The 4 year old and PreK room will prepare each child for Kindergarten.  Our curriculum will help your child be successful students in elementary school.  The class ratio is 1 adult for every 10 children.  Please note all children entering our Pre-K program must be 4 by August 1st.

Early Childhood Learning Center
Curriculum 3 - Years to PreKindergarten
Religion
Children will begin to…..

• Understand the Bible is the holy book that talks about God and creation
• Understand the Bible as a the book which contains the stories of God's creation and Jesus' life
• Understand that Jesus came to live on earth because He wanted to share God's love with us
• Understand that Jesus is God and man, Son of God and Son of Mary
• Repeat the Sign of the Cross
• Become familiar with and show reverence for the names of the three Divine Persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit
• Understand the definition of a Sacrament
• Recognize that Baptism is a sacrament
• Understand that Jesus loves us always and forgives us
• Experience Mass where we worship and thank God
• Associate the parish priest with the Mass and be able to identify what he does within the Church
• Recite grade level Mass responses
• Identify the altar, chalice, tabernacle, and crucifix
• Understand that prayer is talking to God
• Listen to and participate in prayers and recognize that prayer is important
• Spend time with God in prayer
• Recognize that we pray at home, school, and church
• Understand that God created me, others and all I see because he loves us
• Understand that Sunday is an important day to be with God and go to Church
• Understand that Jesus grew up in a loving family
• Understand Mary as part of the Holy Family

• Apply early reading skills: interests in books and reading, book handling skills, pretend to read easy or predictable books, comprehend and respond to text, develop sense of the story
• Use concepts of print: recognize environmental print and symbols, letter recognition of uppercase and some lowercase, and recognize that print represents spoken words
• Use phonological awareness: learning rhymes, simple songs, poems, finger plays, participate in word games, and discriminate sounds in words
• With guidance and discussion, develop an understanding of how a text can influence the reader's moral character
• Use scribbles, shapes, pictures, and letter-like forms to write
• Experiment with writing tools and materials
• Tell others about marks and intended meaning of drawing or writing
• Use a variety of resources to facilitate writing
• Convert speech to writing
• Copy horizontal and vertical lines
• Copy the shapes: circle and cross
• Copy letters from their name (upper or lower)
• Attempt to color within the lines
• Draw/write with increasing control (watch for dexterity, precision & control, coordination, grasp of instrument)
• Develop pencil grasp
• Increase strength and dexterity for upper extremities
• Use small manipulatives with increasing strength and dexterity
• "Develop scissor skills”:

1. place scissors on fingers and hold it
2. open and close scissors
3. snip materials
4. hold paper for cutting
5. cut a 1 1/2"" wide paper in two
6. cut a 5-inch wide paper in two                

• Draw a person with some body parts
• Be able to paint, paste, glue, and play with play dough and clay
• Be able to assemble simple age-appropriate puzzles
• Be able to build a tower with 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 blocks
• Be able to manipulate small pieces: zippers, buttons, and snaps
• Respect and respond to teacher authority  (respects and responds to others in appropriate manner)
• Participate in activities without guided direction  (participate in small and large group activities)
• Use materials properly 
• Seek only one's fair share of teacher attention (develop friendships with peers in class)
• Learn not to disturb others while they work (Gain understanding and is respectful of personal space and group spaces)
• React to disappointment appropriately (express feelings and disappointments appropriately)
• Maintain interest in activity with distractions present
• Finish work that was started
• Have a “can do” attitude
• Stays focused in a small group setting
• Share feelings of pride  (express feeling appropriately in varied situations)
• Respond well to enthusiasm
• Help clean up after activities
• Make good use of time
• Follow directions
• Represent feelings and ideas through a variety of ways: pretend play, movement, music, art, and construction
• Listen for different purposes: to others, to sounds in environment, complex sentences, following directions, to stories and books responsively, and engage in conversations with others
• Use language to communicate: through body language, verbally or gestures in home language, and initiate conversations with children and adults
• Develop and expand expressive and receptive language: to acquire vocabulary, to be understood by others, and use complete sentences of varying lengths

• Show interest in counting and quantity
• Participate in experiences that involve counting
• Develop an increasing ability to rote count in sequence to 10
• Count up to 8 objects with understanding
• Combine and name how many
• Separate and name how many
• Use language to compare number (i.e. more/less, greater/fewer, equal to)
• Name how many there are in a group (up to eight objects)
• Use one-to-one correspondence when counting objects
• Use one-to-one correspondence to compare the size of a group of objects
• Trace numerals 1-10
• Combine and separate groups and name how many
• Use drawings to represent number
• Explore, compare, and describe objects using measurable features
• Order three or more objects according to length or size differences
• Take apart, create, and build
• Use actions and words to indicate position, location, movement, and orientation
• Investigate and talk about the characteristics of shapes
• Identify and trace shapes and symbols (line, x, circle, square, triangle)
• Verbally name the days of the week by rote and by cueing from a calendar or song

• Explore physical properties of objects and materials using senses and simple tools
• Investigate properties of objects and materials through questions and experiments
• Solve problems involving physical properties of objects and materials
• Represent observations of the physical world in a variety of ways: pretend play, music and movement, art and construction, and conversation

• Explores characteristics of living things through senses
• Investigate characteristics of living things through questions and collecting information
• Solve problems related to living things
• Represent observations about living things in a variety of ways: pretend play, music and movement, art and construction, and conversation

• Explore properties of earth and sky using senses and simple tools
• Investigate properties of earth and sky through questions and experiments
• Solve problems involving earth and sky
• Represent observations about earth and sky in a variety of ways: pretend play, music and movement, art and construction, and conversation

• Identify reasons for rules in the home/school/classroom
• Articulate questions about the classroom and school communities
• Retell and explain personal history
• Describe fair ways for groups to make decisions
• Articulate ways to peacefully resolve conflicts
• Demonstrate fairness when sharing classroom and playground equipment
• Name family members, including grandparents, and their roles and responsibilities
• Show interest in community and culture
• Compare and contrast different customs and cultures
• Compare and contrast different viewpoints of classmates
• Name community workers, their jobs, and tools of their trade
• Identify our country's flag and its characteristics (colors, stars, stripes)
• Recite the Pledge of Allegiance as a class
• Identify the difference between wants and needs
• Identify the physical differences between a penny, nickel, dime, and quarter
• Articulate that money can be exchanged for goods and services
• Name the state and country in which one lives
• Describe the contributions of people associated with holidays
• Use words to show time order such as before, now, later

• Investigate and manipulate mechanical devices
• Successfully operate mechanical devices and use them to advance learning
• Proper keyboarding skills
• Introduce concept of coding as it relates to computer skills

• Show visual interest and engagement in surroundings
• Show an interest in mark making and creative art
• Explore and experiment with a range of media through sensory exploration and using whole body
• Use a range of materials and media to draw and create pictures or three-dimensional objects
• Use creative art to express thoughts, feelings, experiences, or knowledge

• Explore and experience a variety of music
• Explore favorite musical ideas (such as movements, vocalizations, or instrumental accompaniments)
• Explore and demonstrate awareness of musical contrasts
• Explore music's expressive qualities (such as voice quality, dynamics, and tempo)
• Practice and demonstrate what they like about their own performances
• Perform music with expression
• Demonstrate understanding of relationships between music and the other arts, other disciplines, varied contexts, and daily life

• Demonstrate gross motor skills with purpose
• Demonstrate fine motor skills with purpose
• Respond to sensory input to function in the environment  (i.e. body awareness, spatial awareness)
• Practice healthy behaviors
• Practice safe behaviors
• Follow classroom rules and procedures

• Children will be introduced to the Spanish language starting at age 2
• Children will learn English to Spanish translations for numbers, colors, directions, body parts etc.
• Children will learn Spanish through song, dance, repetition