Literacy
Math
Structured literacy leaves little to chance, teaching core reading and spelling skills in a sequential order. Children are explicitly taught fundamental skills (phonemic awareness & phonics) so that they can efficiently read and spell. Teaching these skills in a structured way ensures that no gaps arise and each child is taught the core skills needed to excel.
Lamplighters Academy uses Sounds-Write, a linguistic phonics program, to provide core literacy instruction.
Handwriting is taught through the popular Handwriting Without Tears (HWT) program. HWT is an enjoyable and age-appropriate method of building legibility and handwriting fluency so that children can focus on creating magic with the written word and not how to form the letter ‘c’.
When we rush through our math instruction, children tend to learn a mile wide and an inch deep. Singapore Math is a successful problem solving model that equips children with the skills to take on any problem they might face. They learn math skills to mastery as opposed to racing through math topics. Singapore math utilizes the Concrete-Pictorial-Abstract (CPA) approach to support this mastery by using hands-on learning to promote deep number sense.
Lamplighters students will also develop keen financial literacy through integrated, real-world projects that bring Ontario’s updated math curriculum to life. No longer will it be said that students learn algebra but can’t do their own taxes; Lamplighters graduates will be able to do both!
STEAM
Social Studies
Science, technology, engineering, art and math (again) are part of our hands-on, innovative problem-focused curriculum. By teaching Ontario’s updated Science curriculum within the engaging frameworks of technology, art and engineering, our students can experience how classroom Science instruction connects with the fast-paced 21st century world they are growing up in. Essential science skills, such as designing experiments and developing hypotheses gives Lamplighters Academy students a well-rounded foundation.
In addition to Science, STEAM instruction infuses arts-based education, furthering their ability to look at problems with unique, creative perspectives.
Coding and computer science foundations are also integrated into the STEAM program with explicit connections to Ontario’s Coding expectations found in its updated Math curriculum. Use age-appropriate robotic manipulatives lets kids “play” with computer science. They learn plenty and have a great time, too!
The inquiry approach to learning puts students in the driver’s seat of their own education; they are taught how to explore, investigate, question, and research so that they are able to develop a sense of identity using history, geography, economics, and other realms of the social sciences to foster a deep sense of identity as both Canadians and Jews. Guided by their teachers, they work collaboratively to tackle big issues, locally and abroad, and think creatively and entrepreneurially about how to solve them. It is a highly engaging topic that also integrates easily with literacy and Jewish Studies.