Lower School

Where children love learning

BCD’s young learners in Pre-K through Third Grade have a natural enthusiasm for learning, a deep curiosity in the world around them, and are excited to be part of our close-knit learning community.

At BCD, we prioritize teaching our students to develop their individual strengths with a curriculum that helps build a strong foundation for a lifetime of learning, discovery, and joy. Students delve into our academic subjects, and explore offerings in the Imagination Lab, music, art, physical education, Outdoor Learning, and initiate the study of a global language.

Students also participate in a social emotional learning program (SEL) curated to the developmental level of each specific grade. Our students spend time outdoors every day participating in sports activities as well as in our Outdoor Learning program, eating their lunch, or enjoying a moment of quiet reflection on our beautiful campus.

Lower School Fundamentals

Student Life

The social curriculum is as important as the academic curriculum. Students make the transition from home to school and begin each day with Morning Meeting where they greet one another and discuss the daily routines, schedule, calendar, and engage in activities to set a positive tone for the day of learning. This practice helps build a community of sharing and caring about one another.

Overview of Mathematics

The mathematics program emphasizes flexible thinking, skill building, and developing confidence with the ultimate goal of attaining deep, conceptual understanding. Lower School teachers use Singapore Math, Primary Mathematics 2022 Edition, as the foundation for their curriculum and supplement as needed. Lessons dive deeply into complex math concepts and do so in a logical and progressive way, allowing students to develop skills in these areas, along with strong and fluid number sense. There is a large focus on critical thinking skills and the application of knowledge to unique and interesting problems, as well as an emphasis on seeing different ways to approach math problems and being able to solve them using different strategies. This ability to critically analyze and utilize different problem solving strategies, combined with the understanding that math problems can be approached creatively, encourages flexibility, experimentation and independent thought, in an effort to produce strong and comfortable math learners.

The following math guidelines support teacher instruction at each grade level:

Readiness: At the readiness phase, as the name might suggest, the idea is really about making sure that a student is prepared and ready to take on a particular concept.
Engagement: The chapters/lessons begin with a Task; discussions and questions that serve to encourage students to think more deeply about a math concept. The Learn section introduces the concept and skills. Next, there is an Activity; real world activities or math tasks are introduced such as asking students to tell a story or to fold a paper into certain shapes. The engagement phase ends with a Lesson Debrief; a discussion with the goal of retelling and reflecting on what the students learned in their own words.
Mastery: A student’s approach to problem solving is acknowledged and valued. They are given choices about how to approach their work, opportunities to share their thinking, and real-world situations in which to apply their knowledge. With the Practice on Your Own exercises, students work on individual skills and knowledge through a variety of exercises, while Chapter Practice allows students to put information learned over the course of several lessons into use with an assortment of problem sets. Think! sections are designed to challenge a student’s critical thinking and logic skills, encouraging them to approach problems in different ways and be able to prove and explain their responses.
STEAM: The STEAM Project Work section provides projects that integrate Math concepts with activities from a variety of disciplines in Science, Technology, Engineering and Art. Students may perform a science experiment using math, cook, create artwork and more. This section may support concepts introduced in the Imagination Lab.

Overview of Reading and Writing

The Lower School uses a curated method of reading instruction that combines select elements of a reading workshop with phonics fundamentals from Wilson Fundations, along with other tools and tactics to create daily phonemic awareness lessons. The workshop model allows students to tackle the challenging work of learning how to read in a predictable and supportive environment. The reading curriculum is naturally differentiated. Children read and apply lessons to books at their individual reading level so that they can read accurately and fluently while comprehending the meaning of the text. There are four units of study for each grade. These units are structured to help students read, understand, and analyze fiction and nonfiction texts. Teachers emphasize the joy of reading and help students develop strong reading identities. Throughout the Units of Study in Reading, the word recognition and language comprehension skills introduced in one unit are revisited and strengthened, both within a grade level and across grade levels.

The reading workshop includes:

A teacher-led mini-lesson that teaches a reading skill, comprehension strategy, or habit of proficient reading.
Independent reading time for students to practice and apply what they have learned to a book of choice that matches their reading level.
Individual reading conferences that provide targeted instruction to support each child’s reading development.
Partner shares, also known as “turn and talk” when students think and talk together about a text and support one another’s reading goals.
Students also use Handwriting Without Tears to learn and practice their print and cursive writing.