Curriculum
Seabrook Christian School primarily uses an individualised learning Curriculum. The Curriculum was born out of a necessity to meet the needs of the children. In a conventional classroom there can be as much as 40 points I.Q. difference and an 80% difference in reading ability.
The conventional secular method of teaching is for the teacher to aim at teaching the majority of his pupils. This means the top students are working below their capacity and getting bored. The lower level students, who are often left behind, become frustrated and shut off.
The teaching method in conventional schools does not lend itself to personal tuition. The teacher is involved in teaching material, presentation and research. However, with Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) the teacher is freed from such, because the pupils have the material before them. The teacher is then able to help them learn the material on a one-to-one basis. In a lecture system, the child that has been absent through illness does not have the chance to catch up on missed work. However, in ACE they resume exactly where they left off. This prevents gaps in knowledge during their education.
The ACE program is unique in that it provides the individual student with the opportunity to develop his/her abilities to the maximum potential. The total curriculum covers an equivalent study from Kindergarten to Year 12 in a conventional school. An 80% pass mark is required in each unit of study (called a PACE - i.e. a Packet of Accelerated Christian Education) before a student is permitted to proceed to the next PACE.
ACE has developed and produced an individualised, sequential, ungraded curriculum composed of 144 PACEs in each of five core subjects: namely Maths, English (includes Literature), Social Studies, Science, Word Building (Spelling) and electives. Keyboard skills are required of all students.
At the High School level the student is able to choose from over 30 elective courses from several categories including, but not inclusive of Art, Bible, Business, Computer, Science, Foreign Languages, English Literature, Government and History.
ACE starts with a simple concept, which is then built upon and expanded. There are three new concepts introduced in each PACE. The child is working from a known concept and gradually bringing in the unknown, as the known is built upon. It is generally accepted that something must be taught and applied five-seven times before the child retains it.
The strength of the ACE curriculum is the reinforcing of concepts year after year, line upon line, and precept upon precept. It is important to apply the ACE teaching principles, since they have been formulated through trial and error, and have been revised by qualified educators in their various fields.
The success of the ACE system depends on the children taking responsibility for their learning. The teacher is there to help them learn to learn. ACE draws from the most advanced learning discoveries, and up-to-date sources, incorporating them in their methods.
This curriculum is currently being used in more than five thousand schools in over one hundred countries around the world. It has also been used successfully by thousands of families who have chosen to educate their own children at home.
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Famous quotes containing the word curriculum:
“If we focus exclusively on teaching our children to read, write, spell, and count in their first years of life, we turn our homes into extensions of school and turn bringing up a child into an exercise in curriculum development. We should be parents first and teachers of academic skills second.”
—Neil Kurshan (20th century)