The Pre-K Curriculum

 

Learning With Literature

 

Every day, Literature “Helpers” are chosen: five children each day. Their titles and roles are as follows:

 

1. Word Wizard

• This person selects “special” words to share and discuss. These can be new words, strange words, important words.

• The word(s) are written on a piece of paper to share with the class at a later group time, and then to display or “publish” on the Literature Bulletin Board.

2. Investigator

• This person helps the teacher brainstorm questions about the story for the group to discuss at group later.

• Write the question(s) and “publish” on the Bulletin Board after the group has discussed them.

3. Book Builder

• With the teacher’s help, the B.B. finds connections between the book and the real world or another “extension” story that has been read.

• Print responses for group discussion and “publishing” on the Bulletin Board

4. Page Picker

• The P.P. chooses a part of the story that he/she wants to have read aloud to the group.

• The child should be responsible for helping zerox the page so it can be “published” on the Bulletin Board.

5. Illustrator

• This child draws/paints/constructs a picture that is inspired by the story.

• The picture is presented to the group, then it is “published” by displaying it on the Bulletin Board.

 

Mathematics

 

Our curriculum, Everyday Mathematics, is designed for preschool children and is aligned with the Illinois Learning Standards.   

Everyday Mathematics is already used throughout the school district with older students.  In addition to keeping us consistent with the school district math curriculum, it gives us a systematic way to work on every goal of the early learning standards every week. 

 

There are eight content areas:  

 

Numeration

Oral counting and recognizing numbers

 

Measurement

Understanding the measure of the main types of measure: length, weight, volume, and time

 

Geometry

Awareness and knowledge of basic shapes

 

Operations

The things we "do" with numbers, i.e. "Are there enough jacks for everyone?", "How can we divide the snacks evenly?"

 

Patterns-Sequence

Ability to see the rules that govern patterns and sequences, ability to sort things according to some rule or attribite, i.e., the color or shape

 

Money

Learn to recognize the differences in coins and to use them as a means of exchange

 

Clocks and Calendars

Understanding the units of time and sense of the order and duration of time, i.e., minutes, hours, days, weeks, months

 

Data and Chance

Collecting, organizing, and presenting information in tables and graphs, i.e., how many children in class have a pet?

 

Our literature curriculum offers many opportunities for problem-solving and other math activities.  In this way a natural connection is forged between literature and math. 

Math is part of the ongoing routines in the classroom.  Thus, mathematical thinking becomes part of daily life.

 

Speech and Language Development

 

How do PreK teachers encourage speech and language development?

When we watch children in preschool classrooms we see many things. Some children are actively involved with others in the classroom. Some play independently.  Some are very verbal and may appear to direct the play they are involved with.  Others talk less, and some children will speak very little.  Sometimes the speech of three to five year old children is easy to understand: it sounds almost like an adult’s speech.  More often, some of the sounds aren’t quite mature yet, and the words sound different.  Still, they may be easy to understand or they may be very difficult to understand. 

 

In preschool, all children learn from the adults in the classroom, and all children learn from each other.  Playing with other children is an important part of language learning and social development.

 

What is it that children learn from one another? First, a child may learn to keep up his end of a conversation to make his needs, wants, and ideas known.  Unlike the adult teachers in the classroom other children won’t try to help a child stay in the conversation.  If an interaction goes wrong because there is a lack of interest, a misunderstanding or a conflict, a child needs to know how to repair the communication and get back on track.  Classroom interaction with peers offers many opportunities for a child to learn these skills! 

 

What else do children learn from each other?  They learn to see things from another person’s point of view.  They learn to negotiate, collaborate, cooperate, resolve conflicts and share.  They learn to assert themselves to get a message across.  All this happens through the use of language. 

 

As play skills develop, language skills also grow.  When children play in the housekeeping area of the classroom, they must learn to plan a situation, explain to other children, and cooperate to successfully create an imaginary scene.  As these skills change, language changes too.  Vocabulary grows, sentences become longer and more complex and language becomes intertwined with social growth, forming basic skills that will serve the child throughout a lifetime. 

 

Some children in a PreK classroom are at a disadvantage in these peer interactions.  A child with a developmental delay, language delay or speech delay may not have the ability to be understood when he interacts with other children.  In the classroom, this child has plenty of motivation to grow and change.  He doesn’t want to be left out!

 

What kinds of interactions with other children will your preschool child have the opportunity to experience? 

 

We can expect a decrease in:

• Random, uninvolved behavior

• Play by himself, either with toys and tools or in dramatic play

• Parallel play, where he plays next to other children with the same materials but does not interact

 

We can expect an increase in:

• Mature solitary or parallel constructive play

• Cooperative group play

 

What kind of language skills do we expect to develop?  We want children to learn to be more cooperative and assertive:

• Getting a teacher or peer’s attention

• Being the leader in an activity

• Imitating a peer

• Expressing affection for a peer

• Expressing anger toward a peer

• Following or refusing to follow a peer’s request

• Negotiating a solution to a problem

• Playing in a group of children for a longer time

• Making comments or observations about play activity

• Relating a play situation to another real world experience 

 

How do teachers react with preschool children to encourage speech and language development?

Preschool teachers understand that there are things we can do to get to know children better and to encourage them to grow.  We start off with:

• Observing

• Waiting

• Listening

 

Observing means paying close attention to children so we know what each is interested in and what each is trying to tell us. 

Waiting can be hard to do!  But we know when we wait for a child to initiate a conversation we are giving him the time he needs to communicate.  Then we know what it is he is interested in.

Listening means paying close attention to what the child says so that we can respond appropriately.  When we listen well, we give the child the message that what is said is important to us.  This gives him a good reason to continue the conversation. 

 

In PreK, we know we can be good models for children when we:

• Play face-to-face

• Respond with interest

• Join in and play

• Recognize the child’s feelings

 

How are speech and language goals taught in the classroom?

Many of the children in the FACES classrooms work with the speech-language pathologist.  Sometimes, the “speech teacher” works in the classroom and at other times children will go to the speech office.  The classroom teacher and the speech teacher always work closely together.  It’s important for the child to practice skills he or she has learned in therapy in the classroom with other children.  The classroom teachers know how to help children practice their speech and language skills every day.  The kids might think they are playing, but we know they are growing and changing at the same time.  The classroom is the perfect place for children to bloom!