Central Bucks School District

 

According to the National Council for the Social Studies, "At the elementary level, social studies includes the interdisciplinary study of history, geography, economics, and government/civics and is well-integrated with the study of language arts, the visual and performing arts, and STEM." Our elementary program in Central Bucks offers an education consistent with this description. 

 

Family, community and culture are the gateways to learning throughout the Kindergarten through Third Grade curriculum. The elementary curriculum builds on the diversity of the Central Bucks community.  Students' knowledge is developed through a study of literature, family experiences, and oral history. Students compare and contrast a variety of cultures and communities, leading to a study of people who immigrated to the United States. Geography skills are an important part of our program in these grade levels. Students will learn geography through reading and making maps and globes, using a scale to compute distance, and the examination of topography, climate, and other geographic phenomena/patterns. 

 

In Fourth and Fifth Grades students learn about Pennsylvania, regions of our country, and the history that has shaped our nation. We also examine the impact that geography has had on the nation's historical development. Both grade levels draw from the themes of exploration, independence, revolution and national development. 

 

The Sixth Grade Curriculum studies the people and events that ushered in the dawn of the major Western and non-Western ancient civilizations. The course challenges students to discover why civilizations developed when and where they did, what caused the rise and fall of certain civilizations, and establish the link between the contemporary and ancient worlds. Students learn the development of the human story through the study of geography as well as through the study of civilizations' social, economic, and political structures. Students also study the establishment and spread of ideas that transformed the world.  Seventh Grade, part of the middle school program, is considered "part two" of this curriculum.