Welcome to our class! The Pre-K school experience marks an important milestone in your child’s development by building a strong foundation for future social and academic success.
This year will be filled with exciting activities for curious, creative learners. We will learn our letters, read books, and write stories. We will learn about number concepts, counting, and logical thinking in math. We will even become young scientists! Every day, we will focus on developing language and communication skills as well as cooperating and working together.
Part of working together will be joining both the half-day Pre-K and the full-day Pre-K for many of our activities throughout the school year. We call ourselves the Chameleons and we teach cooperatively to give all of our Abiding Love Pre-K children an amazing year before going off to Kindergarten. Our hope is that they will meet friends who will be familiar faces once entering a large elementary school.
We are especially excited about our curriculum, a blend of emergent curriculum, Big Day for Pre-K, Handwriting without Tears, and the Texas School Ready guidelines! Every few weeks will bring us a new theme that integrates what children are learning in all the subject areas. Our curriculum is also designed for children to develop all the essential skills they will need for kindergarten, which is how we will benchmark progress throughout the year and share with you through our parent/teacher conferences which are held twice a year. One is in October, where we set our goals for the year. The other conference is in March, where we see how they have progressed and I give you some characteristics we see in your child and what type of teacher we feel suits your child and their needs.
Because it is important for children to make connections between home and school, we will provide you with information about what your child is learning every step of the way. We will also invite you and other guests from the community to join us for special events or just to drop in for a few minutes to read a book to the class.
Although it is up to your child as to how much information is consumed, our goal is to stimulate their learning experiences and create a fun learning environment. We hope that by working together we can make this a positive learning experience for you and your child.
Children’s art projects will be placed in their folders when they are ready to go home. Please be sure to check your child’s folder daily to monitor his/her progress. Children love to share their accomplishments with family and others; it forms a sense of pride.
Our Goals
SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL
Regulates own emotions and behaviors: Manages feelings; follows limits and expectations; takes care of own needs appropriately
Establishes and sustains positive relationships: Forms relationships with adults; responds to emotional cues; interacts with peers; makes friends
Participates cooperatively and constructively in group situations: Balances needs and rights of self and others; solves social problems
PHYSICAL
Demonstrates traveling skills
Demonstrates balancing skills
Demonstrates gross-motor manipulative skills
Demonstrates fine-motor strength and coordination: Uses fingers and hands; uses writing and drawing tools
LANGUAGE
Listens to and understands increasingly complex language: Comprehends language; follows directions
Uses language to express thoughts and needs: Uses an expanding expressive vocabulary; speaks clearly; uses conventional grammar; tells about another time or place
Uses appropriate conversational and other communication skills: Engages in conversations; uses social rules of language
COGNITIVE
Demonstrates positive approaches to learning: Attends and engages; persists; solves problems; shows curiosity and motivation; shows flexibility and inventiveness in thinking
Remembers and connects experiences: Recognizes and recalls; makes connections
Uses classification skills
Uses symbols and images to represent something not present: Thinks symbolically; engages in socio-dramatic play
LITERACY
Demonstrates phonological awareness: Notices and discriminates rhyme; notices and discriminates alliteration; notices and discriminates small and smaller units of sound
Demonstrates knowledge of the alphabet: Identifies and names letters; uses letter-sound knowledge
Demonstrates knowledge of print and its uses: Uses and appreciates books; uses print concepts
Comprehends and responds to books and other texts: Interacts during read-alouds and book conversations; uses emergent reading skills; retells stories
Demonstrates emergent writing skills: Writes name; writes to convey meaning
MATHEMATICS
Uses number concepts and operations: Counts, quantifies, connects numerals with their quantities
Explores and describes spatial relationships and shapes: Understands spatial relationships; understands shapes
Compares and measures
Demonstrates knowledge of patterns
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Uses scientific inquiry skills
Demonstrates knowledge of the characteristics of living things
Demonstrates knowledge of the physical properties of objects and materials
Demonstrates knowledge of Earth’s environment
Uses tools and other technology to perform tasks
SOCIAL STUDIES
Demonstrates knowledge about self
Shows basic understanding of people and how they live
Explores change related to familiar people and places
Demonstrates simple geographic knowledge
THE ARTS
Explores the visual arts
Explores musical concepts and expression
Explores dance and movement concepts
Explores drama through actions and language
Regulates own emotions and behaviors: Manages feelings; follows limits and expectations; takes care of own needs appropriately
Establishes and sustains positive relationships: Forms relationships with adults; responds to emotional cues; interacts with peers; makes friends
Participates cooperatively and constructively in group situations: Balances needs and rights of self and others; solves social problems
PHYSICAL
Demonstrates traveling skills
Demonstrates balancing skills
Demonstrates gross-motor manipulative skills
Demonstrates fine-motor strength and coordination: Uses fingers and hands; uses writing and drawing tools
LANGUAGE
Listens to and understands increasingly complex language: Comprehends language; follows directions
Uses language to express thoughts and needs: Uses an expanding expressive vocabulary; speaks clearly; uses conventional grammar; tells about another time or place
Uses appropriate conversational and other communication skills: Engages in conversations; uses social rules of language
COGNITIVE
Demonstrates positive approaches to learning: Attends and engages; persists; solves problems; shows curiosity and motivation; shows flexibility and inventiveness in thinking
Remembers and connects experiences: Recognizes and recalls; makes connections
Uses classification skills
Uses symbols and images to represent something not present: Thinks symbolically; engages in socio-dramatic play
LITERACY
Demonstrates phonological awareness: Notices and discriminates rhyme; notices and discriminates alliteration; notices and discriminates small and smaller units of sound
Demonstrates knowledge of the alphabet: Identifies and names letters; uses letter-sound knowledge
Demonstrates knowledge of print and its uses: Uses and appreciates books; uses print concepts
Comprehends and responds to books and other texts: Interacts during read-alouds and book conversations; uses emergent reading skills; retells stories
Demonstrates emergent writing skills: Writes name; writes to convey meaning
MATHEMATICS
Uses number concepts and operations: Counts, quantifies, connects numerals with their quantities
Explores and describes spatial relationships and shapes: Understands spatial relationships; understands shapes
Compares and measures
Demonstrates knowledge of patterns
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Uses scientific inquiry skills
Demonstrates knowledge of the characteristics of living things
Demonstrates knowledge of the physical properties of objects and materials
Demonstrates knowledge of Earth’s environment
Uses tools and other technology to perform tasks
SOCIAL STUDIES
Demonstrates knowledge about self
Shows basic understanding of people and how they live
Explores change related to familiar people and places
Demonstrates simple geographic knowledge
THE ARTS
Explores the visual arts
Explores musical concepts and expression
Explores dance and movement concepts
Explores drama through actions and language
