CURRICULUM
“Isolating the student from large sections of human knowledge is not the basis of a Christian education. Rather it is giving him or her the framework for total truth, rooted in the Creator’s existence and in the Bible’s teaching, so that in each step of the formal learning process the student will understand what is true and what is false and why it is true or false.”
English, Composition and Literature
PK through 6th grade: Grace Classical Christian Academy emphasizes reading, penmanship, spelling, grammar, composition and period-specific, age-appropriate literature.
Curriculum in grades 7th - 12th emphasizes writing and language development, with literature-based vocabulary development. Literature content in these grades progresses through the Great Books of ancient, classical, early church, medieval, renaissance, reformation, modern, and American periods. Our literature parallels the study of history, providing advanced exposure to the finest literature of the West. In preparation for 11th grade Rhetoric, students in grades 2nd - 10th learn the fourteen pre-rhetoric heuristics called the Progymnasmata.
“Progymnasmata are collections of speaking and writing exercises for students of rhetoric. As historians have shown, they played an extremely important role in European education from Antiquity to the beginnings of the Modern Era.” - J. David Fleming, Ph.D.
HISTORY
Throughout their tenure at Grace Classical Christian Academy, students will repeat the history concepts and timelines three times, or every four years. Beginning in ancient times going through to the 20th century, overlaying the Bible with secular texts to establish what is happening in the scriptures concurrently with the secular world. This provides students with a greater depth and understanding of who God is and how he is working out his plan.
Foreign Language
“Hardly any lawful price would seem to me too high for what I have gained by being made to learn Latin.”
Students at GCCA pursue Latin studies from the 3rd through the 10th-grade year. Instruction is done using an immersion method, where only Latin is spoken during classtime, which allows students to rapidly reach the goal of fluent and appreciative reading of the Latin classics.
THE ARTS
Recognizing God, the creator in all things true, beautiful and good, GCCA provides instruction in Music and the Visual Arts.
Music: We sing hymns and psalms as a means of worship. Vocal skills are developed in the early grades. All students are trained in smaller ensembles by grade and as an all school choir.
Visual Arts: Students learn the aesthetic principles of goodness, beauty, and truth. They learn to recognize and master the concepts of light and shadow, form and function.
Science
Grammar level science students discover the works of God in His creation through experiential learning in physical and life sciences lessons. When students enter the logic stage of learning, science provides the basis for ordering this revelation of God.
Laboratory experience verifies the great discoveries of scientists.
High school students will study Biology, Chemistry and Physics. Having studied the principles and laws of each science, the graduate will finish with a sound grasp of foundational scientific ideas.
MATH
Recognition of an orderly nature of God's creation undergirds the philosophy of mathematics at GCCA. Grammar level students focus on addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Logic level students develop in symbolic mathematics, including Algebra, which requires the student to work with the unknown, analyzing each problem to discover its central point and apply knowledge already acquired to its solution. Rhetoric level mathematics includes Geometry, Trigonometry, Integrated Mathematics, and Calculus.
BIBLE, THEOLOGY, PHILOSOPHY & APOLOGETICS
Classical Christian educators describe theology as the “Queen of the Sciences" and philosophy as its “Handmaiden." Bible, theology, philosophy and apologetics develop the thinking of the maturing student to effectively defend and advance the Christian faith in any arena.
Grammar School students study a portion of the Bible, beginning with Genesis and moving through Revelation, in a five-year sequence. Logic students study creeds and confessions of the church. In the Rhetoric grades, a comprehensive study of the law, history, poetry, and wisdom literature of the Old Testament, as well as the Gospels, Acts, and Pauline Epistles, exposes students to the revelation of God.
"But in your heart honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect." - 1 Peter 3:15
Curriculum Map
The GCCA Curriculum Map is a picture of the journey our students take as they, along with their parents, partner with us in our mission. Please note, this document serves as a general outline of content that is covered and is subject to change.
