Our Preschool philosophy of Language and Early Literacy Development is rooted in the belief that play is the foundation for language and literacy learning. We believe
• All parts of a child’s development – social-emotional, physical, cognitive, and language – are interdependent and interrelated. Bodies and brains are connected. • Each child follows a unique developmental pathway, including for language and literacy development. • Teachers play a valuable role in children’s development by promoting joyful engagement in language and literacy. Teachers provide choices and foster inquiry within play-based learning. They also read stories, encourage and extend conversations during play, and explain new words. • Oral language – listening, speaking, and vocabulary – is the foundation for literacy development. Children’s engagement in play fosters peer conversations, storytelling, and explorations of symbols and print. • Encouraging play and interaction among children, with a variety of high-interest materials, provides the intentional practice that children need for language and literacy development. • Children’s engagement and creative expression in fine arts activities enriches their play and use of language. • Every child has a story to tell. We honor that through storytelling, a precursor to writing. • Children enjoy using tools: blocks, beads, fingerpaints, playdough, scissors, and more. Playing with these tools strengthens fine motor skills and prepares children for writing as they grow. • Reading aloud with children encourages a love of reading and fosters connections between teachers and children. Talk as part of read-alouds (i.e., the conversations between children and teachers that surround book reading) is a powerful vehicle for children’s enjoyment of stories and their language and literacy growth. The benefits of reading aloud increase when children feel emotionally safe within the reading experience. • Children’s active engagement in exploring books enhances the value and enjoyment of reading. • We value culture and diversity and select children’s literature that reflects the children and families in our classrooms, as well as literature that does not perpetuate gender stereotypes for children. We actively seek out books written and illustrated by diverse authors and artists who express authentic voices. Our children see themselves and learn about others through our book choices. • Mistakes and challenges grow the brain and foster a growth mindset. We celebrate approximations as children explore, play, and experiment with language and literacy.
Preschool Philosophy of Mathematics Education
Our philosophy of mathematics education in the preschool classroom is rooted in the belief that:
• Every child with the "just right" teaching and messages can be successful in math. • Mistakes and challenges grow the brain and foster a growth mindset. Children develop perseverance through problem solving. • Active participation looks like exploring, thinking, tinkering, and building. • Math should be presented to children moving from concrete to pictorial to abstract. • Playing and practicing needs to be repeated experiences and exposures. • Children should be given time to exchange ideas, ask questions, verbalize their thoughts, and justify their answers. • Math can be seen in literature, in science, in all cultures and traditions.
These 8 concepts are what help preschool children “catch” number sense:
• Subitizing – the ability to tell how many without counting • Verbal counting – being able to count numbers in sequence • Object counting – attaching a number sequence to objects • Cardinality – understanding the last number word you say tells you how many when counting objects • Spatial relationships – using visuals to look at how quantities relate to each other • 1 & 2 More and Less – instantly tell you much is one more or less or 2 more or less • Benchmarks numbers – understanding how numbers relate to 5 & 10; instantly know how a number relates to 5 or 10; (upper grades – also becomes 50 and 100, and 1/2 and 1) • Part-part-whole – understanding that the whole can be broken into parts and how parts come together to make a whole