Monarch Curriculum

"You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives." C. Bedford

Students learn through a Project Based Learning (PBL) approach at Monarch. Project Based Learning is a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an authentic, engaging and complex question, problem, or challenge.

One component of our curriculum is to teach important content and infuse 21st century skills with project/problem-based learning experiences for our students. Starting in 4K, these authentic activities will help match as nearly as possible the real-world tasks of professionals in practice. Projects provide students with opportunities to address community issues, explore careers, use technology, and present their work to real-world audiences. Medical staff from the Greenville Health System are on-site frequently to provide students with career connections. Career speakers complement class and grade level projects.

South Carolina K-5th Curriculum Guides

A focus is on helping our students go through an inquiry process that challenges their thinking, engages them in authentic tasks, and shows demonstration of mastery.

Critical Thinking Project based learning requires students to define the tasks and subtasks needed to complete the activity. Students ask questions, search for answers, and arrive at conclusions, leading them to construct something new such as an idea or a product.

Creativity Students will have opportunities to examine a task from different perspectives using a variety of resources

Collaboration Working together is integral and required for task completion. Students will use higher-order thinking skills to and learn to work as a team.

Communication Authentic activities create polished products and valuable data that students will share with real-world audiences.
Upper grade students will use the iPad or Chromebook as a learning studio for educational technology. A combination of rich graphics, the intuitive touch screen, and fast processing speed means new levels of student engagement. An iPad used as a learning studio fosters a different kind of connection to information and learning. It provides immediate and quick access for classroom questions, or for teams of students to enter content, analyze data or interact with literature. The use of iPads support differentiated learning.