• Welcome to Preschool 2
• Curriculum
• Kindergarten Readiness
• Forms and Paperwork

Curriculum for Preschool 2

Your child is at a special stage.  Children ages 3 to 5 are learning all the time - and they learn best by being active.  Preschoolers are very curious about their world.  We want children to see themselves as inventors, problem solvers, discoverers, and capable learners, and we help them develop their natural curiosity.  We encourage them to explore, observe, take things apart, build, create, draw, and see what they can find out.  The more active children are in their work, the more they learn and remember.

The most important goals of our preschool curriculum are for children to get along well with others and become enthusiastic learners.  We're teaching them how to learn, not just in preschool, but all through their lives.  We do this by creating purposeful and productive play experiences that help children grow in all areas.

Our curriculum identifies goals in four areas of development.

Social/emotional - to help children develop independence, self-confidence, and self-control; follow rules and routines; make friends; and learn what it means to be part of a group.

Physical - to increase children's large muscle skills - balancing, running, jumping, throwing and catching - and to use the small muscles in their hands to do tasks like buttoning, stringing beads, cutting, drawing, and writing.

Cognitive - to acquire thinking skills such as the abilities to solve problems, to ask questions, and to think logically - sorting, classifying, comparing, counting, and making patterns - and to use materials and their imagination to show what they have learned.

Language - to use words to communicate with others, listen to and participate in conversations with others, recognize letters and words, and begin writing for a purpose.

The curriculum model that we use to assist us with our goals is the Creative Curriculum for Preschool (4th edition).  This is a program that is based on theory, research, and developmentally appropriate practices.  Put simply, developmentally appropriate practice means teaching in ways that match the way children develop and learn.

One of the components of the Creative Curriculum is the Developmental Continuum.  As a parent, you want to know if your child is developing and learning as expected in all four areas of development - social/emotional, physical, cognitive, and language - and you want to know that your child's individual differences and needs are kept into consideration.  The Creative Curriculum Developmental Continuum for ages 3 - 5 is a great way for us to see where your child is developmentally, track each child's progress, and plan great learning experiences.

It is very important to remember that children don't master a particular skill all at once.  There is a sequence of steps to expect as children progress toward reaching developmental milestones.  The Developmental Continuum lays out the progression of development in each developmental area.  It is made up of goals and objectives.  We will sit down with you twice a year and go over your child's progress.  This is a fantastic document that you will take with you when your child leaves our program to go to kindergarten.

We are happy to answer any questions you have about our curriculum.  We will also be glad to give you a copy of a handbook titled "A Parent's Guide to Preschool."  The preschool 2 classroom will build upon the skills each child mastered in preschool 1.  It is considered a kindergarten-readiness classroom.  Activities will be planned that focus on skills your child will need to succeed in kindergarten.  The skills will focus on academics, behavior, physical ability, language development, and academic readiness.  The classroom is still play based, but games are provided to work on developing skills.  Art experiences will be planned daily and your child will have an opportunity to explore many different materials.  Stories and songs will be a big part of the group time experience.  Share day is still utilized and a "homework bag" will go home each day with a different child.  It is amazing how excited the children get when it is their turn to do homework.

We are happy to discuss any questions you have or any concerns you have about kindergarten-readiness.  We look forward to helping prepare your child for future successes.

Dodge, D.T., Colker, L.J. & Heroman, C. (2002).  The Creative Curriculum for Preschool (4th ed.).
Washington, DC:  Teaching Strategies, Inc.