PreKindergarten

Wonder

The Pre-Kindergarten curriculum is rooted in the belief that every child deserves to be seen, heard, and truly known. Students are encouraged to be curious and to wonder about the world around them. The curriculum is interdisciplinary and incorporates both social studies and science. 

Core Units Include:

• Who am I? Who are You?
• Colors in Our World
• Lights and Shadows
• Water Around Us
• Trees and Plants
• Animals in Our World

Language Arts is taught using the Heggerty reading curriculum as the foundation for developing early phonemic awareness skills. Teachers build on this curriculum through hands-on activities that encourage exploration, investigation, communication, and background knowledge, otherwise known as the inquiry process. Both reading and writing are tools in learning literacy; student ownership of the process is at the heart of instruction.

Skills developed in PreK:

• Rhyme Repetition
• Initial Phoneme Isolation: Beginning Sounds
• Phoneme Isolation: Final Sounds 
• Blending Compound Words
• Adding, Deleting, and Substituting
• Segmenting

Charles River School PreK uses the Illustrative Mathematics (IM) curriculum. Units are developed through the Kindergarten IM curriculum to meet PreK’s developmental level of learners.

PreK students study number identification, counting, one to one correspondence, math terminology (more, less, equal, same, longer, shorter, heavier, lighter, 10 frames, dice subitizing), and comparing numbers. Learners start working with the numbers up to 5 and making groups. As they build their number awareness, students increase their skills by working with numbers up to 10.  All learners’ opportunities of knowledge are met while using the capabilities of each individual. The PreK class dedicates its year to strengthening counting by ones and tens, colors, flat shapes, attributes to describe shapes, weight, and nonstandard measurement.

In PreK, each core unit within the Wonder theme integrates concepts from both science and social studies, encouraging curiosity, discovery, and meaningful connections to the world around us. Throughout the year, students investigate a variety of topics through hands-on, inquiry-based learning. For example, during the Lights and Shadows unit, children explore cultures from around the world while learning about sources of light through a variety of experiences.

At the beginning of the year, the About Me unit helps students develop an understanding of themselves and one another as they explore the diversity of the school community. 

In the PreK 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” with the Tech teacher 
• Building bridges for BeeBots to traverse and learning coding skills
• Using conductive play-dough to create houses from LED’s
• Find light, shadow, and texture in our environment through use of photography with iPads

The PreK Art program focuses 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 tempera, watercolors, oil crayons
• Texture and Relief – surface textures in clay, oil/water resist, wool and felt
• 3-D Forms – clay sculptures, building with recyclable materials, wool and felt

Students explore sculpture and use of clay,  glue bottles, scissors, writing, drawing, and painting materials to strengthen hands and develop fine motor skills. Art reinforces themes that are covered in the other areas of concentration including math, language arts, and science.

The PreK Spanish curriculum introduces students to the Spanish language through play, songs, stories, movement, and familiar routines. Students develop foundational listening and speaking skills by connecting Spanish words and phrases to meaningful experiences. The focus is on building confidence, curiosity, and enjoyment while developing an early awareness of the sounds and rhythms of Spanish. 

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

Skills developed in PE 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 PreK 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 library classes, students discover the joy of reading, enriching their vocabulary, and developing 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.

In PreK, students build a strong foundation in social-emotional learning through the Zones of Regulation, which helps them identify feelings, understand body signals, and begin developing self-regulation skills. Students learn friendship skills, kindness, cooperation, and how to seek help from trusted adults. Kelso’s Choices provides a child-friendly framework for solving small problems safely and independently while building confidence, empathy, and positive relationships.