Grade School

Our goals in Bilingual Education are for: Students to be social, culturally and linguistically adaptable in a global setting
Students to achieve competence in the first and second language (listening, speaking, reading and writing)
Students can apply higher thinking skills in both Japanese and English
Students to acquire the same English Language skills as students in English- only schools. Gain a greater understanding and appreciation for the Japanese culture.

As the grade level progresses, students will gradually become proficient in both English and Japanese. Please be aware that our program is designed specifically for Japanese speaking families and therefore English is their second language. Based on research from Cornell
University in 2009 second language acquisition reaches its apex at the age of 3 to 4. Therefore we encourage families to start exposing them to their second languages as early as possible.

The Grade School curriculum, based on Ontario National Standards from Canada and Japanese education standards, is built by teachers while taking in to account observations from daily conversation with students, class attitudes, and communication between students. While it is common in Japanese elementary schools to learn from textbooks, at SIS the students search for answers themselves from information they have gathered and analyzed.

Inquiry-Based learning is a student-directed learning that believes that education begins with the curiosity of the learner. It is an approach to learning whereby students find and use a variety of sources of information and ideas to increase their understanding of a problem, topic, or issue.

At Shonan International School, we are committed to providing learning opportunities that espouse investigation, exploration, research, pursuit, and study upon all areas of subject content. The school culture is based on the idea that the responsibility of learning is given to the students. Therefore the role of the teacher is not to dispense knowledge and make decisions for the students. The students are expected to collaborate and cooperate with one another to construct meaningful connection towards their learning. As a 21st century skill, it is vital for students to take ownership of their learning.

• SELSEL is the process of helping students develop the skills to manage their emotions, nonviolently resolve conflict, and make responsible decisions. At Shonan International school, we weave SEL into all parts of the school culture- both in the classroom, on the playground and at home.
  The five competencies that we focus at school are:
  1) Self-management
  2) Self-Awareness
  3) Responsible Decision-Making
  4) Relationship Skills
  5) Social Awareness
  The learning expectations in the curriculum is based on Ontario National Standards in Health and Physical Education and The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL).
• Environmental
  StudiesAt SIS, students are taught to be sustainable leaders that develop adequate skills to survive the turbulent century ahead. As students grow into grade school, we recognize cause and effect, action and reaction about the environment. They continue to discover empathy and compassion for the natural environment.
  SIS is registered as part of the internationally certified Eco-Schools and strives to provide quality Environmental Education. Our academic instructions and activities are aligned with Canada`s Ontario Standards in Science, History, and Social Science. Additionally, we implement Joseph Cornell’s nature education philosophy of “Flow Learning”.
• Passion
  ProjectPassion Projects are creative side projects where students can inquire about anything they are curious about. The process is quite simple:
  Students conduct an open inquiry investigation, then create something and then make their learning public.
  Passion Projects provide a time for them to take ownership in their learning as it encourages the practice of life-long learning.
• Units of
  InquiryA strong emphasis of our curriculum is placed on UOI as students are given the opportunity to deepen their conceptual understanding of the world around them. UOI crosses disciplinary lines where students examine a central theme, issue, problem, topic or experience. Students will unravel 6 themes over the course of the year.
  The classes are taught under the curriculum framework of International Baccalaureate PYP Program. The learning expectations in the curriculum is based on Ontario National Standards in Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, Mathematics and Health and Physical Education.
• The ArtsThe expectations in the arts curriculum are organized into four strands – Dance, Drama, Music, and Visual Arts. The emphasis of each of the strand is on developing students’ ability to communicate through creating and performing to communicate their thoughts and feelings. As students experiment in the creative process, they are given sufficient opportunities to be inventive and imaginative in their thinking, rather than merely find a prescribed answer. At SIS, we treat the arts as an important component in communication, thus we stress in their growth in the students’ creative endeavors.
  To learn the music theory of composition, students in grade 1-2 will primary be using Pianica. Grade 3-4 will be using Ukulele.
  The learning expectations in the curriculum is based on Ontario National Standards in The Arts.
• SportsUnlike traditional PE classes, the student at SIS will learn to develop physical skills and knowledge by teaching it through concepts.
  The learning expectations in the curriculum is based on Ontario National Standards in Health and Physical Education.
• MathSIS Mathematics Curriculum Framework integrates framework for Grades1 to 5, combining the Cambridge Mathematics Curriculum Framework and the Ontario Mathematics Curriculum. This framework is based primarily on the Cambridge curriculum and contains the full Cambridge Mathematics Curriculum Framework from Stages 1 to 5. The SIS Primary Mathematics curriculum is presented in six content areas; Numbers,Geometry, Measuring, Handling Data and Problem-Solving.
• Language
  ArtsThe goal of our English program is to produce life-long learning habits and confident communicators. Hence, our holistic approach to language emphasizes in producing language rather than focus on the learning conventions of language such as grammar. Language is a tool to communicate our thoughts and beliefs. Therefore, to create confident writers, speakers, and readers; time is allocated specifically for discussing and creating authentic work. The students have 90 minutes each day to read culturally relevant literature that elicits strong emotions and a wide range of global perspectives. During writing time, they go through the writing process to produce stories and essays to eventually publish. The students also have a weekly class where they explicitly practice public speaking skills and conduct frequent speeches in front of a large audience.
  The learning expectations in the curriculum is based on Ontario National Standards in Language Arts.
• JapaneseStudents spend 80 minutes per week on developing their Japanese language proficiency. The curriculum is guided by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology. For Japanese students, they are placed in their appropriate grade level while students who come from other countries or lack proficiency are grouped according to their language ability. In the 21st century, students are expected to speak a variety of languages and therefore we place as much importance in the Japanese language program as we do in the English program. We aim to meet the national standards by utilizing the inquiry process. Therefore, students are expected to think independently, apply creative writing techniques, select and synthesize information and communicate their thoughts, ideas, and opinions in Japanese.

• Grade1:TimeTable
• Grade2:TimeTable
• Grade3:TimeTable
• Grade4:TimeTable
• Grade5:TimeTable
• YEARLY EVENTS

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