Elementary Curriculum
A Catholic education gives young students the intellectual and spiritual keys they need to explore the world of education. AOPS elementary students learn about the people who shape our lives, the discoveries that fueled our knowledge, and the love God shared to make this beautiful world possible.
We’ve partnered with the International Center for Leadership in Education to create a curriculum that is rooted in scholastic tradition and relevant for today’s world.
Here’s what’s covered at all of our elementary schools:
- The curricula followed by the students in the Elementary Schools of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia (AOP) are developed by and/or approved by the Secretary of Catholic Elementary Education (OCE). This is done in coordination through the Department of Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment and related Staff Development for Pre-K through grade 8.
- Guidelines for specific curriculum areas are prepared and disseminated through OCE. In teaching the content of any curriculum area, teachers should adhere to the content of the most recent curriculum guidelines, rather than any specific textbook series.
- Elementary curriculum guidelines are copyrighted material. Guidelines may not be copied in whole or part, electronically or by any other means.
View Subjects by Grade
English Language Arts Kindergarten
In Kindergarten English Language Arts, some common themes consist of: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, and Language. These topics follow the K-5 curriculum core detailed further in the full curriculum guide.
Mathematics Kindergarten
In Kindergarten Mathematics, a consistent focus is placed on the following key areas: representing and comparing whole numbers, initially with sets of objects and describing shapes and space with learning time devoted to number than to other topics.
Science Kindergarten
In Kindergarten Science, a consistent focus is placed on the following key areas: Forces and Interactions: Pushes and Pulls; Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems: Animals, Plants and Their Environment; Weather and Climate; and Engineering Design.
Social Studies Kindergarten
The Kindergarten course is organized into five units of study which align to Unifying Themes— Individual Development and Cultural Identity; Civic Ideals and Practices; Geography, Humans, and the Environment; Time, Continuity, and Change; and Economic Systems. Each unit helps students study themselves in the context of their immediate surroundings. While studying how they live and the rules under which they live, students learn that other people may have different identities, cultures, and experiences in the world compared to their own.