The {Faithfulness} Fruit Stand

 

Welcome to Central Christian Academy’s Fourth Grade Faithfulness Fruit Stand!

Central Christian Academy is an accredited, Christian school servicing children from 2.5 years old through 6th grade.

The mission of Central Christian Academy is to provide an education that will equip saints with the knowledge and experiences they need to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and grow the fruit of the Spirit within their home, church, and school.

In fourth grade, our fruit of the Spirit is faithfulness.

All of the ACO standards are observed during whole group instruction, cooperative learning activities, independent work, small group time, and project based learning.

In the first quarter, fourth-graders look at Faith starts.

Having confidence and trust in someone or something is required for faith to start. During
the first quarter in the Faithfulness Fruit Stand, the saints read Cricket in Time Square and see how Chester the cricket put faith in the Bellini family and his new friends. He also faces many trials which continue to build his faith. Through their studies, the saints recognize that having faith is more than being convinced that what they believe in is true. Truth is found in God’s word and is seen in nature and mathematical principles. It must be acknowledged, embraced, and seized for faithfulness to start in each of them! They discover that the church started when Jesus’ disciples shared their faith in Christ. This was a faith for which many died during the 3rd and 4th century as most people’s faith was in the Roman Empire. The fourth grade saints read, write, and give presentations that illustrate the start of their own faithfulness.

 

In the second quarter, fourth-graders look at faith stretched.

Throughout the second quarter in the Faithfulness Fruit Stand, the faith of the fourth grade saint is stretched. As the saints read The Sign of the Beaver they discover how Matt’s faith was stretched when he is left all alone in the wilderness to guard his family’s cabin. The saints are stretched to make inferences, predictions, and conclusions throughout their studies. They identify cause and effect relationships. In history, the saints study a period of wars and struggles among barbarians, Vikings, and nobility. This “dark” period stretched the faith of Christians and led to the birth of Islam which rejects the divinity of Christ. Cause and effect relationships continue to stretch the saints as they solve multistep problems using multiplication and division. They research animals and ecosystems, and further stretch themselves to communicate their findings through writing.

In the third quarter, fourth-graders look at faith spread.

The third quarter in the Faithfulness Fruit Stand provides the saints with opportunities to spread their faith. Pippi Longstocking’s fun and contagious faith spreads as the saints read her adventures and discover she is a faithful friend and daughter. As they continue their walk through the New Testament, they realize their lifestyles and choices spread faith to others. Spreading a faith in Christ is different than spreading opinions or religions that can form from our beliefs. The saints study how Christianity spread among political leaders through the Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Religion which became political powers. The powers sought to to destroy Islam through the Crusades, further spreading their influence. This quarter is an important time for the fourth grade saint as they evaluate themselves spiritually, socially, and academically to discover if they are spreading faith in Christ or in something else.

In the fourth quarter, fourth-graders look at faithfulness sustained.

The saints in the Faithfulness Fruit Stand have started, stretched, and spread faithfulness. This final quarter they see that faithfulness sustains them. As they continue their study of the New Testament through the book of Hebrews, they see how Bible heroes were sustained by faith. Reading My Side of the Mountain, the saints watch Sam find a place to live and survive in the wilderness. While living in the wild, he misses the faithfulness sustained by his family back home. The saints complete their study of the Middle Ages and further discover how God sustained faithfulness through his people during the Hundred Years War. This historical period comes to an end with the invention of the printing press. God’s Word can now be sustained for future generations and made available to every person as a printed Bible. The saints create written texts of their own this quarter and they explore how God sustains His creation as they study the planets and solar system.