Pre-Kindergarten

Academic Knowledge and Intellectual Skills

In addition to guiding student development in social and motor skills areas, the Providence Academy curriculum has a strong focus on intellectual skill building beginning at the Pre-Kindergarten level. Pre-K students are innately curious and enjoy learning new information about the world.  Our Pre-K teachers present their young students with important information in an inviting environment that balances creative exploration and activity with structured learning. The balanced approach encourages students to develop thinking and memory skills, along with problem solving skills, The Core Knowledge Sequence for Pre-Kindergarten, which provides the outline for much of the content that is taught, promotes learning across subject areas.  These curricular connections allow students to make intellectual connections between related topics and feed students’growth in knowledge.

Language Arts

At the Pre-Kindergarten level, Language Arts encompasses a number of key content areas.

Emergent Literacy (Reading and Writing)

As the year begins, students learn to read their own names and those of classmates.  As the year progresses, emphasis is placed on mastery of beginning word sounds and the letter/sound (phonemes) relationship as the necessary prerequisite to reading fluency.  In the spring, students begin to phonetically “decode” simple words as they gain pre-reading and actual reading skills.  Writing skills develop through the year as students become comfortable with holding a writing utensil, develop motor skills in writing, and grow in understanding of the use of written symbols.  As students learn to read their names, they learn to write them also.  Many students are able to write a variety of words independently by the time late spring arrives.

Oral Language

Pre-K students learn about themselves and about the world around them through stories, songs, and experiential learning.  In storytelling, students learn how to sequence a story, and to use expressive language.  The students also learn new vocabulary through the study of a variety of thematic units throughout the year.

Literature

Nursery rhymes, poems, and classic children’s stories are all part of the Providence Pre-Kindergarten student’s introduction to the world of literature.  The students listen to stories, “read” picture stories, learn to re-tell those stories, and are encouraged to create stories of their own.  Students are also introduced to non-fiction as they learn about events, peoples, places, and science topics.

Mathematics

Providence Academy Pre-K students are presented with math concepts daily.  Our Pre-K staff has received training in Singapore Math methods to help students begin to develop a strong early foundation in number sense.

The math curriculum begins with counting, sorting by different attributes, classification of shapes, recognizing patterns, and proceeds through creation of patterns, classification by size and function, more advanced sorting skills, and various methods of measurement.  In the spring semester, students recognize and work with numbers through 30, and make more complex comparisons involving size, mass, and temperature.  Pre-K students develop basic skills in addition, subtraction, graphing, and telling time.

Science 

Pre-K students at Providence explore the physical and natural world.  The year begins with the study of self:  human characteristics, needs, and development.  Students are excited to know more about how their bodies “work”.  The five senses, muscles and bones, how we grow, the need for good nutrition and sleep, are all areas of fascination for the Pre-K student.  Animals, plants, the seasons, and the physical elements of water, air, and light are among other topics for Pre-K scientific studies.

Social Studies/History/Geography

In these areas, Providence Pre-Kindergarten students learn about time and space.  These include topics near to the students’ lives and experiences (Our School) and those more distant (Space Flight).  Pre-K students are introduced to calendar time and ways to measure time, concepts of past and present, as well as spatial directions and relationships (high, low, between, above).   Students create grid designs and patterns and develop an understanding of sequencing in time (before and after).  These studies lead to concepts of actual and represented space and simple map skills.

Special events and celebrations are springboards to learning about people and places.  At Thanksgiving time, students are introduced to topics related to America’s structure and heritage.  This includes an introduction to the fifty states and the U.S. Flag and concepts such as Freedom and Equality.  Christmas presents an opportunity to find the country of Israel and the city of Bethlehem on a map.  The study of the Earth includes landforms and oceans.

Visual Arts and Music

Pre-K students are introduced to the works and styles of famous artists , such as Matisse (“The Snail”) and  Picasso (“The 3 Musicians”).  Art appreciation (“learning to look”) helps students to develop attention to visual detail.  The students also have daily opportunities to develop their own artistic  skills as they print and paint, draw and sculpt, creating their own “masterpieces”.

In the area of Music, Pre-K students learn about sounds and about differences in sounds.  Singing is part of every day.  Listening, singing, and movement are all part of the Pre-K musical experience.  Students participate in music class with a Providence Academy Lower School music teacher one time per week.

While they are growing socially, intellectually, and spiritually, young children need to develop physical strength and coordination.  Providence Pre-K students have many opportunities to run, climb, and participate in physical play during recess time on the Providence play ground.  Pre-Kindergarten students also participate in a weekly class led by a Providence Academy Physical Education teacher in one of our spacious gyms.  The goal of Physical Education is to help the children to develop large muscle strength and motor skills.  Additionally, social skill development is supported as students learn to play safely and cooperatively, to take turns, and to respect the needs and rights of others while in an active environment.