social and school-readiness skills that can help young children achieve more and get along with others. • Children work on developing essential life skills. • Children engage in decision-making and learn acceptance of responsibility for choices. • Children gain an understanding of empathy and compassion for others. • Children develop impulse control skills. • Children begin to express interests and self-direction in learning. • Children begin to show increased self-control by following classroom rules. • Children begin to respond to the suggestions of others. • Children begin to share and cooperate with others in group activities. Language and Communication Development A phonemic language program is used in Pre-K and Kindergarten. • Children are exposed to the richness of language through experiential media. • Children discover the importance of the written word to express thoughts. • Programs are used to ignite the children’s interest in reading. • Children develop the ability to listen with increasing attention span. • Children experiment with new language. • Children use increased new vocabulary when relating to others. • Children gain confidence as speakers. Literacy and Writing Development HandwritingWithout Tears ® used in Pre-K and Kindergarten uses fun, entertaining, and educationally sound instructional methods to teach handwriting to all students. It has proven successful in making legible and fluent handwriting an easy and automatic skill for all students. • Children attempt to write messages in the form of a play activity. • Children use known letters to represent written language. • Children develop phonemic awareness – rhyme, pattern and letter/sound relationship. Mathematics Everyday Math (a comprehensive mathematics curriculum developed by the University of Chicago School of Mathematics Project) is the math program used in both Pre-K and Kindergarten. This program allows for differentiation in the classroom and builds on the skills learned from one year to the next. • Children use manipulatives for hands-on learning to reinforce concepts and skills that relate to real life experiences. • “Calendar” is used to teach patterning, number recognition, counting by rote, sequencing and one-to-one correspondence.
EARLY CHILDHOOD | CURRICULUM GUIDE
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