Pre-Kindergarten Curriculum

An Introduction to the Pre-Kindergarten Curriculum

(3 – 4 years old) 

At this stage in the development, children are advancing enthusiastically both physically and cognitively. Pre-kindergarteners are still engaged in crucial foundational learning such as social skill improvements, making friends, developing strong self-confidence, and establishing a positive self-concept.

Our Pre-K program enhances children’s learning and knowledge in the areas of math, literacy, writing, art and science. We also support them in developing stronger social skills, a positive emotional awareness, and a healthy respect for wellness and safety. The whole-child approach that The Kids Rule Academy embraces ensures that children are exposed to a wide range of learning opportunities, and that they thrive in all areas of the cognitive, social and physical development. Our curriculum for pre-kindergartners encourages children to become critical thinkers, excellent problem solvers, good decision makers, compassionate and empathetic peers, and engaged investigators so that they are well prepared for school and life. This program focuses on the following core areas to help children reach their full potential:

Beginning and early reading and writing skills

  • Math and science concepts
  • Development of small and large muscle groups
  • Enhanced social and emotional development

Language Skills

As children grow, language and communication become more critical to their day-to-day interactions and activities. The Pre-K program at Kids Rule Academy infuses language and communication skills into your child’s daily experiences. In doing this, we offer children the opportunity build their ever growing vocabularies and develop the skills to communicate effectively in more and more complex ways.

Listening:

At our Academy we teach Pre-Kindergarteners to:

  • Remember and follow multi-step directions
  • Recognize and be familiar with phonemic patterns such as rhymes and alliteration
  • Engage in responsive and reciprocal conversations
  • Expand their vocabulary

At our Academy Pre-Kindergarteners will learn these skills by:

  • Working on long-term projects with peers and teachers that require multiple, complex steps to complete
  • Singing songs and reciting poems
  • Regularly initiating extended conversations with caregivers, teachers and peers
  • Exposure to new vocabulary words on a regular basis

Speaking:

At our Academy we teach Pre-Kindergarteners to:

  • Use descriptive speech and adjectives when speaking
  • Speak effectively using past, present and future tenses
  • Ask more progressively complex questions

At our Academy Pre-Kindergarteners will learn these skills by:

  • Engaging with and sharing items at regular ‘show and tells’
  • Regularly reading literature with teachers, caregivers and peers
  • Listening to and using new vocabularies related to time
  • Making informed guesses about future outcomes: “What will happen to the seeds we planted in the garden?”

Reading Skills:

At our Academy we teach Pre-Kindergarteners to:

  • Pick out and enjoy books that interest them
  • Ask meaningful question to get answers
  • Use print and visual cues to ‘read’ stories independently
  • Recognize some letter sounds and identify alphabet letters

At our Academy Pre-Kindergarteners will learn these skills by:

  • Having access to library with a wide breadth of age-appropriate, engaging books
  • Exploration of meaningful print material such as instruction manuals, menus, classrooms signs and labels, magazines and non-fiction reading books
  • Using letter and sight word stencils, stamps and signs
  • Reading and following along with large print books that are read in class
  • Playing games such as letter bingo

Writing Skills:

At our Academy we teach Pre-Kindergarteners to:

  • Write some common words and their names
  • Refine their fine motor skills
  • Attempt to spell words using letter sounds and phonemes
  • Communicate through written words

At our Academy Pre-Kindergarteners will learn these skills by:

  • Exercising fine motor control through activities such as weaving, lacing, keyboarding, and cutting
  • Writing basic letters to peers, teachers, caregivers and parents
  • Assisting in the creation of communications (letters, newsletters) for parents about daily and on-going activities at the center
  • Engaging in detailed, on-going projects such as writing in a science journal or recording plant growth with writing and illustrations

Making Math Count

Pre-kindergarteners are amazingly quick to catch onto numerical concepts and mathematical thinking and they are fascinated by math too! As enthusiastic mathematicians, children at this age are regularly engaging in math by making patterns on canvases, building block towers, completing puzzles or measuring the length of a shadow.

Our Making Math Count program ensures that children develop the mathematical fluency needed to get ready and prepared for kindergarten. Through the exploration of mathematical fundamentals such as geometry, algebra, and statistics we assist children in developing quantitative reasoning, and problem solving skills, while demonstrating to them the use of math in real and meaningful ways.

Classifications:

At our Academy we teach Pre-Kindergarteners to:

  • Compare and Contrast items by verbal descriptions
  • Distinguish between items with some similar characteristics
  • Follow and create detailed patterns

At our Academy Pre-Kindergarteners will learn these skills by:

  • Writing a book in class called “Alike and Different”
  • Responding to requests that ask children to identify objects amongst similar others: Find the smallest green crayon, bring the largest block, or locate the longest piece of yarn
  • Practicing the following of picture cards to create detailed patterns

Time and Spatial Relations:

At our Academy we teach Pre-Kindergarteners to:

  • Understand lengths of time such as a second; an hour; a minute
  • Use vocabulary such as later, before, often, more, or less to represent time and spatial relations
  • Understand and comprehend proportions and spatial relations

At our Academy Pre-Kindergarteners will learn these skills by:

  • Using items such as timers in the dramatic play kitchen
  • Listening to language that describes plans for long-term projects
  • Using calendars to explore and talk about days in the past, present and future
  • Making complex structures from blocks that require size comparisons and balancing
  • Following complex directions about spatial placements and objects:            “ Place the smaller triangle inside of the large circle”

Numbers and Numerical Operations:

At our Academy we teach Pre-Kindergarteners to:

  • Demonstrate knowledge of numerical orders
  • Solve simple math problems
  • Create and sort numbers by sets
  • Make estimations with increased accuracy
  • Matching sets to numbers 1 thru 10

At our Academy Pre-Kindergarteners will learn these skills by:

  • Learning to count on an abacus
  • Matching and pairing items by characteristics such as color and size
  • Playing games that involve estimating: for example the number of beans in a jar or the number of seeds in a pumpkin
  • Matching counted items to numeral cards

Geometry and Measurement:

At our Academy we teach Pre-Kindergarteners to:

  • Understand the properties of different shapes
  • Create new, unique shapes from existing shapes
  • Use both standard and non-standard measurement tools to solve problems and plan
  • Explore various units of measurement with different tools

At our Academy Pre-Kindergarteners will learn these skills by:

  • Using blocks of various shapes and sizes to build structures
  • Completing geometric puzzles
  • Utilizing a variety of measuring cups and funnels at the sand and water table
  • Measuring characteristics of classmates; for example height, jumping distance, or foot length

Awesome Science

Because pre-kindergartners are curious, investigative and inquisitive they are poised to engage in scientific discoveries and adventures. With their increasing physical and cognitive abilities, pre-kindergartners are increasing capable of engaging with scientific reasoning, theory development and testing, and practice with long-term experiments. In building important scientific abilities and enhancing critical learning, our Awesome Science program fosters curiosity, persistence, and critical thinking skills.

This program builds on children’s pre-existing knowledge and experiences so that children can expand their scientific knowledge base and awareness. This program includes exploration of a broad scope of various sciences including physics, chemistry, biology, earth sciences, and botany. Within this program, pre-kindergartners will have the chance to ask questions, test hypotheses, investigate properties, explore various phenomena, and make their own discoveries.

Investigation of Properties:

At our Academy we teach Pre-Kindergarteners to:

  • Describe, explore, compare and contrast, and discover the physical properties of multiple objects and materials
  • Explore and observe how properties can change
  • Explore how objects can move in space and in alternative environments

At our Academy Pre-Kindergarteners will learn these skills by:

  • The creation of charts that explore similar and different trends in various properties such as hot/cold, light/heavy or large/small
  • Helping with cooking projects that alter and change the physical properties of food items; such as with baking bread or cooking rice
  • Using and experimenting with classroom objects to create sailboats that can float on the water table

Living Things and the Environment:

At our Academy we teach Pre-Kindergarteners to:

  • Recognize the properties of living things
  • Become familiar with the properties and various elements of the environment

At our Academy Pre-Kindergarteners will learn these skills by:

  • Investigating ants in books and online, observing them outdoors by using magnifying glasses and recording observations and ideas in a science journal
  • Assisting in the classroom and center gardens
  • Observing the sun’s movement in the sky and measuring shadows
  • Experimenting with materials such as clay, soil, mud, and sand

Forces of Nature:

At our Academy we teach Pre-Kindergarteners to:

  • Understand and apply the concept of magnetic force
  • Understand and apply the concept of gravity
  • Use motion with purpose

At our Academy Pre-Kindergarteners will learn these skills by:

  • Using magnets to pick up metallic objects such as paperclips, staples and coins
  • Making kites and then flying them
  • Designing and constructing free standing structures using wood pieces

Scientific Inquiry Skills:

At our Academy we teach Pre-Kindergarteners to:

  • Use prompts such as ‘what, why, when, where and how’ in questions in sequential, appropriate ways
  • Develop hypotheses, plan experiments and investigations, and come to conclusions about outcomes
  • Solve and plan for complex problems

At our Academy Pre-Kindergarteners will learn these skills by:

  • Engaging and participating in complex, long term science projects and experiments
  • Deconstructing items such as old phones and flashlights to explore their composition
  • Regularly hearing science words such as hypothesis, observe, and predict used in conversation

Tools and Resources:

At our Academy we teach Pre-Kindergarteners to:

  • Select appropriate tools for various tasks
  • Independently use classroom resources to locate information about projects or topics
  • Record observations with words and pictures in science journals

At our Academy Pre-Kindergarteners will learn these skills by:

  • Carefully supervised use of tools such as light hammers, screwdrivers and safety goggles
  • Reading and measuring the outdoor thermometer to determine the temperature for the day and recording the information
  • Using globes and atlases to observe and study terrain variations
  • Writing and documenting weekly observations about the classroom pet/s and plants

Technology:

At our Academy we teach Pre-Kindergarteners to:

  • Use age appropriate technology and develop a familiarity with its uses
  • Understand the various ways in which technology can be used
  • Explore and investigate topics and problems using technology

At our Academy Pre-Kindergarteners will learn these skills by:

  • Regular interaction with multiple forms of technology
  • Having regular access to computers, I-pads and other developmentally appropriate learning devices
  • Working with caregivers and teachers to explore the internet to find answers to questions; for example finding out why the moon changes shape

Creativity and Arts

As children grow, they become capable of more complex projects that increase in vibrancy, creativity and expressiveness. Pre-kindergarteners are not only able to appreciate the arts but begin to thrive in their artistic expression. Participation in the arts supports children’s development in other areas such as science, math and reading and because of this the arts play a vital role in a child’s overall cognitive and creative development.

Our program enhances children’s skills through open-ended, meaningful and expressive art experiences. By exploring the works of famous artist such as Van Gogh, Picasso, Jack Pollack and Monet, children are exposed to the various creative possibilities within the arts. Artistic activities such as playing music, weaving on a loom, directing a puppet show or sculpting animals out of clay, engage pre-kindergartners in authentic art experiences, and allow them to develop into their own creative master of the arts.

Visual Art:

At our Academy we teach Pre-Kindergarteners to:

  • Choose tools and materials to produce desired art outcomes
  • Demonstrate an idea using visual medias and materials
  • Distinguish between various forms of visual medias
  • Make observations about artwork

At our Academy Pre-Kindergarteners will learn these skills by:

  • Molding and sculpting with clay and etching tools
  • Creating and illustrating books
  • Exploring art books and taking field trips to art museums
  • Examining and viewing the works of famous artists to observe different styles, techniques and approaches to art

Music:

At our Academy we teach Pre-Kindergarteners to:

  • Recognize differences in musical genres
  • Recognize, repeat, and create rhythms and melodies
  • Understand and recognize musical concepts such as pitch, timbre, melody, chorus, and tempo

At our Academy Pre-Kindergarteners will learn these skills by:

  • Playing instruments (traditional ones and ones made in the classroom), learning about reading music, exposure to different genres of music and leaning about musicians.
  • Repeating and echoing complex beats by clapping, stomping or snapping
  • Hearing musical vocabulary

Dance and Creative Movement:

At our Academy we teach Pre-Kindergarteners to:

  • Coordinate movements to music and sounds
  • Display spatial and relational awareness
  • Use imaginative and creative movement with music

At our Academy Pre-Kindergarteners will learn these skills by:

  • Playing musical games that require movement to various sounds, beats, rhythms and melodies
  • Engaging in fun dance and movement activities such as square dancing and yoga
  • Playing games that require children to move like different animals ( i.e., tiger) or objects (i.e., robot)

Dramatic Art:

At our Academy we teach Pre-Kindergarteners to:

  • Plan and perform complex dramatizations with peers
  • Use their imaginations to simulate various environments and situations
  • Compose and direct stories and plays independently and with peers

At our Academy Pre-Kindergarteners will learn these skills by:

  • Assigning roles, arranging costumes, and using props for games such as ‘grocery store’ or ‘pet shop’
  • Using regular items from the classroom to construct imaginary spaces: such as using boxes, tables and chairs to create a school bus
  • Performing plays based on original stories written by themselves or peers

The World Around Us

At this age, children are becoming more aware of their place in the world and their ability to make an impact on it. They are inquisitive and interested in different, diverse cultures, and are keen to learn more about the environment. Pre-kindergartners often seek opportunities to learn more about their surrounding world and others, and by nurturing this, we can help children enhance their sense of self, their self-esteem and ultimately prepare them for meaningful, positive lives. 

The World Around Us curriculum teaches pre-kindergartners the core concepts related geography and civics. We foster the development of your child’s emotional intelligence including interpersonal skills, acceptance of other and empathy. Our program also helps to nurture feelings of stewardship for the environment and personal responsibility in children.  Through this program, children are granted meaningful opportunities to engage with their peers, families, communities and the world.

Developing Identity:

At our Academy we teach Pre-Kindergarteners to:

  • Use expressive language to describe and explain feelings and personal characteristics
  • Take pride in accomplishments, abilities and characteristics
  • Intentionally and positively impact the world and others

At our Academy Pre-Kindergarteners will learn these skills by:

  • Engaging in art projects such as ‘all about me collages’ which display characteristics, personal tastes and favorite things
  • Seeing their work proudly displayed around the center for families and friends to see and admire
  • Participating in projects that positively impact others: making blankets for charity, contributing art to local auctions to raise funds for charity, recycling, donating unwanted toys to charity, or engaging in community service projects

Emotional Intelligence:

At our Academy we teach Pre-Kindergarteners to:

  • Negotiate, compromise, use problem solving skills and conflict resolution techniques with others
  • Understand and exhibit an awareness of how personal actions impact others
  • Demonstrate the ability to express compassion and empathy for others

At our Academy Pre-Kindergarteners will learn these skills by:

  • Cooperatively playing with peers and working with them on projects
  • Setting up ‘caring-environments’ such as a stuffed animal hospital
  • Making get well soon cards for unwell peers, caregivers or teachers

Critical Thinking About the World Around Us:

At our Academy we teach Pre-Kindergarteners to:

  • Demonstrate awareness and sensitivity to issues around gender, race, ethnicity and differing abilities
  • Understanding various features of communities and neighborhoods
  • Practice and display acceptance and appreciation for difference

At our Academy Pre-Kindergarteners will learn these skills by:

  • Helping to cook multi-ethnic foods, listening to world music, and reading books with stories from around the globe
  • Viewing and interacting with maps and globes
  • Becoming pen pals with children at a distant children’s educational center
  • Interacting with classroom guests who demonstrate differences and diversity

Caring for the Environment:

At our Academy we teach Pre-Kindergarteners to:

  • Take care of living and non-living things
  • Have a positive impact on the environment

At our Academy Pre-Kindergarteners will learn these skills by:

  • Participating in classroom tasks that require care for plants, animals and items within the center
  • Organizing and helping apply labels to the learning centers
  • Assisting in setting up and maintaining recycling stations inside and outside

Safe and Aware

In pre-kindergarten, children are becoming more physically active, more independent, and they are making more decisions about their health and safety, so it is very important that they are able to make healthy, safe and positive choices for themselves. Learning to eating healthy foods, exercise daily and build on safe habits helps foster solid self-confidence and positive self-esteem in children.

Our program has been designed with all of this in mind to ensure that your pre-kindergartner is engaging in daily activities that advance their understanding of wellness and self care. This program teaches children to have fun while participating in physical activities that help set the foundations for an active, healthy lifestyle.

Nutrition:

At our Academy we teach Pre-Kindergarteners to:

  • Make healthy and good food choices
  • Participate in family style dining during snack and meal times
  • Understand the benefits and characteristic of healthy, nutritious foods

At our Academy Pre-Kindergarteners will learn these skills by:

  • Planning and assisting in the preparation of a meals
  • Sitting with peers, caregivers and teacher during meal and snack times, serving themselves appropriate portions, and engaging in conversation with those around them
  • Learning and reading about different foods and the essential food groups

Health and Safety:

At our Academy we teach Pre-Kindergarteners to:

  • Respect and create safety rules
  • Take initiative for personal care and hygiene
  • Apply safety rules to personal conduct

At our Academy Pre-Kindergarteners will learn these skills by:

  • Writing and creating safety rules as a class
  • Using personal care tools and following instructions and posters to carry out tasks such as hand washing and teeth brushing
  • Creating rules during imaginative play; Making ‘house rules’ when play ‘house’ with peers, caregivers and teachers

Motor and Fitness:

At our Academy we teach Pre-Kindergarteners to:

  • Coordinate multiple muscle movements
  • Seek out and enjoy engaging in physical activities
  • Understand basic ideas about how exercise and physical activities benefit the heart and muscles

At our Academy Pre-Kindergarteners will learn these skills by:

  • Running, playing soccer, running relay races, doing yoga poses and playing games such as “Red light, green light” or “Dance, now freeze”
  • Using sports equipment during play time such as hula hoops, jump ropes, scooters and balls
  • Exploring and recording pulse and breaths before and after exercise to monitor physical responses to activity
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