At these grade levels, focus is given to literacy and numeracy.
More time is allocated to these two areas so that students can develop a solid base in reading, writing, oral communication, and the different strands in mathematics.
The following subjects are integrated with Language Arts and Mathematics:
- health,
- information technology,
- science,
- social studies,
- and visual arts through an inquiry-based approach.
The inquiry-based approach is a teaching and learning approach that puts the student at the center of the learning experience, giving them opportunities to ask questions, generate ideas and make observations.
Teachers play a vital role throughout the process, fostering an environment where the ideas of others can be challenged in a respectful way, tested, redefined and improved. In a personalized, inquiry-based environment, the students work on interdisciplinary projects, asking questions and seeking answers, looking for solutions to big problems that require knowledge in the different subject areas.
This process develops the core competencies as defined in the essential graduation competencies document. However, these competencies have been adjusted to reflect the developmental stages of the students in grades 1 to 3.
In the French Immersion program, students study the English language arts as a first language starting in grade 3.