Middle Team (6th-8th)

Typically, many people reflect upon their middle school years as a challenging time physically, socially and emotionally. At Horizon Academy, we understand these challenges, and we strive to ensure that Horizon Academy’s Middle Team is a different experience. We recognize that our students are at a crossroads between their elementary and high school years, and we are trained and happy to help guide them successfully through. We also differentiate instruction so that every student’s needs will be met, from remediation of basic skills to extending skills for our students who are above grade level.

Reading Class is designed to:

• Remediate decoding, spelling, and reading comprehension
• Wilson Reading System is used for decoding and encoding instruction
• Word Identification Strategy (DISSECT) is used for decoding and spelling
• Word Mapping Strategy (MAPS) is used for storing and remembering information
• The LINCS Vocabulary Strategy is used for storing and remembering information
• Strategies used to improve reading comprehension are: Visual Imagery, Self-Questioning, Paraphrasing & Summarizing, and Inference

Writing Class is designed to:

• Become a more capable writer
• Use language more effectively and efficiently
• Be better prepared to succeed in situations that require writing
• Focus upon composition, literature, grammar and language usage

Math Class is designed to:

• Teach conceptual knowledge through both concrete and abstract representations
• Establish a solid foundation of fact automaticity and computation
• Help students to develop cognitive thinking and problem-solving skills

Social Studies and Science Classes help students to:

• Gain strategies for reading comprehension in content areas
• Develop a basic working understanding of science and social studies language and vocabulary
• Learn note-taking skills
• Learn to organize information

Social Skills is designed to:

Research suggests that many children with learning disabilities also struggle with understanding the social world. The same challenges that cause learning disabilities can also contribute to social difficulties. For this reason, all Horizon Academy students take part in a weekly classroom-based social skills program. Social skills goals focus on helping each child develop a personal understanding of his or her own strengths and challenges, as well as on becoming a successful member of both the school and the larger community.

• Accept differences among all people
• Understand peer pressure and popularity
• Understand their learning profile
• Learn to self-advocate
• Know their personal boundaries
• Understand peoples’ feelings and emotions
• Develop friendships
• Use problem solving & coping skills
• Make safe choices/avoid risky behavior

Physical Education is designed to help students:

• Raise the level of the student’s general physical fitness through regular and structured activities which develop aerobic capacity, flexibility and strength
• Develop perceptual motor skills
• Provide skill training with quality practice experiences in a variety of team sports
• Learn the importance of teamwork and sportsmanship

Art, Music, Dance & Drama are designed to:

The fine arts — visual art, music, dance & drama — are an integral component of the Horizon Academy program. For many Horizon Academy students, the fine arts represent areas of strength. The goal of the fine arts program is to both develop these strengths and to integrate learning through the use of multiple modalities designed to integrate various functions of the brain.

• Teach students about basic musical notation
• Expose students to a variety of musical forms
• Develop multiple forms of personal expression
• Instill the ability to work together to produce a final product (such as a short play or musical)