Curriculum

• Reading Mastery
• Spelling Mastery
• Spelling Through Morphographs
• Reasoning & Writing
•  Language for Learning
   

Lindamood-Bell Visualizing & Verbalizing for Comprehension
The goal of learning to read is to get meaning. Too many students who are adequate to good decoders (they can sound words out, and even read fluently) struggle to understand what they read, and cannot answer questions involving higher order thinking skills (inferencing, predicting, problem solving, critical thinking). The Lindamood Bell Visualizing & Verbalizing program considers a weakness in concept imagery to be a primary cause of language comprehension difficulty. This weakness causes students to only get “parts’ of text, such as a few facts or details, rather than the whole picture. The Visualizing & Verbalizing program focuses on helping students to develop strong concept imagery.

Lindamood-Bell Seeing Stars: Phonemic Awareness, Sight Words and Spelling Program
A significant number of students - even those who have well-developed phonemic awareness - have difficulty with rapidly perceiving sounds in words, and thus are slow to self-correct their reading errors. Their spelling is often phonetically accurate, but they can't remember the visual patterns of words. The Lindamood Bell Seeing Stars program develops symbol imagery for fluency, develops symbol imagery to sight word development, contextual fluency, spelling and increasing the speed and stability of phonemic awareness. The program begins by visualizing the identity, number, and sequence of letters for the sounds within words, and extends into multisyllable and contextual reading and spelling.

French

Optional French instruction is offered for grades 6, 7 & 8 using the Aim “Accelerated Integrative Method” (or “Gesture”) method.

Math

TouchMath – TouchMath is a multi-sensory math teaching approach that simplifies and clarifies all areas of math including counting, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, story problems, time, money and fractions. TouchMath develops left/right directionality, reduces number reversals, reinforces number values, eliminates guesswork, and helps to develop confidence in math. Students use ‘touch points’ on paper to see, say, hear and touch numbers in order to learn without guessing.

JUMP Math – JUMP Math is a program developed by mathematician and writer John Mighton (The Myth of Ability) and is aligned with the Ontario Curriculum.  JUMP is based on the belief that all children can learn to think mathematically, given a teaching methodology that breaks lessons down into small steps and provides lots of reinforcement.

GraphoTech (Printing, Cursive, Keyboarding & Assistive Technology)

Handwriting Without Tears – This is a complete method for teaching children of all ability levels to be successful in printing and cursive. It was developed by Jan Z. Olsen, an occupational therapist and handwriting specialist.

Keyboarding Instruction – A variety of computerized programs are used to assist students in becoming proficient with keyboarding.

SOLO Literacy Suite - our Assistive Technology program is available to all students who require it through any computer on our network. There are four different components, including word prediction software, a graphic organizer, text reader and talking word processor. During GraphoTech, students who are using assistive technology will receive training and practice on the relevant components.

The Arts

Art - Our students are exposed to a wide variety of art forms, genres and media.  Our Art Gallery is proudly presented at our Student Showcase each May. 

Music – Our music program emphasizes the enjoyment of listening and participation in group music making and singing.  We present two music concerts a year, at our Christmas/Hanukkah Concert  and at our Closing Ceremony.  In Term Two, our students are excited to participate in our own 'Brighton Idol'.

Physical Education

Gym Classes – Gym time is about activity, participation and fun. In class, students learn team sports such as basketball, soccer, volleyball and racquet sports.  In addition to scheduled Gym classes, Brighton also provides several opportunities throughout the day for exercise and physical fitness.

IW (Independent Work)

IW (Independent Work) – each student has an independent work program designed for them based on their own particular learning needs. At first, most IW programs use computer-based programs, and as students are able, desk work, novel studies and independent projects are added.  Subjects practiced in IW include: reading(decoding), reading comprehension, spelling, math, auditory memory & listening skills, writing, keyboarding, language skill builders, novel studies, independent projects and French practice.

Schedule

Weekly Schedule – Brighton uses a weekly schedule rather than a rotational schedule to better enable students to organize and keep track of their daily lessons.  Please click here to view a sample timetable.

Student Agendas – All Brighton Students receive an Agenda/Planner which is used in class at the beginning and end of each day to help students organize and plan their work. It is also used as a communication tool between parents and teachers.