Grammar School K-6th

Grammar School is where the wonder begins. Little children love to learn. Their minds work like little sponges that soak up information without even trying. The world is largely all new to them, so everything they encounter seems worthy of awe and wonder. They love to show adults what they have learned and can turn anything into a song or a rhyme. Their imaginations are powerful, they are incredibly resilient and formable, and they are drawn by stories that have the ability to form who they will become. This is the Grammar Stage, the initial stage of the Trivium.

At GFA, we try to harness the power of the Grammar Stage by doing three things that will help students be successful in succeeding years. First, our curriculum and programs are designed to create a sense of wonder in our students that will lead to a love of learning; our sincerest hope is that this love of learning will carry them not just through high school or college, but through a lifetime.  

Second, we try to use the particular characteristics of the Grammar Stage – students’ ease of memorization, love of learning, and aptitude for songs and cheers – to give students the strong foundational building blocks upon which all their educational pursuits can be built; as such, Grammar School students memorize things like Bible verses, multiplication tables, math facts, science taxonomies, history timelines, poems, stories, and more.

And finally, we try to do all the above in an ordered, structured, and highly predictable environment that will form habits in students that will last a lifetime. Our Grammar School students cultivate selflessness, self-control, diligence, focus, kindness, etc., through constant practice and repetition, forming the habits they will need in order to learn in the Upper School. This approach informs all that we do, from how our classrooms are decorated to how our students dress and speak.