Pre-Kindergarten Curriculum

Statement of Philosophy

• Encourage children to be actively involved in the learning process.
• Allow children to experience a variety of developmentally appropriate

  activities and materials.

• Develop trust in people outside the immediate family.
• Gain independence and self-control.
• Encourage children to take initiative and assert themselves in socially

  acceptable ways.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

Social-Emotional Development

Children will be given the opportunity to:

• develop a positive self-concept.
• verbalize their feelings to others.
• separate from their parents.
• demonstrate self-confidence.
• respect cultural diversity and include families in classroom activities.
• understand and respect individual differences.
• accept responsibility for maintaining the classroom environment.
• demonstrate sound health, safety, and nutritional practices.
• respect the personal space and rights of others.
• demonstrate negotiation skills when working out conflicts.
• demonstrate positive leadership skills.

Cognitive Development: Math/Science

Children will be given the opportunity to:

• demonstrate an interest in exploring.
• make observations and discoveries.
• apply information and experiences in new contexts.
• understand same and different.
• recall events.
• arrange objects in series (smallest to largest).
• develop a sense of time concepts.
• make comparisons (more/less, larger/smaller, taller/shorter).
• rote count to 20 and beyond.
• understand one-to-one counting to 10 and beyond.
• recognize basic colors and shapes.
• recognize basic patterns in repetition.
• discriminate differences in taste, smell, and texture.
• point to and name body parts.

Cognitive Development: Listening and Language

Children will be given the opportunity to:

• identify different community jobs.
• describe relationship of objects in space (inside, below, under, etc.)
• engage in pretend play.
• recall words in a song or finger play.
• follow simple directions.
• use words to explain ideas and feelings.
• create and retell stories.
• participate in group discussions and in show and tell.
• become familiar with technology.
• learn to appreciate and care for books.
• recognize and print first name.
• recognize and write the 26 letters of the alphabet.
• learn and recite their whole names and phone numbers.
• recognize and write numbers to 10 and beyond.
• be introduced to sound-letter relationships.

Physical Development

Children will be given the opportunity to:

• run with increasing control over direction and speed.
• climb up and down age appropriate playground equipment with

  confidence.

• catch a ball or bean bag.
• throw a ball or bean bag in the intended direction.
• use their large muscles for balance (on one foot, walk on tiptoes, etc.).
• jump over objects with feet together.
• hop on one foot
• gallop and begin to skip

Fine Motor Skills

Children will be given the opportunity to:

• develop coordination in their eye and hand movements (completing puzzles,

  building with blocks, bouncing a ball, drawing with markers).

• use small muscles for self-help skills (pouring, zipping, and buttoning).
• use scissors with control.
• use writing and drawing tools with control
• use small muscles to complete tasks (building, stringing, gluing).

Self-Help Skills

Children will be given the opportunity to:

• -manage hand washing, toileting, and personal hygiene with little or no

  assistance.

• dress themselves and make and effort at zipping, buttoning, tying shoes,

  putting on boots, and putting on jackets.

• demonstrate table manners during snack and lunch times, passing food,

  setting the table

• when necessary, and pouring water from a pitcher.
• demonstrate respect for the food choices of classmates and respond

  appropriately to differences of opinions about foods.

• begin to realize that words have power and sometimes expressing a point of

  view will result in a negative consequence and/or a negative response from peers.