Valley Parent Preschool’s curriculum is an emergent one, based on a developmental approach to learning. Our program focuses on the whole child and provides opportunities for children to enhance their emotional, social, creative, physical and cognitive growth. To build on the skills introduced in preschool, the following skills will be woven into the Pre-K children’s day. Back to Programs and Tuition
Social/Emotional Experiences
- Practice using words to express needs and communicate with others
- Recognize emotions (in self and in others) and learn appropriate ways to handle them
- Participate in individual and group activities
- Continue to develop self-help skills (ex: hand washing, changing clothes, taking care of belongings etc)
- Develop positive self-image and confidence
- Practice treating ourselves and others with kindness and respect
- Begin to use conflict resolution when issues arise
Pre-Math Experiences
- Sort and group objects based on their similarities and differences
- Review AB patterns and begin learning AABB and ABC
- Match or pair items with a one to one relationship 0-10
- Introduce concepts such as more or less; big, bigger & biggest; long, longer & longest; top, middle, bottom; etc.
- Numeration 0-10: work on recognizing the number and learning how many it is
- Recognize shapes and distinguish their similarities and differences
- Introduce opposites
Pre-Reading Experiences
- Identify the words and pictures in a book and learn that each help tell us the story
- Learn the title is the name of the story, the author wrote the words, & the illustrator made the pictures
- Listen to stories & have conversations about the characters and plot and predict what might happen next
- Participate in group discussions about a story and what happened in the beginning, middle and end
- Participate in group storytelling and begin making class stories
- Dictate & illustrate stories using a given prompt and based on their ideas and experiences
- Learn about rhyming words
- Recognize and verbalize first name and last name
Fine Motor & Pre-Writing Experiences
- Strengthen hand muscles by working with play dough, clay, tweezers and tongs
- Use markers, crayons, colored pencils and chalk to develop a correct grip & strengthen hand muscles
- Experience beading, lacing and weaving to work on precision grip, dexterity and hand-eye coordination
- Review the correct way to hold and use scissors. Practice cutting straight & curved lines
- Become familiar with terms such as the top, bottom, side and middle of the paper
- Become familiar with terms such as upper case and lower case, big line, little line, big curve, little curve
Large Motor Experiences
- Use games, dance, songs & movement to practice positional words (ex: above-below, close-far etc.)
- Participate in balance activities (ex: beams, balance board, hopping, yoga positions etc.)
- Practice log rolls and somersaults
- Play games and sing songs that involve walking on tip toes, jumping, galloping and skipping
- Develop coordination & agility by climbing through tunnels, up slides, hanging from rings & crossing monkey bars
- Participate in ball games to practice bouncing, throwing and catching balls of different size and shapes
- Throw & catch scarves, balloons, bean bags etc. to develop hand-eye coordination and visual tracking
Science Experiences
- Experience using a wide variety of scientific materials properly
- Develop a respect for the world around us and learn ways to help take care of it
- Participate in planting and maintaining a class garden and compost bin
- Make predictions before trying an experiment and reflections after. Practice thinking outside the box
- Participate in hands-on-experiments to experience concepts such as color mixing, ice & water, sink or float, magnetic properties, liquids & solids, carbon dioxide, our five senses etc.
Cooking Experiences
- Learn that a recipe is a set of instructions for making food and ingredients are the items we need to make it
- Experience using kitchen tools properly and safely such as butter knives, peelers, sifters, mixers, spatula etc.
- Learn & practice how to measure, pour, scoop, stir, spread, chop, slice, grate, peel and sift
- Experience cooking and eating foods grown in our class garden
Music Experiences
- Learn a variety of songs including ones with movement and sign language
- Introduce various instruments and have the opportunity to listen to them and play them
- Participate in simple rhythm and movement games
- Move creatively to different types of music
- Have the opportunity to learn a song and perform it for an audience
