Special Activities

Students from grades K-5 attend art classes once a week for 45 to 50 minutes per class. Students learn by using a wide range of subject matter, symbols, meaningful images, and visual expressions to reflect their ideas, feelings, and emotions.

They engage in developmentally appropriate learning experiences using a variety of art materials. Students are introduced to artists and cultural information about the arts.

The focus of art classes is on taking the students' capabilities and expanding their talent. Student art work is on display throughout the school. We follow the National Standards for Arts Education.

In the lower elementary grades we focus on basic word processing skills using Microsoft Word. The students practice letter and number recognition, type short sentences, and type assignments they created in their regular classroom. They learn to change the font, size and color of their text. The students use the Paint program to practice mouse skills and hand-eye coordination. We also visit Internet learning sites to reinforce math and language skills taught in the regular classroom.

In third and fourth grades the students learn intermediate word processing skills such as page format, drawing tools, inserting graphics and using the research tools within Word.  There is a formal keyboarding program between third and fourth grade using Type to Learn and Internet typing sites. Starting in third grade the students perform directed Internet research through the use of webquests. In the intermediate grades the students are introduced to PowerPoint. They create slides and use basic layouts and transitions.

By the end of sixth grade students are expected to be proficient in the use of all word processing skills. During fifth and sixth grade the students are introduced to spreadsheets using Excel. They practice entering basic data and formulas and create simple charts and graphs. The students start to use more advanced techniques in their PowerPoint presentations. They insert simple graphics and learn to use hyperlinks.

Students in the lower grades experience hearing/seeing various types of fiction and some nonfiction. They begin to understand the concepts of using a library for reading enjoyment and learning the online catalog, the Dewey Decimal System, motifs, book illustration, alphabetical order, etc. During the final two years of Lower School, the students begin research skills: learning basic reference sources, citation, and formation of a written research report.  Extra opportunities are always available to assist students and teachers on new or additional projects.

Students in kindergarten through fifth grade are active music students. In addition to singing and dancing, they learn music theory by putting it into action. Playing instruments is an integral part of this learning; all students play Orff instruments, hand chimes, and a vast array of percussion instruments. We have classroom sets of deluxe electronic keyboards, so all students can play and do composition at the same time (with headphones, of course)! Students are introduced to a variety of music styles, with an emphasis on becoming familiar with classical composers and their most famous pieces. Because Country Day is a partner school with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra and the Gilmore Keyboard Festival, a KSO musician visits each grade's music class annually and performs for them and with them. Students also enjoy music computer activities - from "vocal pitch-matching" to recognizing instruments of the orchestra in individualized lessons.

Lower School classes continue to practice locomotor skills and gain more proficiency. They practice and gain more control with manipulatives. Students progress in understanding and demonstration of spatial awareness, body control, balance and coordination, which allows the introduction of simple games to younger grades and more skill-based games with rules and boundaries for older grades. Health and fitness concepts are covered in more depth. There is a continuation of rhythmic activities and connections to class topics. Lower School students attend physical education class three times a week for 30 minutes.

During Lower School years, Spanish is offered four days a week for 25 minutes per class. The language is presented in a variety of ways through stories, games, activities, art projects and traditional academic lessons. Our first through fourth grades use a book series that builds on itself each year, reviewing and adding material as the students proceed through the program. 

In the Lower School, we focus first on pronunciation and auditory recall, slowly adding retention of common action verbs through the use of total physical response (TPR).  Eventually we introduce a more intense focus on reading and writing, with full sentence formation as our goal. In all grades we develop skills in all areas of communication: listening, speaking, writing and reading. Cultural awareness is integrated at each grade level. 

Our fifth grade students attend Spanish class five days a week for 30 minutes per class.  They work from a program that was designed especially for Kalamazoo Country Day School as a transitional program to prepare them for Middle School Spanish. 

In the fifth grade, students are introduced to the basic building blocks of Spanish grammar, and they use vocabulary lists and grammar concepts throughout the year to build their conversational and writing abilities. The cultural focus for the year is Mexico, and several projects and activities are offered to acquaint the students with the country and the culture. The purpose of the fifth grade program is to create students who are more independent in the language and to prepare them for the academic challenges of the Middle School Spanish program.

Twenty-five years ago, we implemented a Tutorial Program at our school. It is available to students from kindergarten through eighth grade. Students from kindergarten through fifth grade are tutored who are in need of support in developing reading, writing and spelling skills. An individualized, multisensory approach is used with emphasis on teaching decoding and comprehension skills. Students are seen either individually or in small groups.