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Curriculum

English Program

Manitoba Education recognizes the English program as one of the four official school programs (Français, French Immersion and Senior Years Technology Education).

Grade Groupings

Manitoba schools offer 13 grades (Kindergarten to Grade 12), which are grouped as follows

Grade Groupings in Manitoba Schools
Groupings Grades Approx. Age of Students
Early Years Kindergarten* to Grade 4 5 to 10 years
Middle Years Grade 5 to Grade 8 10 to 14 years
Senior Years Grade 9 to Grade 12 14 to 18 years
*
Kindergarten remains an optional year of schooling. When a school division or school offers Kindergarten, the percentage time allotments for Grades 1-3 should be used as a guide for instructional time with the exception of Physical Education/Health Education where the time is mandated; provincial curriculum for Kindergarten should be followed. Provincial curriculum, which will continue to be developed to include Kindergarten, will be based on outcomes.

For more information about the Manitoba school system, visit Going to School in Manitoba.

To search for schools offering the English program in Manitoba, visit Schools in Manitoba.

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Early and Middle Years

Students in Grades 1 to 8 are expected to demonstrate learning in the four foundation skill areas

  • Literacy and communication
  • Problem Solving
  • Human Relations
  • Technology

Instruction, skill development, and practice in these four areas are required in all subject areas.

For more information visit Elements Integrated in the Curriculum.

Compulsory subject areas in Grades 1 to 8

  • Language arts
  • Mathematics
  • Science
  • Social Studies
  • Physical education/Health Education
  • Arts Education

Subject Area Time Allotments
Time allotment tables describe the expectations for the subject area time allotments in the English Program. An overall percentage breakdown is given as a guideline only, and reflects a change from the total time in minutes for compulsory and optional subject areas. Please note however that the minimum allocated time for Grades K to 8 Physical Education/Health Education is mandated.1

Visit the Subject Area Time Allotments page for a more detailed explanation.


Early and Middle Years Recommended Subject Area Time Allotments
Subject Areas Grades
1 to 6		 Grades
7 and 8
Compulsory language arts (English) 35% 27%
mathematics 15% 17%
science 10% 13%
social studies 10% 13%
physical education/health education (mandated time) 11% 9%
arts education 10% 8%
Optional
 e.g., French*, other languages, Aboriginal studies, etc. 9% 13%
Total   100% 100%
1
See Manitoba PE/HE Curriculum Overview and Scheduling Kindergarten to Grade 8 Physical Education/Health Education: A Resource for School Administrators for strategies to meet class time specifications. (Please note that recess is not part of PE instructional time.)
*
A recommendation for schools offering French or other second languages in the English Program is to re-allocate a small portion of English Language Arts time for this purpose. This recognizes that some language concepts are transferable and should assist schools to accommodate the French grant requirement.

Bilingual Heritage Language Instruction (Ukrainian, German, Hebrew)
The time allotments specified for the French Immersion Program also apply to Bilingual Heritage Language Instruction. Time allotments for English language arts will be the same as the English allotment in the table. The time allotment identified for Français will be used for language arts instruction in the heritage language. Mathematics and science will be instructed in English; the other subjects will be taught in the heritage language (following the Policy for Heritage Language Instruction).

Compulsory Subject Areas for Implementation
A list of curriculum documents for compulsory subject areas that comprise programming for 2005-2006 in Early Years, Middle Years, and Senior Years English Program. The list includes Manitoba Learning Resource Centre (formerly the Manitoba Text Book Bureau) catalogue numbers to facilitate ordering. As additional new curricula are released, they will replace existing curricula that pre-date 1995. These changes will be reflected in the listing.

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Senior Years

Grades 9 to 12 are organized around a system of credits. A credit represents 110 hours of course-specific instruction or classroom-based learning experiences. Students earn credits when they achieve a final mark of 50 percent or more for courses.

Graduation Requirements
Information about graduation requirements for Manitoba Senior Years English program. In 2007 Manitoba Education changed the Senior Years graduation requirements based on consultations throughout Manitoba.

Post-secondary Acceptance of Manitoba Education Curricula
Concurrent with the development of new curricula for Senior Years English language arts and mathematics, Manitoba Education has communicated regularly with post-secondary institutions to ensure acceptance of English language arts and mathematics credits for entrance into university and college programs.

Subject Table Handbook
The purpose of the Subject Table Handbook is to support schools by providing basic information to assist schools in completing the Professional School Personnel system (PSP) forms; by providing basic information to schools for entering student records into the Student Records system (SRS); and by providing subject computer codes for courses developed by Manitoba Education and for those approved or registered by the Department.

School Initiated Courses (SICs) and Student Initiated Projects (SIPs)
Curricula that have been developed by school divisions or schools to meet local needs and interests.

Distance Learning
Manitoba Education provides Web-based, Independent Study and Teacher Mediated courses.

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