PreK & Kindergarten - Charles River School

Learn & Grow Together

Our multiage PreK/K was developed to provide students ages four through six with a play-based, nurturing, and collaborative community, where children are celebrated and respected for their individuality. Students who begin the program in PreK spend two years with our PreK/K teaching team, ensuring continuous academic and social growth. Our program is also designed to welcome new students in the Kindergarten year, integrating them into our classroom community and tailoring our program to fit each child’s needs.

Meet the Teachers

Innovators, Educators, Learning & Fun Enthusiasts...

Ayan Osman

PreK/K Co-Teacher

Vanessa Phifer

PreK/K Co-Teacher

A Day in the Life

View a sample schedule which includes theme, language arts, math, social studies, science, technology, music, art, Spanish, physical education, and library.

Sample Schedule

Academics

Our thematic curricula alternate biennially between the overarching themes of “Perceptions” (Year A) and “Reflections” (Year B). Within each thematic curriculum, our students explore subjects rich with opportunities for hands-on learning and play, and full of content that is meaningful and accessible for each child. Within any given year, teachers develop and adjust curriculum content to meet the interests and passions of our students. Below are some examples of thematic projects in past years.

Developmental Skills

Core academic skills are woven throughout thematic units such as the “seed to plant” process

Literacy is taught in the context of children’s explorations, investigations, communications, and background knowledge, otherwise known as the inquiry process. In our multiage, constructivist classroom, both reading and writing are tools in learning literacy. Student ownership of the process is at the heart of reading instruction, and skill instruction and exploration are adjusted to correspond to the developmental readiness for each individual child. The multiage environment plays a role in all language arts instruction, as early readers model communication skills, vocabulary, and literacy skills that benefit less experienced students.

Developmental Skills

Direct skill instruction takes place in the context of thematic activities and morning messages in whole group settings, and in weekly small group literacy sessions
All readers are met at their individual level of development and brought forward
Children explore the value of learning to write as they bring their own individual learning, creativity, and discoveries to the class as a whole to discuss and share them with each other
They develop written documentation in the form of illustrations, written stories and narratives, and teacher supported dictations, such as Weekend News, and regular Story Workshop pieces

In Math, children build and internalize math concepts by manipulating concrete objects and math tools. Teachers draw from Juanita Copley’s The Young Child and Mathematics, Reggio Emilia provocations and investigations, and Froebel’s Gifts in planning math curriculum.

Domains of age-appropriate math instruction and exploration include:

Counting and Cardinality
Operations and Algebraic Thinking
Number and Operations in Base Ten
Measurement and Data
Geometry

Scientific inquiry is explored primarily through active exploration of materials, with daily Reggio-style provocations and investigations designed to engage students’ curiosity. We emphasize “fieldwork” throughout the year, using the natural world as an inspiration for discovery and a tool for learning.

Students in PreK/K explore science through themes such as:

Water
Light
The human body
Engineering
plants

In the PreK/K level, we focus the technology curriculum on using physical tools, learning to create simple electrical circuits, introducing programming through block-based languages and physically acting out instructions, and engineering physical structures for robots to navigate through.

Examples of technology units include:

“Programming” your teacher
building sky bridges for BeeBots
using conductive play-dough to create light houses from LED’s
recording and photographing fairy tale re-enactments
taking apart old electronics

The PreK/K Art program is coordinated with classroom studies. The focus is on exploring a range of art materials and developing self-esteem, with an emphasis on self-expression.

Topics of study in Art include:

Shapes, Marks, and Lines – imaginative drawing, paper collage, brush movement
Color – painting with primary colors, mixing secondary colors, blending oil pastels
Texture and Relief – texture rubbings, surface textures in clay, oil/water resist
3-D Forms – clay sculptures, building with recyclable materials

The PreK/K Spanish Music program is based on Canta y Baila Conmigo®, a unique program where young children experience another culture and language firsthand while exploring and developing musically in an age-appropriate manner.

Developmental Skills

Dual and complementary goals of music and language immersion
Children sing songs in Spanish from around the world and develop their musical skills, such as matching pitch and learning rhythms
Songs are also chosen to support classroom themes whenever possible

The Physical Education program is developmental and skill-based. Through movement the students learn how to activate and control the many ways in which their bodies move. Students practice skills through frequent repetition.

Examples of skills include:

Manipulative skills – throw, catch, kick, dribble, strike
Balance, coordination – tumbling, animal walks, partner activities
Locomotor skills – run, hop, skip, jump, gallop
Social skills and positive self-concept – cooperative games
Spatial skills and body awareness – creative exploration
Sense of rhythm – dance, parachute, lumni stick play, rope jumping

At the PreKindergarten/Kindergarten level the library is a place to develop a love of books and understand that this is a special place where books are kept, cared for, and respected. In PreK/K library classes children discover the joy of reading, enrich their vocabulary and develop listening skills during read-aloud story-time. Students also begin to explore the fundamentals of the inquiry process, implementing the steps Plan-Do-Review in both collaborative and independent design challenges.

Examples of Library skills include:

Listen to, view, discuss and enjoy a wide variety of literature read alouds in order to develop enthusiasm for reading
Differentiate between the roles of author and illustrator
Begin to recognize the names and titles of favorite authors and illustrators
Use the library for pleasure reading
Demonstrate the three basic steps of the inquiry process: Plan-Do-Review

Classroom Themes

Our thematic curricula alternate biennially; they integrate most of the elements of the PreK/K curriculum – social studies, language arts, science, math, art, and music, and provide a meaningful context in which students develop their skills.

“Perceptions”

We begin Year A by looking inward — investigating who we are and where we live. We then explore the parts and importance of trees before learning all about noise. We use magnifying glasses to help us zoom in and out on the world around us before completing a long author study. During this time, we look at different books by an author to notice themes and differences and use these strategies to write our own stories. We end the year by examining the “seed to plant” process and talking about what they need to grow, what we need to grow, and how we have all grown throughout the year.

“Reflections”

During Year B, we begin by reflecting on ourselves and each other, and then move on to explore the elemental themes of water and light. We study the six steps of engineering, explore a variety of fairy tales from around the world, and end the year with a hands-on investigation of metamorphosis. The processes of metamorphosis, growth, and change become a lens through which we revisit the beginning of the year, reflecting together on how we have grown and changed as people and as learners.

Ayan's Charles River School Point of View

Everyone in the CRS community is very welcoming and the school’s focus on inclusion and diversity makes me feel incredibly privileged to work here.

Ayan Osman
PreK/K Co-Teacher

Emerie's Charles River School Point of View

My favorite time to play is when everyone is outside together. Sometimes I play with my friends after snack, but we all like playing with the older kids. My Buddy is always so happy to see me and that feels like what love is.

Emerie
CRS Student

Beau's Charles River School Point of View

Before I came to CRS I thought building things was only for fun. In Kindergarten I found out that building things is learning, too. I couldn’t believe it. Building with blocks and making other things was part of math, science, and library. We even have word blocks to learn to spell.

Beau
CRS Student

Come learn & play with PreK/K

Grades 1 and 2