Understanding the Accelerated Christian Education Curriculum:
- Management
- Individualized
- Motivation
- Goal Oriented
Produce a GEM by:
- Teacher (Supervisor) – Guiding
- Parents – Encouraging
- Students – Motivated
Long-Term Goals:
- Learn to do their best for the glory of God
- Learn strengths, gifts, and loves to direct for future
- Complete academic grade level – tested to determine what level each individual is on
- Learn material
- Improve grade-point average
Mid-Term Goals:
- Complete one Pace in every subject every three weeks**
- Complete three Paces per subject every quarter
Short-Term Goals:
- Complete two Paces per week
- Complete at least 20 pagers per day
**A PACE is equivalent to a chapter in a textbook/workbook.
In a traditional school, students spend about an hour in class per subject, and then receive homework to do on their own.
At Granite City Baptist Academy, in addition to the basic subjects, students have music, speech, preacher boys, and composition class which may require some outside work. We also have a speed-reading program in which students must read and pass a comprehension test on one story per week.
In the Accelerated Christian Education system, each student is tested to be sure they are on the grade level where they can comprehend and grow in knowledge. A grade level is 12 Paces (Packet of Accelerated Christian Education which is equivalent to a chapter in a textbook/workbook). There are 6 basic subjects – Math, English, Social Studies (history), Science, Word Building (vocabulary and spelling), and Literature. The number of pages per Pace increases and the grade level increases. As a student progresses through high-school, a core subject may be replaced with an elective. To complete a grade level in one school year, a student must complete 2 Paces per week, which equals 1 Pace per subject every three weeks. If a student does this, he/she will complete a grade level or 12 Paces in each subject each school year.
To further help in short term goal setting it is recommended that a student always have a math pace and do 3-5 pages daily in that Pace. This will ensure they learn the material and get it completed within 3 weeks. It is also helpful to determine the number of pages in the Pace that needs to be completed that week and divide by the number of days a student has to complete it. The student then sets his daily goal using that number of pages in that subject. When a student turns in a Pace, they will take a test the next day. Paces cannot be turned in on Friday to prevent having to test after a weekend.
Let us consider what we can do to help produce a GEM for God’s glory!
