monday and misspelled words are retested on Friday. During the week students also work on different activity pages that improve their comprehension and vocabulary of the spelling words.

Music: (Sing and Make Music by WELS)

  • Students recognize music and the ability to make music as gifts from God
  • Understand and use music in worship
  • Sing independently and with others to the best of their abilities
  • Read notation and use music vocabulary
  • Students also learn the basic concepts of pitch, rhythm, harmony, dynamics, and tempo
  • Students also learn how to play hand chimes
  • Students will sing and play hand chimes in church

Current Events:

  • Students watch CNN Student News and take notes on stories.  Stories and discussed in class to ensure understanding and bring out deeper concepts.  Quizzes are given on previous week’s content.

Art:

  • Students are exposed to many different mediums and techniques in art throughout the year.  The main purposes of art are to give students an opportunity to use their God-given artistic talents and improve listening and following directions skills.  

Physical Education:

  • Students learn the importance of being physically fit as they learn the rules and how to play the sports; softball, soccer, volleyball, basketball, and track.  Students will also play other games that teach a variety of skills, but most importantly, get the body moving.

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Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. ~ Proverbs 22:6