Pre-kindergarten, ready for school and feeling ready.
Four to five years. The year children find their voices and put the pieces together before the first day of school.
The last year before school
By the time they leave for kindergarten, our children know how a classroom works, how to make friends, how to ask for help and how to take care of themselves. They are ready to learn, and they feel ready.
Finding their voice
Letters and their sounds, simple words, writing their own name, and numbers with real things to count and sort. Children get up in front of the group to say what they think, and the others practice listening, taking turns and working together. The weekly plan still covers language and math, music and movement, creativity, sensory play, dramatic play and literacy, and there is time outside every day.
Small groups and table time
Playtime and free-choice activities happen in small groups, including structured table activities, so each child learns in more than one way and teachers can see who needs what.
Working from the district’s list
We work from a kindergarten readiness list from the local school district, so the skills practiced here are the ones your child’s first teacher will look for. The list is below.
Seeing progress
Teachers observe each child and record what they see. You sit down with their teacher three times a year to go through it and set goals for the months ahead.
What a pre-kindergartner does here
- Small groups
Free-choice play and structured table activities in small groups, so there is more than one way to learn each thing.
- Assessments
Observation-based assessments through the year that show your child’s progress against the readiness list below.
- Self-help
Cleaning up, dressing and looking after their own things, the habits a kindergarten teacher will expect on day one.
What kindergarten will ask
The readiness list we work from, as the local school district describes it. Your child will not do all of these on the first day, and that is the point of the year.
- Words
Knows how to say what they need.
- Goodbyes
Separates from parents without a lot of anxiety.
- Sharing
Shares and takes turns, with reminders.
- Directions
Follows simple directions and finishes a task.
- Colors and shapes
Identifies the primary colors and basic shapes.
- Counting
Counts to ten or higher.
- Writing
Copies some letters or numbers.
- Drawing
Traces or draws a line with some control.
- Dressing
Helps dress themselves.
More programs
- Before and after school
- Every stage
Come and see it for yourself
Look around, see the rooms, meet the teachers who may be caring for your child, and ask us anything on your mind. Tours take about half an hour and there is no pressure, just a chance to get to know us and picture your child here. Children are welcome to come along. We’d love to meet you and your family.