Our elementary school is situated at our Tay Ho campus and offers both an international and bilingual curriculum.
International program
Morning Star International School offers an international primary curriculum adapted to meet the needs of a multicultural student body. We use the Common Core Standards with California additions, an internationally benchmarked system utilized throughout the United States. We strive to create a challenging and motivating environment where students and staff from around the world work in harmony to develop every student’s full intellectual and human potential.
The English Language Arts program at Morning Star utilizes Pearson’s Reading Street series of textbooks. It is a comprehensive language arts resource that covers reading skills such as phonics, fluency, comprehension, and critical thinking as well as vocabulary, spelling, grammar, and composition. The reading selections include fiction, folktales, expository texts, biographies, poetry, plays, and more. Through the English Language program, students become articulate speakers, skillful readers, responsive listeners, and resourceful problem solvers who are prepared to be contributing members to an increasingly interconnected world.
The Language Development program provides students the foundational English skills they need to flourish academically. We use the Cornerstone series of books to enhance the children’s understanding of the English language. As most of our students are not native speakers, this additional language instructions allow students to more fully comprehend grammatical, phonetical, and critical thinking concepts in all academic areas.
The elementary math curriculum at Morning Star provides students with a solid foundation in whole numbers and place value, addition and subtraction, multiplication and division, fractions and decimals, geometry, and early algebra. This foundation helps the elementary student successfully apply more demanding math concepts and procedures to real-world problems. We use the enVision Math textbooks to support our students learning of mathematical concepts in an interactive and insightful manner.
Morning Star applies the Next Generation Science Standards to the elementary curriculum. Students will participate in Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, and Engineering at all grade levels. This will allow students to develop a deep, working knowledge of science in individual disciplines and experience how science spans across disciplines with Crosscutting Concepts. Throughout the year students are expected to demonstrate grade-appropriate proficiency in asking questions and defining problems; developing and using models, planning and carrying out investigations, analyzing and interpreting data, constructing explanations and designing solutions, engaging in argument from evidence, and obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information.
The goal of the social studies curriculum at Morning Star is to foster the development of thoughtful, sensitive, and open-minded global citizens. To accomplish this, students will explore various aspects of individuals, communities, and the wider world. Students will learn how individuals and groups can both positively and negatively can affect the history of a place. Furthermore, students will be introduced to some of the effects of different cultures coming together. The social studies curriculum supports an understanding of a multicultural and increasingly interconnected world and holds in high regard stewardship of the environment, freedom, democracy, equality, and justice.
The social studies curriculum for 2020-2021 is based on the American Education Reaches Out (AERO) standards, which emphasize skills development, problem-solving, and critical thinking. In social studies, a thematic approach is utilized, covering topics of social responsibility geography and spatial awareness, the environment, geography and culture, and selected societies of the past.
In addition to the core subjects, students will also have a variety of “specials” to supplement their learning in the afternoons. These classes help foster the development of well-rounded individuals with myriad interests. These “specials” will include physical education, art, and performing arts, and environmental studies.
Bilingual program
Our Morning Star Bilingual Program combines both the international curriculum and the Vietnamese state curriculum. Our students follow the international program with our native English-speaking teachers in the morning, then switch to the Vietnamese curriculum in the afternoon with our Vietnamese faculty.
English