Three to Four-Year-Old Program Curriculum
Our three to four-year-old program is a great way to introduce your child to school.
Students enjoy a large part of each morning engaged in play—generally called “center time”—choosing from a variety of centers ranging from building to housekeeping to library to art. Other daily activities include circle time, snack time, and outdoor recess time.
Curriculum
Our teachers reference the Core Knowledge Preschool Sequence, a very thorough and thoughtful arrangement of developmentally appropriate skills and activities for three through five-year-olds. We also refer to the Washington State Early Learning and Development Guidelines. We use these sources when developing activities, projects and mini lessons. When planning our themes, we also consider student interests and abilities.
Oral Language Development
Our teachers incorporate stories, songs, poems, and finger plays into daily circle times to expose children to a wide variety of language forms and purposes. They also engage students in conversation during play, circle and snack times to develop students’ abilities to provide detailed descriptions and convey meaning to others.
First Day of School- already hard at play!Fine Motor Development
Students are introduced to correct pencil/crayon grip and have ample opportunity to practice coloring, drawing and painting. Activities such as lacing cards, puzzles, using tongs and working with play dough also promote fine motor skills. Strong fine motor skills are a key component of early literacy skills.
Mathematics
Students will be exposed to colors, shapes and numbers 1-10 during circle time throughout the year. Art projects and center activities also promote color, shape and number awareness through play and exploration. Matching, grouping and sorting activities are incorporated throughout the year. Calendar routines, such as days of the week, are part of daily circle time.
Four to Five Year Old Program Curriculum
Our four to five-year-old program builds on skills learned in our three-year-old program, but is also a great start for children heading off to kindergarten the following year. Students will enjoy a large part of each morning engaged in play—generally called “center time”—choosing from a variety of centers ranging from building to housekeeping to library to art. Students also meet daily for “teacher time”—a short work time focusing on language or math concepts, learning a game, or practicing fine motor skills. Other daily components include circle time, snack time, and outdoor recess time.
Curriculum
Our teachers reference the Core Knowledge Preschool Sequence, a very thorough and thoughtful arrangement of developmentally appropriate skills and activities for three through five year olds. We also refer to the Washington State Early Learning and Development Guidelines. Our teachers also incorporate aspects of the “Get Set for School” curriculum, the Pre-K component of Handwriting Without Tears (HWT). HWT is used by many of the West Valley School District (WVSD) kindergarten teachers to teach written letter formation. We also use “Alpha Friends” when introducing letters of the alphabet. “Alpha Friends” is a component of the reading curriculum used in WVSD kindergarten classrooms. We use these sources when developing activities, projects and mini lessons. We also incorporate student interests and abilities in relation to our theme when planning. Finally, we also reference the
WVSD Kindergarten Readiness Checklist.
Kinder Readiness List -WVSDOral Language Development
Our teachers incorporate stories, songs, poems, and finger plays into daily circle times to expose children to a wide variety of language forms and purposes. Each week, students will be exposed to a new letter name, sound and formation, though they are not expected to memorize them. We also practice foundational reading skills, such as moving from left to right and top to bottom of a page, and recognizing that letters make up words. We practice recognizing and naming the letters of our names. We read and discuss stories together.
Preschool girl with medical toys from the Community Helpers UnitFine Motor Development
Teachers introduce students to correct pencil/crayon grip and they have ample opportunities to practice coloring, drawing and painting. Activities such as lacing cards, putting together puzzles, using tongs, and working with play dough also promote fine motor skills. Students work with chalk, crayon and pencil to develop line and shape drawing skills and early letter formation skills. Strong fine motor skills are a key component of early literacy skills.
Mathematics
Students continue their work with colors, shapes and the numbers 1-20 during circle, art and play time throughout the year. Circle time routines include calendar and weather components. Students answer a “Question of the Day” and use the response chart to practice counting, comparing, grouping and measuring. We also spend time in circle grouping and classifying by using fun categories like the types of shoes we are wearing or the color of our shirts today.
Special Activities
Our extended time period allows us more time for fun! We have time each week for more specific music instruction, physical education, cooking or science projects, or putting on skits and plays.
References and Resources
Alpha Friends:
Core Knowledge Preschool Sequence:
Get Set for School:
Washington Department of Early Learning:
https://www.del.wa.gov/publications/development/docs/guidelines.pdf
taf2019
