Lower Division at FCS calls out new responsibilities and freedoms for 7th and 8th graders as they leave the grammar program. In 7th grade, FCS students are able to begin the year at King’s Mountain Camp with Lower and Upper Division students. At camp they begin forming relationships with teachers and peers in an outdoor environment filled with social and physical team-building activities, as well as opportunities to learn from Dr. Grant and engage in heartfelt worship.
From learning to schedule and plan projects to learning how to process information given in lecture form, LD students begin to practice study habits beneficial to their upper division and ultimately college careers. Comprehensive study really begins to take shape in 7th and 8th grade as they file all notes, quizzes, maps, and opportunities for mid-term and final exams. It is a time of understanding how to make connections among people, places, events, and progress, as well as digression of societies.
Students look forward to greater independence and responsibility by planning events corresponding to the lecture calendar. Field trips, social gatherings outside of school, and special activities at school are highlighted at the beginning of the year as students and teachers decide how they will enrich their year of surveying the period of Antiquity or Christendom.
It is in the spirit of connecting ideas through integrated study, we offer Natural Philosophy lectures to complement the Humanities lectures. Students in grades 7-12 who are enrolled in a math or science course attend these 30-minute lectures each Wednesday and Friday. The lectures explore math, science, engineering, and technology topics relevant to the Upper Division humanities era of study. Natural Philosophy is the classical term for what would now be called physical science. But its classical usage was perhaps a bit more broad, encompassing the study of mathematics, science, and philosophy. It is this broad sense that FCS uses to describe the integrated study of mathematics, science, and moral philosophy through a biblical worldview lens.
Finally, great emphasis is given to the development of lasting and dependable relationships as well as spiritual growth. Discipleship through biblical principle application is a constant in the classroom as well as planned occasions specifically purposed for team building and relationship care. Chapel time on Tuesdays and Thursdays also includes a time of singing praise and praying together.