language, gym, library, music, and social skills are included to stimulate cognitive development and round-out the curriculum. With the recent world pandemic, the social and emotional development of our young students has become a top priority for teachers as well as parents. Social/Emotional Development Our teachers know that children learn social -emotional skills by watching, imitating and reacting to the social behaviors of others. By validating feelings, addressing needs, and by being responsive and supportive, our teachers are helping their students to be better able to communicate their feelings and emotions and therefore are more likely to demonstrate healthy social-emotional development. Whether it be through organized activities or self -initiated play, our Social/Emotional curriculumguides students on a path of growing independence, self -confidence, and responsible behavior. Children are given the tools needed to work independently, to work cooperatively with one child or in a group, and to develop solid relationships with one another. Teachers reinforce the importance of communicating with language, respecting the rights of others, problem-solving, and developing feelings of empathy and acceptance. Teachers choose activities that encourage and enable the students to express their feelings in a constructive and appropriate manner. As part of our Social/Emotional curriculum, our school counselor teaches a social skills class once a week. Lessons cover everything from recognizing facial expressions, how to self - regulate, and naming feelings, to how to share, how to ask a friend to play, and even stranger danger. In our Three’s cluster, teachers create a positive social and emotional climate through modeling and reinforcement of socially acceptable behavior. By setting clear limits, guiding children’s actions, and teaching what is appropriate conduct, children feel safe and learn self-control. Teachers encourage their students to express their emotions in a constructive manner, and to accept and recognize emotions in others. Greater emphasis is put on problem-solving, allowing the students to use their analytical abilities to generate solutions to their problems. In our Pre-K cluster, teachers place greater emphasis on the development of the student’s essential life skills: decision-making, acceptance of responsibility for choices and actions, ownership of learning, risk-taking, empathy and compassion for others, and negotiation and mediation skills. Children are expected to approach a task with flexibility and inventiveness, complete a task, seek help when encountering a problem, and play and work cooperatively with others. Beginning Math Beginning math skills are introduced in our Three’s cluster and are gradually built upon and expanded during Pre-Kindergarten. Children are first exposed to numbers 1-5, then 1-10 and by the end of Pre-K, 1-20 with many children counting and recognizing numbers 1-100. Children practice counting by rote, one-to-one correspondence, and number recognition through games and specially designed activities. Our curriculum
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