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Preschool through Grade 5
Small class size, individualized attention, and quality teachers are the
core values of the Preschool and Lower School Department at Fox River Country Day School (FRCDS). The heart of FRCDS's
program is its attention to these details, as well as its
focus on the school's mission: to educate the whole child through
a values-based curriculum, conducted in a home-like environment,
combining academic excellence with individual character development.
By focusing on each child's academic potential as well as his or
her character qualities, FRCDS develops the "whole" child,
a well-rounded young person who will be successful at school, at
home, and throughout life.
Academic Excellence [top]
More Than the 3 R's
Fox River Country Day School's Preschool and Lower School teachers apply a developmental approach
to support each child’s academic abilities and achievements. Teachers interact with their students in a child-centered, yet
teacher directed environment offering age appropriate curriculum and strategies at every level.
Small class sizes ranging from eight or nine children in a three year
old  preschool
class, to thirteen students in kindergarten and thirteen in grades
one and two, allow the child to be actively engaged and nurtured
as an individual. While the academic environment supports the learner
who is competent to exceptional, the economic, ethnic and religious
diversity of the student population enriches well beyond the curriculum.
Preschool and Lower School
curriculum covers language arts, mathematics,
science, and social studies. Co-curricular teachers may teach environmental
education, library, swimming, physical education, music and art. Additionally
kindergarten through fourth grades enjoy computer lab and Spanish
classes. A reading specialist is available for students who need extra
assistance, as well as to assess students’ progress and assure they
are performing at their age appropriate level.
Character Development [top]
The Second Curriculum
The Character Building Qualities (CBQ's) are integral
in supporting academics at Fox River Country Day School and are the core
of the primary school experience. Families
frequently choose to send their child to FRCDS, an independent school
with a Christian Science heritage, because of its emphasis on a
moral and ethical education that celebrates the similarities of
each family's religious background. The CBQ's cultivate growth in
students' critical thinking and decision making. Through setting
expectations and modeling appropriate conduct, FRCDS faculty and staff
teach appreciation for the character qualities and for one another.
Environmental Education [top]
Fostering a Lifelong Appreciation for the World Around Us
The third cornerstone that supports a Fox River Country Day School education is the emphasis on environmental education. By
studying and understanding the world around us, we are better able
to appreciate one another and connect our natural world to the study
of arts and sciences. Of equal value, students put to practical
use the Character Building Qualities of Resourcefulness, Respect
and Good Judgement as they work and learn in the Forested Fen Sanctuary
at Fox River Country Day School.
The school’s fifty-three acre wooded campus
includes twenty-three acres of
hiking trails that the State of Illinois designated as a Natural Heritage
Landmark in 1989. This area includes one of the state’s last
remaining white cedar forests as well as plant and animal life that
the on-staff naturalist is restoring to its presettlement 1800’s
condition.
The naturalist works with each class to foster an
appreciation of the environment. Students observe deer, wild turkey,
coyote, osprey and other endangered species that live on campus.
The change of seasons, framed by the magnificence of the campus
environment, teaches the cycle of life in nature as no textbook
can. Students are encouraged to notice, to question, see connections,
and come up with their own ideas about how to solve a problem. This
itself is the essence of creativity.
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