Lower School
Maranatha Christian Academy goes way beyond the ordinary measures of academic standards, delivering the kind of education that opens eyes and hearts for a lifetime. Here, curiosity is applauded, discovery is championed, and ultimately world-influencers are shaped.
Inspire, re-inspire, repeat. Wide eyes. Open minds. Curiosity. You can see it on their faces and hear it in their voices - our lower school students are eager to explore, grow, and learn.
One size does not fit all
We’ve all purchased that item, haven’t we? One size fits all. While this may be true with certain things, at Maranatha we know education is not one of them. We believe there are multiple ways students learn. Our master-teachers utilize distinct and diverse approaches, experiences, and learning opportunities to engage and champion each student’s potential and create change-making futures for every individual.
Throughout first through fifth grade, students have a dynamic weekly schedule that rotates between core and specialist classes such as Design Thinking, Makers Space, Art, Music, and P.E. allowing students to experience something new every day - and begin to embrace exploration, grow through struggles, and discover their strengths and passions.
More than just the 3 R’s
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Building houses and playing with legos - In our lower school STEAM program at Maranatha, there is no such thing as a small idea. As a matter of fact, we’ve learned our students can dream pretty big. Early on, students work with Bluetooth Lego Robots and are tasked with more difficult robotics challenges as they progress through the program. Engineering concepts are discovered when our 5th-grade students plan and build their Tiny Houses while collaborating and communicating with 4th-grade students who design and install electrical circuitry in the houses. It’s fun. It’s innovative. It’s learning at Maranatha.- Expanding the walls of the classroom - At Maranatha, we are expanding the walls of the classroom. Our Outdoor Learning Space is an inquiry-based, hands-on, experiential-learning classroom. Teachers collaborate and integrate projects to teach math, art, health and wellness, research skills, teamwork, and stewardship of the environment.
- Readers are leaders - We instill a love for reading through a purposeful in-school and summer reading program. Our fourth graders share their enthusiasm for reading with kindergarteners through the Book Buddies program. The fact that we are recognized as Best in State for the most minutes read multiple years in a row is proof positive that readers are leaders.
Writers of the lost art - Writing is not just taught in Language Arts but throughout all classes. Your student may be writing instructions for a board game or designing research journals for science, just to name a few. When he or she has finished at Maranatha, your child will learn to write… and write well. Also, here cursive is not a lost art. Students learn handwriting on devices that allow them to see if they are doing it correctly and adjusting as necessary. Now that’s real-time learning.- Would you let your fourth grader balance your budget? If he or she were a Maranatha student, you could. Math is a core principle taught with an innovative and integrative approach. From first to fourth grade, students thrive in math-based activities such as Mini-Mart to Mini-Economy, Economics to an in-class store, we are making Math fun and relevant. Now that’s new.
Heart, fact, and lasting impact
To care is to do at Maranatha. It is one thing to teach from a Christian worldview. It is another to encourage students to have a Christian world-do mindset. Some of the ways our students do are by writing Valentine's Day letters to widows, knitting squares that are patched together for blankets given to children in Twin Cities Children's Hospitals and orphanages around the world, and packing 50,000 meals for local food shelves during Meals for Minneapolis. We are teaching our students to lead with their faith in front. From every classroom experience to chapel, we instill godly character, global connection, and a genuine caring that impacts their lives and the world around them.