Curriculum in the Early Learners and Pre-K Program

When looking at different classrooms, you will notice a variety of themes, activities and teaching styles.  Curriculum is influenced by the teacher’s own interests and teaching style, as well as the needs and interests of the children.  With these variations in mind however, there are common threads.  At St. Andrew’s, we have a philosophy, as well as objectives that remain constant each year and are consistent from class to class throughout our program. 

Our philosophy is based upon current research and is consistent with what NAEYC (The National Association for the Education of Young Children) defines as developmentally appropriate practice.  We believe young children learn through hands-on interaction with their environment and through social interaction with their peers.  All classrooms provide free choice center time in which children learn through play.  Teachers serve as facilitators and guide learning through selection of materials and open ended questions.  Children have opportunities to express creativity, problem solve, test hypotheses, and role play.  Centers are designed to foster development in all domains including social/emotional development, physical development (gross and fine motor), cognitive development, and language development.    

  Early Literacy

Principles of the Rice Early Literacy Program are incorporated throughout the program.  All rooms are rich in print.  Through shared writing experiences, teachers write on chart paper during large and small group activities and take dictations from individual children during storytelling and daily news.  Teachers read to children every day exposing them to a variety of quality children’s literature while fostering a love of reading.  Children begin to develop pre-reading skills such as alphabet recognition, sound/symbol correspondence and the conventions of print.  Most importantly, we acknowledge that reading and writing are developmental processes.  Our teachers respect and celebrate individual differences in development and provide opportunities for all children to be successful and develop a positive attitude towards reading and writing.

  Handwriting

St. Andrew’s has implemented a new handwriting program called Handwriting Without Tears.  The goal of this program is to help children develop self-confidence while gaining a strong foundation in beginning writing skills.  Children begin with readiness activities, such as constructing letters with wooden block pieces.  Next, children learn the strokes to write their uppercase letters with chalk on a small slate.  These tactile slate lessons improve children’s finger dexterity and help develop good pencil grip in order to prepare children for writing with a pencil. Letter recognition and letter sounds are also reinforced throughout this program.

  Mathematics

Math skills are taught through hands-on, concrete experiences.  When children control, manipulate and arrange objects, they internalize concepts and begin to make sense of their world.  We utilize a developmental sequence as we plan math activities in order to provide a natural transition from one concept to the next, preventing gaps in understanding.  Children take what they learn from one concept and apply it to the next.  This developmental sequence provides a conceptual framework that serves as a springboard to developing higher level math skills.  Our three year olds follow the Count on Math curriculum.  They spend several weeks exploring each of the following topics: Spatial Relationships, Classification, Patterning, One-to-One Correspondence, Ordering, Numeration 1 – 5 and Shapes.  Activities to reinforce these concepts may occur during large or small group or during center time.  Our Pre-K curriculum is Everyday Math.  The following topics are covered in Pre-K: Numeration, Operations, Patterns and Functions, Geometry, Measurement, Money, Clocks and Calendars, Data and Chance. 

  Art

At St. Andrew’s, we believe that art is a process rather than a product.  Our focus is on “child-initiated” rather than “teacher-initiated” artwork.  Children are presented with different types of media and it is up to the child to determine the outcome of their work.  Children develop creativity by expressing their own thoughts and ideas, making choices, and taking risks.  We believe that when an art activity has a desired outcome, individual creativity is sacrificed. 

  Science and Social Studies

Science and Social Studies are integrated within the curriculum.  Often these concepts are taught through a theme.  Concepts are reinforced through a variety of experiences such as role playing with dramatic play props, participating in a cooking activity, listening to a nonfiction book, taking a nature walk, observing a snail, exploring the properties of water at the sensory table, etc.  As mentioned above, teachers facilitate learning through open ended questions.  Children participate in class discussions and ideas are recorded on chart paper.  Whenever possible, children are given the opportunity to explore materials in order to construct their own knowledge about a particular concept. 

  Life Lessons

Often there is a hidden curriculum that contains the most important learning in an early childhood classroom.  Children learn school is a safe and happy place.  Learning is fun and it is okay to take risks and try new things.  They learn that God loves them and that they are special in that God created them.  Children learn that there are other caring adults outside their families who love and care about them.  They learn how to interact with their peers, developing skills such as, patience, sharing, and problem solving while learning how to be a friend.  They also learn how to be part of a classroom, follow routines, understand expectations, and take turns. Children develop self-confidence and positive self esteem as they demonstrate their competence and develop mastery within their classroom environment.

Questions or Comments?

Contact: nbauerle@sapch.org