Lower School (TK–4th Grade)
Hausner’s lower school program offers students high quality instruction in reading, writing, math, social studies, and science.
Teachers integrate subject areas together across the curriculum, and offer students the chance to work with partners on hands-on projects, designed to engage and motivate. Most days start with a morning meeting to develop and support the classroom community.
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Curriculum Highlights
TK and Kindergarten
Outstanding support for your child during their first years of education is essential to establishing the skills and confidence that lead to success in life.
Transitional Kindergarten (TK) students are part of a two-year Kindergarten program. Students who attend and complete TK then move on to kindergarten the following year.
Our TK program offers children an engaging environment where they will be nurtured and celebrated while they learn, play, create and build relationships with their peers and the teachers."
In Kindergarten, children develop new skills academically, socially, and emotionally. Hausner faculty and staff are there to encourage and guide this remarkable transformation.
Each day begins with a morning meeting to set the stage for active and joyful learning. The Jewish calendar guides the curriculum and comes to life through song, vocabulary development, and creative expression through art. Children enjoy lots of physical activity and free, unstructured play.
Children begin the reading process and explore a wide selection of literature. Their natural curiosity lends itself to a stimulating STEM program that encourages students to investigate, experiment, gather and organize data, and draw conclusions based on their observations. In math, students set out on explorations that lay a foundation for more advanced mathematical development throughout their years at Hausner.
Special highlights include:
Ir Shalom (City of Peace)
This project-based learning experience begins with a question: How can we build a peaceful Jewish city? Students plan and construct their own buildings, while learning about community, architecture, transportation and social services.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Students explore the Civil Rights leader in his historical context, while examining the reality of their lives today.
Mr. Bones
With "Mr. Bones," a real skeleton, our students identify bones and understand how our bodies function and move.
Fabric Science
Students explore the way in which fabric is made and learn how to sew and weave, creating their own woven masterpiece and Passover Seder pillows.
1st Grade
An exciting year of new beginnings, our 1st Grade students grow academically, socially, emotionally, and physically. They also become more independent and contributing members of our classroom community.
Our students develop good reading habits through fluency, phonics, and comprehension. They improve their addition and subtraction, measurement skills, and calendar and time-telling skills, and prepare for multiplication, division, and money skills.
Exploring the world around them, they delve into plants and animal life, the movement of the sun and stars, and the science of light and sound.
Special highlights include:
Farms Unit
Students learn about farm life and raise funds for Animal Assisted Happiness.
Colonial Unit
In preparation for Thanksgiving, students examine Pilgrims – who they were, why they came to the New World, and what they experienced once they arrived.
Rainforest Bake Sale
Students study the layers of the rainforest, the animals who live there, and learn about – and create a bake sale to support – preservation efforts.
2nd Grade
Second grade is a time of transition, when students learn to apply and build on the skills learned in Kindergarten and 1st Grade.
They are able to read more fluently and write more prolifically. Our teachers encourage children to feel comfortable with the skills that come easily, and to also work hard in the areas that challenge them.
Reading and writing biographies, personal narratives, fairytales and folktales build our students’ fluency, comprehension, and love of literature. Our students learn how to count to 1,000, tackle multiplication and division, and become adept at measurements, money, time, graphs, shapes, and patterns. They study maps to learn about the world around them, explore global cultures, and discover states of matter, sustainability, and life cycles.
Special highlights include:
Heritage Potluck
Students interview an older person in their lives, uncover a family recipe from their country of origin, and then share it with their community – as part of a cookbook and during a festive potluck.
Seven Continents
Students “travel” to all seven continents during the year, exploring each one in unique projects.
Insects, Bees, and Pollinators
In their exploration of insects and bees, students learn about their importance in our ecosystem. They watch eggs transform into adult butterflies, experiencing a complete metamorphosis cycle.
3rd Grade
Students begin to take a greater role in their own learning, and to see that learning extends beyond the classroom walls. Our teachers provide clear structure and expectations so that every student can feel successful.
Our students embrace reading, enjoying fiction, narrative writing, and opinion pieces, and sharpen their grammar. To promote high-level thinking, our students learn how to not only solve math problems, but also to explain and justify their solutions.
The theme, “Continuity and change,” guides our students’ exploration into Native American culture, community growth and development, and community activism.
Special highlights include:
Cardboard Arcade
By designing and building cardboard arcade games, students learn about magnetism, gravity, forces, and enrich their collaboration skills.
Community Studies
How do environments and their resources shape peoples’ lifestyles, habits, traditions, and values? Our students explore this question while studying our community’s environment, history, features, and issues.
Kabbalat Torah
In our special Kabbalat Torah celebration, students receive their own Torahs amid music and dance. Families are invited to participate in this momentous occasion.
4th Grade
Our 4th graders take more responsibility for their words and actions, and recognize that there are consequences – both good and bad – to what they say and do. Using critical teaching strategies, we support our students in becoming more independent learners and individuals.
In addition to tackling fractions and mixed numbers, decimals, shape area and perimeter, and symmetry, they learn how to further express themselves in writing by crafting fiction, opinion pieces, and essays. Our students enrich their knowledge of our local communities, exploring the natural resources of California, Native American tribes, the Spanish Rancho and Gold Rush periods, and the Transcontinental Railroad.
Special highlights include:
Community Service
Students create thoughtful care packages for individuals in our community who are battling cancer.
Bridges
With limited time, resources, and money, how can we safely travel from our Gold Rush campsite to civilization? Utilizing blueprints, geometry, and architecture skills, our students devise incredible solutions.
Gold Rush Trip
During this exciting trip, our students explore the Gold Country, including the Capitol Building, Railroad Museum, an old schoolhouse, and a replica of John Sutter’s sawmill.
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