Cascades Academy Pre-Kindergarten Curriculum

Our pre-kindergarten curriculum is built on the underlying approach of exploration and discovery as well as the big idea of the whole wide world around us. This includes: the world of ourselves, the world of families and people, the world of our classroom, the world of materials and ideas, the world of our school and community, the world of our environment, the world of the high desert and the mountains, the worlds that can be created with our imaginations, and any other world that might draw a sense of wonder. Our biggest goal for the year is to explore, discover, adventure and play as we learn and grow in an exciting and positive classroom.

Curriculum topics connected to the discovery and exploration of the whole wide world around us are planned by teachers and also emerge through individual and small group interests. In addition to the underlying foundation and topics, mini-storylines are employed to discover and create imaginative worlds in our classroom. Age appropriate experiences in language and literacy, math, science, social studies, music, art, and physical education are integrated into days filled with playful discovery and engaged exploration. Attention to each area of child development is a weekly, if not daily, focus.

Each child is valued for where they are in their process at any point in time. Past experiences and learning are validated and built on through individual and group discussions and instruction. Ideas and theories are acknowledged and included independent of whether they are “correct” from another person’s point of view. The child is thus able to explore and express ideas freely and to develop and test theories autonomously. The process of thinking, playing, working and learning is strongly acknowledged and emphasized in celebrations. While there may be some noticing of finished works, this is not the emphasis of teacher attention, because we believe a process focus encourages all children to learn with enthusiasm and to reap more intrinsic rather than extrinsic rewards. pre-kindergarten curriculum is interwoven in natural learning and play experiences in our classroom, outdoors and on field trips. For example, when children are building with blocks they are involved in mathematics, early engineering, social and emotional development, and language skills. They are developing planning skills and playing dramatically.

When children are painting they are involved in language and literacy as they are learning to represent their ideas through image, line and color. Often, stories or comments are dictated to teachers regarding children’s paintings. Painting also helps develop the small and large motor skills which will lead to better control of the muscles, which will eventually lead to the development of formal writing.. Children sometimes share ideas, as well, and show their paintings to one another while still in the development stages. And so, as in most activities, social and emotional development is a thread that weaves through all of our learning experiences.

The above examples demonstrate how interwoven learning is but this curriculum guide will separate areas of growth and development to provide a more linear understanding.

Language Arts and Literacy Language and Literacy is integrated into our exploration of worlds, topics within worlds and storylines. The Language and Literacy program focuses on listening and understanding, speaking and communicating, phonological awareness, book knowledge and comprehension, print awareness, alphabet knowledge and early writing skills and storytelling.

We provide a rich language environment through books and other printed materials, through speech and rich vocabulary, through discussions that include a focus on children’s personal expression and storytelling, through dialogue, through songs and finger-plays, and through early writing and representation opportunities.

Pre-Reading and Reading Children learn in a print-rich environment and begin to create stories, books and other types of environmental print. The world of the spoken and written word, a world that can seem magical and mysterious, becomes ever more reachable and understandable as children develop in the ability to understand the meaning and power of spoken and written words.

Skills: • Recognize one’s name in print. • Recognize labels and signs in the classroom. • Recognize that writing moves from left to right and top to bottom. • Match like pictures, letters, numbers, colors and objects. • Visual and auditory discrimination of sounds. • Hear likenesses and differences. • Hear sounds at the beginning and end of words. • Hear syllables and count them. • Learn letter sounds of many consonants (and some vowels). • Recognize and create rhymes. • Understand that stories have a beginning, middle and an end. • Integrate and understand that something happens in a story. • Retell stories in sequence and predict what will happen in a story. • Dictate and develop personal stories. • Begin to read dictated stories. • Expand expressive and receptive vocabulary. • Develop one-to-one correspondence with the spoken and written words. • Understand the difference between fiction and factual text. • Increased capacity to verbally express needs, wants, ideas and feelings. • Increased interest in books and reading materials.

Materials for Language: Reading, Writing and Mechanics: Narrative and factual picture books and literature Finger paints, watercolor paints, easel paints and brushes Pencils, crayons, markers Journals and personally developed books Word board and cards as models for writing Perceptual puzzles and other materials Sequencing activities and games Labeled baskets for material storage Matching games, word and letter puzzles Print enriched classroom Get Set for School Workbook from Handwriting without Tears

Writing In our writing program we focus on providing many opportunities for self-expression through an array of media and materials. Children dictate stories while teachers record their ideas. Children will progress in their abilities to tell a story with pictures. And most children will begin to write by scribbling from left to right and by beginning invented and some conventional spelling.

Skills: • Draw pictures to convey a message. • Dictate labels, words, or single sentences. • Dictate complete stories from experience, illustration, imagination. • Experiment with invented spelling. • Record observations with pictures or invented spelling. • Express ideas through invented spelling.

Mechanics of Writing Skills: • Use appropriate (tripod or quadropod) pencil grip. • Print one's name without a model. • Trace patterns, letters, and numbers. • Copy or print letters (upper case emphasis). • Copy or print familiar words, environmental print, or names of friends and family.

Mathematics Children learn math concepts by working with concrete objects. They play around (explore) with math materials and manipulatives and make their own discoveries. Teachers guide activities that help to develop mathematical concepts and challenges are provided in small groups for children to solve together. Math is as fun as any other activity in the classroom and children explore freely as mathematical skills are developed as another form of play.

Skills: • Count to 20 or higher. • Understand and demonstrate one to one correspondence up to 10 or more. • Recognize, trace and copy numbers 0 to 10. • Identify and compare with concepts like higher, lower, bigger, smaller, equal to, less than, or more. • Observe and identify similarities and differences. • Learn about estimates and make some good guesses. • Sort objects according to physical attributes. • Understand and describe patterns. • Reproduce, extend and create patterns. • Matching pairs and matching opposites. • Odd and even number identification. • Work with representing information in simple graphs. • Measure objects using traditional and non-traditional measurement tools. • Time explored with concepts like yesterday, tomorrow, today, sooner later and right now. • Understand days of the week (months, years, birthdays). • Understand about and produce measures of whole, half and quarter cups. • Explore how oranges and apples are cut into quarters, halves, eighths… • Explore volume in water play, sand play, and cooking. • Explore weight and balance using various measurement tools. • Understand the vocabulary of shapes and use of an array of shapes in artwork, building, etc.. • Explore squares, circles, rectangles, cylinders, hexagons, triangles, etc. with blocks and pattern blocks. • Explore the idea of symmetry—in designs, drawings, building, etc. Materials: Blocks and pattern blocks for counting, shape identification Peg boards and pegs, Geo-boards, geometric shapes and translucent shapes Measurement materials for cooking, sand, clay (or playdough) and water play Counting bears, games, counters, and counting activities with everyday objects Table setting items counted while setting the table. Unifix Cubes, Counting Bears, math number puzzles and games Art supplies Sorting materials and games, weight and balance scales, timers and sand timers Clocks, calendars, traditional measurement and non-traditional measurement tools

Social Studies and Science Children in pre-kindergarten are naturally discovering and exploring the whole wide world around them. When they are inspired by rich learning environments with hands on materials, that naturally generates curiosity and interest, they can become absorbed and focused. In pre-kindergarten, children explore individual, family and group identity and learn more and more skills for getting along, accepting differences and enjoying and appreciating one another. Through thought provoking experiences and an inquiry- based approach, children explore planned curriculum and emerging interests.

Planned topics and areas of investigation: Ourselves, our family and the new family of our classroom Live animals including classroom pets Larger communities: our singing group, our school, our libraries, some parts of Tumalo &/or Bend Farms, ranches, pumpkin patches, life cycle of plants Experiments with movement and gravity Our environment and the importance of caring for it Water: glaciers, snow-pack, streams, rivers, lakes, oceans Rain, clouds, thunder, lightning, snow, sunshine Animals around the world Children around the world

Planned Mini-Storyline topics: Our Pumpkin Patch/Farm Our Rain Forest (background—habitats) Our Soup Café and Bakery Our Gift Shop Our Snowy World Our Valentine Factory Our Animal Shelter Our Flower Shop Our Greenhouse and Garden Our Farmer’s Market Our Ice Cream and Frozen Yogurt Store

Skills: • Observe • Record Observations • Measurement • Inquire • Categorize • Investigate • Compare • Discover • Contrast • Explore • Experiment • Sequence • Collect • Transformations • Beginning understanding of scientific method

Materials: Fiction and nonfiction books Library books Audiovisual materials Maps and guides Magnifying glasses and microscope Garden and planting materials Rain gauges, thermometers, other measurement tools Art supplies and natural materials Cooking supplies and ingredients Graph paper and art supplies Field trips and class generated culminating events

Spanish In the pre-kindergarten class we become familiar with the Spanish language through song, TPR and repetition. The class is taught as a Spanish immersion class with visual aids such as pictures and objects and motions. The students become familiar with the routine of class. There is an emphasis on group response. We have fun in class while emphasizing the idea that learning another language is fun. Skills: • Gaining familiarity with several songs in Spanish. • Mastering basic greetings. • Practicing numbers 1-10. • Understanding the Spanish names for the colors of the rainbow. • Practicing family names and terms.

Materials CDs Books in Spanish Puppets Visual Aids such as pictures, objects and dress-up clothes

The Arts Art and artistic expression is integrated throughout our curriculum and often reflects topics and storylines. Freedom of expression is encouraged and artwork is open-ended within curriculum goals. Visual artwork may be inspired by objects put together for that purpose. Artistic styles of famous artists are included in some chapters of the unfolding curriculum. Opportunities abound for entirely open-ended free-choice work. Dance, music and drama are included at circle times, class meetings, physical education and open play-times. The second half of the year dramatic expression will take a step up with the facilitation and development of at least one mini-production integrated within a Storyline theme.

Visual Arts Drawing, coloring, painting, collage and loose collage, overlapping tissue paper, etc. are used to explore line, shape, color, texture and foreground/background. 3-D art is explored with clay, play-dough, junk art, cardboard and boxes. Visual arts are pre- literacy activities as they help to develop the musculature required for writing and also are early expressive and representational opportunities.

Materials: Tempera Paint Play-dough and other homemade dough Crayons Clay Fired clay pieces Cut and torn construction paper Markers Cardboard Pencils Card Stock Chalk Water-color paint Pastels Tissue Paper Junk Glitter Glue Yarn and pom-poms

Dramatic Arts/Movement/Music Movement is explored through large and small group activities, dance and yoga. Dramatic expression is explored through play and pretending during open exploration periods and in mini-plays and puppet shows. Music is explored through listening and singing-a-longs at Circle Times and with our music teacher. Rhythm and melodic instruments are also explored.

Shared dramatization of stories and dramatization in play help children build confidence in self-expression. Shared musical experiences with folk tunes or early Beatle’s songs increase an experience of community. Song games and rhythm instrument circles help the children develop confidence in expressing themselves and help children gain a greater sense of the need for cooperation within the group. Working together, students will listen to, sing and create songs, and experience movement and dramatic play that reinforce and enhance their classroom themes.

Skills: • Appreciate music. • Enjoy music of many styles from a variety of cultures. • Connect with the music through movement. • Learn about and identify different instrumental families of the orchestra. • Develop a repertoire of songs by rote. • Sing with confidence in groups and individually. • Learn songs by echo singing and responsive singing. • Sing a variety of folk songs, nursery rhymes and chants. • Develop simple ear training. • Hear similarities and differences in the melodies of songs. • Develop reading readiness by aural, physical and visual modes. • Identify songs without words ("Name That Tune"). • Develop inner hearing and ability to sing in tune. • Performance of some songs. • Demonstrate the ability to use hand held percussion instruments. • Perform in class, in small groups and solo. • Play non pitched instruments of different timbres. • Listen to pitched instruments and recordings of instrumental music. • Discriminate between different non pitched instruments.

Physical Education Developmentally appropriate skill based activities are explored in our pre- kindergarten. From catching and throwing balls, shooting baskets, kicking soccer balls and riding big-wheels to dancing, doing yoga, running in dramatic play, and jumping for joy, the pre-kindergarten is on the move.

Activities Stations/ object control activities Obstacle course Imaginative play with particular movements Tumbling Relays Creative exploration Group and partner games Dance Balance challenges

Skills: • Throw, catch, kick, dribble, and strike. • Balance, coordination. • Work on partner skills. • Run, hop, skip, jump, and gallop. • Develop social skills and positive self-concept. • Successfully take part in cooperative games. • Develop spatial skills and body awareness. • Pedaling and steering. • Play through creative exploration. • Develop a sense of rhythm: dance, parachute, rope jumping.

Materials Balls, beanbags Parachutes Big Wheels Hula hoops, scarves Tape player/music Balance beam Tumbling mat Social and Emotional Skills and Development The pre-kindergarten curriculum has a primary focus on social and emotional development. The emphasis of this program is development of pro-social and polite behavior through imitation, modeling, practice and rehearsals. A positive psychological approach is taken and children are helped to understand how these kind of behaviors and skills make their own life as well of the lives of others around them happier.

Skills: • Share and taking turns. • Develop cooperation and discussion skills. • Respect for others and for classroom materials. • Accept and include all classmates, • Develop empathy, caring and self-care skills. • Practice politeness and kindness. • Listen to others and to teachers. • Talk to work things out. • Develop problem solving strategies. • Acknowledge the importance of honesty and the pleasure of trusting and truth sharing. • Recognize and care for feelings in oneself and in others. • Accept, include and value each person. • Reach out and give to others in our classroom, in our school and in our community.

Materials Nonfiction books Stories Kindness and community service activities Rehearsal and play acting Teachers as role models Film or video