Pre-Kindergarten Classroom

By age 4, children become more adventurous and have a lengthening attention span.  They are very curious and ask “why” about 100 times a day.  Children learn best through inquiry, exploration, and investigation at this age because they are so active.

The focus of our 4’s program is preparation for kindergarten. Math, science, and reading and writing skills and concepts are integrated throughout the curriculum, including work time (free choice play), outdoor play, and small and large group activities. Four-year-olds are ready for letter and number recognition, writing of letters and numbers, phonemic awareness, and sorting and classifying colors and shapes.

Children develop math skills through block building, counting, sorting, and creating patterns. Children are exposed to reading and writing daily through exposure to books and journaling. These skills are enhanced by spending time recognizing and writing letters.  Children develop science skills by engaging in hands-on projects and discoveries.  Children explore such topics as Dinosaurs, the Ocean, Animals, Seasons, the Birth of Jesus Christ, etc.

Social emotional competence is critical to success in kindergarten and beyond, thus our program teaches children social and emotional skills such as emotional regulation, resiliency, self-control, empathy, cooperation, taking turns in a group, conflict resolution, problem-solving, and making friends.  Daily ‘jobs’ are rotated to help the children build self-esteem and develop a sense of responsibility and control in the classroom.