Junior Infants to 6th Class
Primary School
The Grammar Stage of the classical Trivium — a content-rich curriculum that leads your child towards Truth, Goodness and Beauty at a joyful, relaxing pace.
Overview
The Grammar Stage
The Grammar Stage is the first stage of the Trivium. During the early years, children naturally love learning by heart, and classical education capitalises on this intuition. Children learn the basis of mathematics through maths facts, while the foundations of English and Irish language are learned through poetry, songs and simple rudiments of grammar.
Memorisation lays the foundation for the Logic and Rhetoric Stages of learning. The children memorise answers to their catechism questions, Irish and English grammar rules, and maths facts. The recitation of nursery rhymes and English and Irish poems teaches self-confidence, new vocabulary, and proper sentence syntax.
The student progresses at a joyful, relaxing, steady pace which fits his or her natural development. Only one to two hours per day, four days a week, of homeschooling should be necessary from Junior Infants to 2nd Class; typically two to three hours per day, over four days a week, is needed from 3rd Class to 6th Class. Minimal parental involvement should be needed after Senior Infants.
Our approach
What makes the programme distinctive
Grammar
English and Irish grammar are emphasised so that both languages can be mastered. Sentence diagramming is an essential part of our curriculum, training the child to write simply and clearly.
Irish history, chronologically
Children learn Irish history in order, from the arrival of the first people in Ireland to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. Knowing our past equips students to face the future.
Spiral method
In English and Irish grammar, and in mathematics, key threshold concepts are constantly revised and reinforced by returning (spiraling) to them in a methodical way.
Living books
Students discover the world, the past, and the lives of the saints through living stories. Learning happens naturally through reading, and children discover that all subjects are interconnected.
Rigour
A rigorous curriculum and methodology — an antidote to the mediocrity often encountered in the education system.
Faith at the centre
Mater Dei Education helps your students and yourself grow in the virtues of faith, love, and charity. Reading the Word of God and the Lives of the Saints is part of the weekly curriculum.
How it works
Lesson plans
Electronic detailed lesson plans are provided to all enrolled families — a breath of fresh air for the busy homeschooling parent. They encourage autonomous work: all the work is laid out for 4 days a week, 32 weeks a year, from Junior Infants to 6th Class. Starting with 1st Class, the child can work independently while mum or dad looks after the younger children. They are also entirely flexible. The first part of the lesson plans explains how to teach your child using each book and is filled with pedagogical insights.
- 4-days-a-week daily lesson plans
- Flexible — adapt them to your family's week
- Available on our App and our parent portal
- Personalised to suit the level of your child in every subject
- Irish recordings of all of the Irish language material
- Pedagogical insights throughout
Enrolled families access their personalised lesson plans and Irish recordings through the parent portal on our current site.
Curriculum
A content-rich education, subject by subject
Your children will benefit from a content-rich education at a joyful, relaxing pace. By 6th Class, the children will be well-rounded individuals who are ready to enter the Logic stage of formation.
Religion
A religion curriculum unique in the world of education and homeschooling, based on three aspects reviewed weekly: the catechism, the Word of God, and the lives of the Saints — with an emphasis on the Irish Saints. It is a daily family curriculum shared by all the primary school members of the family. The truths of our faith are learned by heart, and geography and history of the Church are most easily taught through the lives of the Saints.
Irish
By the end of 6th Class, the child will be able to read, speak, and write well in Irish. Learning Irish captures the essence of the Catholic Faith and defines our identity. Recordings of all the readers, songs and vocabulary are available through the parent portal and App, and help is available through our Mater Dei Irish classes for parents who need additional support.
English
Speaking and writing English well is essential whether the child is called to be an engineer, a scientist, a nurse, a priest, or a writer. The building blocks — grammar and sentence diagramming, comprehension, vocabulary, spelling, and recitation — prepare the child to write and speak well. English sentence diagramming informs Irish syntax and later, in the Logic stage, the syntax of Latin and modern European languages.
Mathematics
Mathematics is the language of God. It teaches logic, the basis of the Logic stage of formation, and underpins the Sciences begun in first year of the second-level programme. Our programme follows a spiral method which emphasises mental maths, the memorisation of maths facts, and autonomous problem-solving.
History & Culture
From 2nd Class, the children are exposed to Irish culture by studying the Irish legends. Irish history is taught chronologically starting in 3rd Class — texts that show how our forefathers fought for their Faith and that encourage the virtue of fortitude. The history and culture of other countries are taught through English comprehension from 2nd Class.
Geography
Geography begins in 3rd Class with simple ideas such as the water cycle and physical geography — mountains, rivers and more. In 4th Class the children learn about the solar system, our planet, and time; in 5th Class the counties, cities, rivers and islands of Ireland; and in 6th Class they extend their understanding to Europe and the rest of the world.
Music
Tin whistle and traditional Irish songs are part of the curriculum, as music is an integral part of Irish culture.
Art
The art curriculum follows the history programme, covering art appreciation as well as the practice of art. Students learn to use watercolour paint and clay.
What you'll need
Book lists
Each class level has its own book list for the school year. Download the list for your child's class, and order the books through our Bookstore.
Begin the Grammar Stage with your family
Full lesson plans, personal support and a curriculum that leads your child to Truth, Goodness and Beauty.