The Pre-Kindergarteners’ curriculum incorporates Kindergarten Readiness skills as well as skills in all the major developmental areas – Cognitive/thinking, Language, Social Emotional, Fine and Gross Motor. Our activities in this group focus on all of the skills and academics students will need to master for a smooth transition into Kindergarten. This group is reserved for children who will be entering Kindergarten the following year.
Activities as well as materials used will be adjusted depending on the child’s age and developmental level.
Pre-Kindergarteners’ Activities
The following activities will be utilized throughout our school’s daily schedule.
Circle Time
During this time children will learn to interact with their peers as well as adults. Skills worked on are as follows: eye contact, attention, socialization, and name recognition and language development. Children will describe the weather and discuss the calendar (name the month, day of the week & count numbers). Children will engage in theme related games (ex. hunting for colored leaves). They will also sing songs, play instruments, streamer dance, and exercise.
Handwriting
Students will work on activities based on the accredited handwriting program “Handwriting Without Tears.” These activities help to develop the following skills: body awareness, drawing simple shapes, letter formation and appropriate pencil grip. Children will engage in multi-sensory activities using dough, wood pieces and chalkboards.
Math
In the area of mathematics, children will work on the following skills: number recognition (1-20), number quantity (1-10), matching numerals to corresponding sets, creating patterns, measuring, graphing and simple addition.
Special Projects
Each week children will work on group projects in art and cooking the incorporate the weekly theme.
Story Time
Children will develop attending and listening comprehension skills during story time. Stories will coordinate with the weekly theme whenever possible. Children will be asked a variety of “wh” questions after each story.
Language Arts
Children will work on the following activities: letter recognition, upper/lower case letter match, beginning sounds, rhyming words, syllables and sight words.
Gross Motor/Outdoor Play
Children will develop their gross motor skills by participating in various activities (ball games, parachute play, playground equipment, etc.). Other skills addressed are eye/hand coordination and balance.
Self Help
Children will use dressing vests to strengthen their buttoning, snapping and zipping skills. Children will also begin simple tying activities.
Learning Centers
Learning centers foster creativity, curiosity and experimentation. Children will be encouraged to make choices, solve problems and engage in hands-on learning experiences.
Children will rotate to 3 different centers in which they will work independently or in small groups. Our centers include writing, science, block, dramatics, and art.