Pre-Kindergarten

For young children, reading and writing is a mixed medium full of symbolic activities like singing, dancing, talking and playing, and this shapes what literacy instruction looks like in pre-kindergarten. Children enter school with varying literacy experiences and are explicitly taught the foundations of reading and writing. This includes letter knowledge, phonological awareness and an understanding of speech-sound correspondences that are essential to becoming readers and writers. It is also important for children to learn how to use these tools to strengthen their thinking and reasoning. Developing oral language comprehension and engaging children in meaningful discourse expands their vocabulary and builds knowledge. Pre-kindergarten classrooms are filled with print, language and literacy play, storybook reading and writing that allow children to experience the joy and power of reading and writing.

Pre-kindergarten mathematicians build foundational number sense and geometry concepts through play and exploration. Their natural curiosity drives daily activities that involve counting, sequencing and recognizing patterns. Students learn that math is all around them as they explore shapes, calendars, measurement tools and ways to collect and record data. By working with concrete materials and manipulatives, they develop skills like visualizing quantities, estimating, sorting and classifying. Integrating art, music, literature and movement further enriches their learning, making math both fun and meaningful.

At CGPS, the social studies curriculum focuses on events from the past and present through the lens of an essential question. In pre-kindergarten, the question is “Who am I?” The year begins as students learn about themselves within the structure of a new school experience. Becoming aware of classroom behaviors and how each individual child contributes to a successful learning environment is key to the pre-kindergarten year. Then, as a precursor to kindergarten, students begin to explore their self-image and understanding of identity through studies of family, family traditions and holidays. Developing pride and confidence and being able to talk about themselves while also understanding that they are both the same as and different from others are fundamental learning outcomes. Through these objectives, it is emphasized that each child is loved, respected and valued.

In pre-kindergarten, students have library in their classrooms. During library, they listen to stories and engage in conversations about narratives, answer plot questions and practice making predictions. They also have the opportunity to choose a library book to take home, an act that builds a sense of responsibility and pride and creates a positive connection to both books and the library.

The pre-kindergarten physical education curriculum provides a safe, supportive and fun environment where students are exposed to a variety of individual, partner and group activities that focus on traveling movements, creative play, body awareness and body control. Games are structured to introduce fundamental sports skills while giving children the opportunity to develop their individual performance, engage in interactive learning and cooperative play and strengthen their interpersonal relationships with their classmates.

Pre-kindergarteners combine imagination, music and movement to foster self-expression through storytelling and creative motion. They focus on basic theater elements and games, develop body regulation, and gain an understanding and appreciation of theater.

In pre-kindergarten, children’s love and appreciation for music is cultivated through games, stories and movement activities. Just as children speak before they learn to read, they sing and perform before they learn the language of music. Pre-kindergarten students begin to identify fundamental elements of music such as pitch (high and low), dynamics (loud and soft) and tempo (fast and slow), and begin to connect sounds to actions and ideas.