Curriculum

At Upper Room Christian School we endeavor to identify, locate and use the best curriculum possible for our students. We believe in using the best secular curriculum taught by Christian teachers using a Christian World View. Each year our teachers review and research for the best books and materials to use. We are a New York State regent school so it is important that all of our students do well on both their regent exams and their SAT's.

We select curriculum from all of the major publishers and upgrade all of our books at least every 5 years so that their condition is acceptable and their content is relevant. We are also looking into using either Kindles or Nooks for our High School Students next year!

And of course the Bible is the cornerstone book here at Upper Room Christian School and we read and study it every day!

Grace and Peace,
Ed

Is There a Christian Approach to the Content of Education?

The content of education, unlike the specific curriculum, has an implied value. Content rests on an implied value. Let’s see…

In the non-Christian, school there is no absolute or ultimate truth. It is each person’s responsibility to decide their final or overarching truth.

A true Christian education studies all of life in submission to the word of God, the Bible and its precepts, or truths.

When we look at content this way we see a significant difference. God designed us to seek the truth; He declares truth will set us free – from bondage to sin.

The content of education is an aspect that we must seriously consider and pray about.

Partner with Upper Room Christian School a school that begins its content with the truth of the Bible.

Grace and Peace,

Ed

www.urcwc.org

Children Owning Their Education

No matter how exciting our lessons, how well-planned or executed, no matter how innovative or hands-on, how scholarly or inspired—reality is that children remember best what they themselves "produce." I remember teaching my 8th grade Science class physics by having them conceptualize, and produce a model for an amusement park ride we called "Volcano". We even had a class trip to Great Adventure in New Jersey on Physics Day where we put some of our theories to the test.

Both teachers and students appreciate colorful, well-designed curriculum with high interest and appropriate expectations. However, the lesson that is teacher-produced has a short-term effect and very little staying value in the mind (let alone the heart) of the child. On the other hand, the lesson that engages the student and requires his response achieves a longer-term effect. The degree to which the student is engaged determines the total impact on his life and heart.

All Christian education aims to form character and scholarship worthy of Christ. Our curriculum places the burden of learning upon the student, challenging his reason, causing him to research and relate, and thus impacting his life through the formation of Christian character. As a result, the student is able to articulate the subject out of his own thinking.

A recent visitor to one of our school's presentations asked students who had just presented a series of orations and other presentations why they didn’t appear nervous before such a large group. The students replied nearly in unison, “Because we’ve been doing this since kindergarten!” Their quick response verified their experience in a curriculum that impacts character thus producing leaders. The most obvious mark of the leader is the ability to speak confidently, even persuasively, and out of his own conviction before others. This should be the ultimate curriculum test: resulting in a student who has the character and skill to fulfill the great commission—discipling the nations for Christ.

Grace and Peace,
Ed