Private School in Huntington Beach, CA

Carden Conservatory:
Carden Conservatory is a private school specializing in preschool through to junior high. We are located in Huntington Beach, Orange County in Southern CA. We proudly feature a strong academic program, balanced by Music, Art, Computers, Spanish, Drama, Physical Education, including Golf, and after-school programs.

Education Programs:
At Carden Conservatory, it is our goal to enable each student to reach his or her potential in regards to academic and emotional growth. Using the system of phonetics, spelling, and reading created by Mae Carden as the framework for English language development, we seek to identify and capitalize on instructional methods that best enable students to learn.

* Carden Conservatory Developmental Preschool:
Our purpose is to provide companionship, music, literature, and pre-academic concepts in an atmosphere that is both pleasant, calm, and purposeful. We offer opportunities for the development of independence and self-discipline, and provide a balance between active and quiet activities and structure and choice.

- 2 Year Old Program:
We offer a welcoming atmosphere to each and every child. The purpose of our program is to create:
- A pleasant atmosphere
- A purposeful atmosphere
- Agreeable companionship
- Pleasant speaking voice
- A balance between active periods and quiet periods

To Develop:
- Awareness and appreciation of beauty

To Provide:
- Experience with rhythms and with song
- Experience with appropriate stories and poems
- Opportunity for development of independence and self-reliance

- Carden Preprimary and Preparatory Jr. Kindergarten:
Our Purpose:

To Have Children Enjoy:
- Companionship, music, literature, and pre-academic concepts in an atmosphere that is both pleasant, calm, and purposeful.
- Opportunities for the development of independence and self-discipline.
- A balance between active and quiet activities and structure and choice.

To Have Children Cultivate:
- A pleasant speaking voice
- An appreciation of beauty
- A cheerful attitude toward life

To Help Children Adjust Socially by:
- Getting along pleasantly with peers and adults
- Taking responsibility for their own behavior
-  Developing a positive attitude
- Developing conversational ability
- Experiencing consideration for others by learning to delight in their successes
- Learn to be interested in their activities
- Show concern for them when something unfortunate occurs

To Assist in the Development of Pre-Academic Concepts and Skills:
- To develop dexterity with scissors and writing instruments
- To increase attention to directed tasks
- To learn to take turns
- To learn to make choices of good consequences
- To facilitate creative play
- To develop ability to recall and follow a sequence of instructions
- To develop concepts of numbers
- To develop familiarity with letters and sounds

Guidance in Personal Behavior:
Learning to:
- Share
- Accept responsibility
- Take turns
- Wait patiently and good-naturedly
- Be generous and kind

Guidance in Physical Development:
Exercises:
- Play involving physical fitness
- Rhythms that strengthen muscles
- Attainment of ease in movement

* Kindergarten through 8th Grade School Program:
Our School Curriculum:
- Emphasizes interrelationship of the content of subjects presented
- Assures comprehension by unifying the language arts – reading, spelling, speaking, listening, composition, and paragraph analysis
- Awakens the mental image
- Develops rhythm in speech and reading
- Aims for independence and accomplishment in study
- Appreciates every individual
- Avoids pressure and rivalry
- Spares the student nervous strain and tension because competition is not a part of the learning experience
- Maintains a cheery, calm atmosphere in which the student develops powers of concentration and works in a relaxed manner

Speech:
- Excellence of diction and enunciation
- Clarity and fluency of expression

Vocabulary:
- Development of a speaking vocabulary
- A vocabulary program for every grade

Reading:
- Vocabulary development to assure an accurate, vivid mental image of words in context
- A phonic basis to provide essential tools for decoding words
- Rapidity of reading with rhythm and understanding

Comprehension Techniques:
- Rhythmic grouping of words within sentences
- Emphasis upon key word of sentence to indicate understanding
- Classification of key word to express the main idea of the sentence
- Summarization of sentence, paragraph, and chapter
- Questions to ascertain literal understanding and to cultivate critical thinking ability
- Recall of material read
- Organization of material read

Spelling:
- Phonic basis used in reading utilized in encoding or spelling
- Application of rules of grammar
- Dictation of paragraphs for beneficial exercise of spelling skills

Writing:
- Printing
- Avoidance of confusion through clarity and unique sequence in presenting and developing printing skills
- Construction, not copying, of letters for achieving mastery and self-confidence
- Cursive writing, penmanship

Language:
- Functional grammar that serves as a tool of comprehension
- Verbal and written communication of ideas

Composition:
Guided-to achieve mastery in logical presentation of ideas
Free-to foster creativity in an artistic sense

Literature:
- Prose
- Poetry
- Drama
- Games to enrich understanding and awareness of subjects studied
- Plays according to grade and maturity level
- Participation by all pupils

Mathematics:
- Basic arithmetic
- Understanding language of numbers
- Fluency of expression
- Accuracy of thought
- Understanding concepts of our number system
- Practice of basic skills
- Practice in problem solving
- Contemporary mathematics
- Metric system of measurement

Geography:
- The United States
- The world-studies of every continent
- Outlines for study of countries

History:
- American history
- Background of western civilization
- Ancient times
- Modern history
- Biographies of outstanding persons

Science:
- Science in rhyme as an introduction
- Learning to live as a study of individuals and their
environment
- Elementary science as a basis for growth in knowledge of
branches of science
- Practical experiments to enhance understanding and clarify
concepts
- Observation of natural phenomena

Physical Education:
- Development of the individual
- An individual as a member of a team
- Good sportsmanship
- Posture exercises

Spanish:
- Basic vocabulary
- Fundamental grammar
- Spanish songs
- Spanish stories for dramatization

Music:
- Fundamental of sight singing
- Variety of songs
- Major and minor keys
- Rhythm and phrasing
- Appreciation of beauty of music

Art:
- Experience with different media
- Periods of instruction
- Periods of self-expression
- Appreciation of beauty of art

- Elective Programs Include:  Music & Drama, Fine Arts, Athletics, Technology and Foreign Languages.

Additionally: After-School Programs, Carden Summer Camp and Summer School, and Academic Enrichment Programs