The curriculum at Oakbrook Preparatory School matches the goals set forth by former U.S. Secretary of Education William J. Bennett in his report, James Madison Elementary School.  Student enrichment is ensured by following the guidelines of the Core Knowledge Curriculum developed under the direction of Professor E.D. Hirsch, Jr., who first explained the meaning of cultural literacy to the nation.

In addition to these U.S. authors, we embrace the philosophy of the great English educator, Charlotte Mason.  Miss Mason's work is founded on Scripture. She saw God, the Holy Spirit, as the supreme educator of all mankind.  Her academic emphases were to put children in touch with nature and classics in literature, art, and music. Charlotte Mason accomplished this by presenting great works of literature to children. A structured syllabus is used at each developmental level with emphasis on a wide curriculum. We see the elementary school years as a time for sampling and experimenting.  

The Core Knowledge series is the framework for Oakbrook's Lower School curriculum. It is a "solid, sequenced, specific, shared core curriculum" that helps children "establish strong foundations of knowledge, grade by grade." Science & Social Studies topics studied are selected from the Core Knowledge guide to provide students with both breadth and depth of knowledge and experience.

Oakbrook uses the Open Court reading series. "Open Court Reading is a research-based curriculum grounded in systematic, explicit instruction of phonemic awareness, phonics and word knowledge, comprehension skills and strategies, inquiry skills and strategies, and writing and language arts skills and strategies. Reading fine literature is one of the founding principles of Open Court Reading. As children read classic and contemporary literature, they discover the importance of clarity of thought and word. They enjoy an abundant reading experience that moves them toward independent, self-directed learning.”

The Saxon Math curriculum is the primary math instruction guide. The Saxon approach stresses "incremental development and continual practice and review." Topics are introduced in "easily understandable pieces (increments), permitting the assimilation of one facet of a concept before the next facet is introduced. Topics are never dropped, but are instead increased in complexity and practiced every day, providing the time required for concepts to become totally familiar." Teachers hold “math meetings” to stress application of skills and concepts. Students become involved through activities and visual displays.

The Sitton Spelling approach is used in grades 3 through 5. The program focuses on teaching students spelling skills and patterns rather than memorization of an arbitrary list of words. Class work emphasizes the inquiry approach to discerning spelling patterns. Students learn to spell where it counts—in their writing.

Students in Grade 3 through 5 use the Easy Grammar Method to learn grammar concepts, capitalization, punctuation, sentence types, and other concepts introduced in an easy format. In Easy Grammar, students are introduced to 28 prepositions and the process of deleting prepositional phrases in a sentence. After a prepositional phrase is crossed out, it is easier for the student to identify the subject and verb of a sentence.

Oakbrook began phase one of a new writing curriculum in 2011-12 - Thinking Maps.  Thinking Maps integrates thinking skills with mapping techniques (based on eight patterns). Learning to use these strategies helps students develop good writing skills.  These techniques also help students become better learners as they develop life-long skills to help them study.  Thinking Maps use basic mental operations involving perceiving, processing, and evaluating information.  Students learn to describe, classify, and sequence.  Phase two of the new writing curriculum willbe implemented in 2012-13 - Write from the Beginning and Beyond.  This program is a developmental writing program fro students in K5 through eighth grade.  Teachers within a school develop a common, targeted focus and shared accountability for the school-wide writing performance in both narrative and expository writing.  

Students learn to understand and speak other languages with greater proficiency when they begin as young children.  Oakbrook introduces languages to students beginning in our K4 program through second grade with a “survey class” of three languages (Chinese, Spanish, and German).  Each class rotation lasts nine weeks and give students a feel for the language and some of the cultures that speak that language.  At the end of second grade, each student (with their family) choose a language (Chinese, Spanish, or German) to study the remaining years of their education at Oakbrook.  Our third graders embark on their learning adventure with their chosen language by singing and playing games in their target language.  Immersion in the language is used at least 75% of the time.  Students at this level learn phrases and sentences, not just vocabulary on a list. In fourth and fifth grades, students receive fifty minutes of instruction twice a week.  These students build their vocabularies and receive beginning grammar instruction.  Answering questions in complete sentences and full comprehension are goals at this level.  In-class projects and celebrations help teach the students about the cultural differences of World Languages.   

Oakbrook enjoys many special academic events and festivals during the year such as the Greek Festival and Agora, Roman Festival, Famous American Day, Literary Meet, International Festival, and Medieval Feast.

All students in grade five participate in the Science Fair, with winners advancing to the Regional Science Fair at USC Upstate.

Students in grade 3 through 5 participate in class spelling bees, with winners advancing to the Regional and State levels within   SCISA.  

Lower School students participate in SPARK PE (Sports, Play, and Active Recreation for Kids), a unique program designed with activities that are inclusive, highly active, integrate academic and wellness concepts, and are fun for all students.  Instructional unites are designed to develop students’ motor, cognitive, and social skills.

Teachers send home folders containing samples of student work every Thursday.  This is a very important avenue of communication for the teacher, parent, and administration.  
Please sign the folder and return it the following morning.  Report cards will evaluate each student's progress in every subject area.  

Teachers send home folders containing samples of student work every Thursday.  This is a very important avenue of communication for the teacher, parent, and administration.  
Please sign the folder and return it the following morning.

K5 students are assessed at the end of each term. K4 students are assessed at the end of the first and third terms.

Students in grade 1 though 5 will receive a report each nine weeks of the academic calendar. Children in grades one through three will be rated Excellent, Satisfactory, Progressing, and Needs Improvement according to their demonstrated potential.  
In grades four and five, percentage averages are calculated and reported as letter grades. Grade four continues to report social studies, science, and creative writing with ratings of Excellent, Satisfactory, Progressing, or Needs to Improve.

Grades 1 - 3 and Grade 4 Science & Social Studies:

E 93-100
S+ 85-92 E = Excellent
S 77-84 S = Satisfactory
S- 70-76 P = Progressing
P/N Below 70 N = Needs to Improve

Grade 3 - 4 Math and Language Arts (South Carolina Uniform Grading Scale):

A     93 - 100
B     85 - 92
C     77 - 84
D     70 - 76
F      0 – 69

Grade 5 – All Subjects (South Carolina Uniform Grading Scale):

A     93 - 100
B     85 - 92
C     77 - 84
D     70 - 76
F      0 – 69