The goal in our PreK classroom is to surpass all kindergarten readiness expectations. We want our PreK graduates to go into Kindergarten ahead of the curve. The teachers engage students in a curriculum designed for mastery in all academic areas. Staff create an environment where students can practice their social skills, talk about their emotions, and learn to function successfully in a structured classroom setting. Each day is full and busy, with activities in language, math, science, social science, music, spanish, art, and gross motor development.
Language
Students will work daily to develop and strengthen their phonological, phonemic, and phonics skills. What does all that mean? It means children can recognize that words are made up of sounds. They can hear, identify, blend, and segment those sounds in spoken word. And they can connect the sounds (phonemes) they hear to the symbols (letters) they see.
- What does this look like in the classroom?
- Activities that focus on rhyming, alliteration, syllables, word families (CVC), beginning, middle, and end sounds, blends, sight words, and more
- Teachers work with students to master identifying their letters and letter sounds.
While reading, we want children to listen and enjoy the story, but we also want them to practice reading for comprehension. Our teachers ask lots of questions and relate the stories we read to activities and lessons in the classroom.
Writing activities include learning to write their name, writing letters and numbers, basic grammar skills, parts of a story, writing simple stories, and handwriting skills (like pencil grip, spacing, and writing left to right).
Math
Using hands-on activities and games, staff will help students learn different math skills that will ensure success in Kindergarten. We want students to master identifying number (0-31), understanding quantity, using objects and tally-marks. Children will learn to count, order numbers, recognize shapes (2D & 3D), identify and create patterns, perform simple addition and subtraction problems, and work with graphs.
Science
Students will engage in science experiments, observe phenomena, and learn about the natural world. Our science is theme based, and children will participate in fun activities and sensory exploration to discover the world. Some of the concepts taught are: living vs. non-living, man-made vs. naturally occuring, chemical and physical reactions, engineering, and the needs of living things.
Social Science
We want children to understand their community and their role in it. Using social science themes, teachers help students discuss these skills and develop of a sense of identity within their world. We will talk about civic values, such as fairness, self-control, responsibility, honesty, and respect. Teachers will help students describe their community by discussing physical traits using maps, landmarks, and pictures. Students will learn about other communities and countries by discussing traditions, holidays, and cultural differences.
Art
Our main goal for students is just to have the opportunity to participate in a wide range of art activities. We want them to have the chance to paint, color, make a collage, use paper mache, and other art mediums that may be new and exciting to them. Art is a great way to strengthen fine motor skills, like cutting, ripping, glueing, writing, and more. This is when children will learn about famous artists, discuss each others art, and reflect on their own creations. We want them to have fun expressing their individualism and creativity.
A day in PreK includes group time; when teachers talk about the theme, read stories, have students participate in calendar time, discuss the weather, and get them ready to learn. Every day has a different activity that focuses on a language and math skill. Teachers rotate science and social science every other day. Music and Spanish are incorporated into their weekly activities. Children are given the opportunity to run out all their energy twice a day with our gross motor play time.
Just because our PreK day is full of structured learning, doesn’t mean children aren’t given time to learn through play. Every day includes free play time, where students can practice those important social skills, and decide for themselves what they want to participate in. We balance our days in the PreK classroom with a mix of teacher-directed and child-led activities to keep the day busy and full of fun.
For more information on a day in the PreKindergarten classrooms, we’d love to give you a tour. Please schedule today.