Pre-K, Kindergarten to 1st Grade Curriculum and Daily Schedule
The fundamentals of A New Beginning Preschool Learning Center are the guidelines to help facilitate a curriculum for each individual child. The curriculum is called A Learning Start. Children are not all the same and do not develop the same. A curriculum in early childhood development is based around sensorimotor and preoperational cognitive stages. Within these stages teachers foster the Five Selves. The Five Selves consists of physical, emotional, social, creative, and language.
Sensorimotor Stage Birth to Two years --Coordination of sense perception and muscle movement.
Preoperational Stage Two to Seven years --The beginning of language and the ability to pretend.
Physical self is defined as fine and gross motor skills. Teachers encourage development by integrating fine and gross motor tools in a child’s environment. Manipulative activities such as small muscle movements, grasping, finger painting, pinching, stacking develop fine motor skills. Gross motor skills are large muscle movements, such as throwing, running, jumping and kicking.
Emotional self is the importance of developing self-esteem and fostering self-worth. These are basic attitudes of trust, autonomy and initiative. The emotional self is linked directly to the ego. When caregivers, teachers, and parents help children recognize their own feelings and cope with them, they are contributing to children’s inner sense of self-direction and competence.
Social self learns and explores the do’s and don’ts of peer interaction. Games should be available and encouraged between peers. Learning self-discipline and self-control establishes hierarchy among the children. Modeling appropriate social behavior between teachers is also important.
Creative self promotes the self-expression of children. It encourages dramatic, parallel, or solitary play. Teachers set up an environment that promotes creative expression; they choose materials that can be used in many different ways. These open-ended materials provide a continuing challenge as children use them repeatedly in new and different ways. Children should not copy or imitate projects. It is developmentally inappropriate, therefore, children are not learning. It is the process not the product. Children are motivated to try new ways to use materials when they are flexible and challenging. That encourages neuron growth.
Language The ability to clarify needs and gather information is expanded as a young child acquires language. In addition to facilitating communication, language has a dramatic impact on thought and cognition. Consider guidelines for fostering language development: Engage in dialogue from day one. Play games with sounds and words. Read books, tell stories, sing songs involve children in process. Encourage children to ask questions. Put language into gross and fine motor activities. Help children listen to each other. Talk for them or interpret when necessary, but keep the focus off of yourself and on the children who are trying to communicate with each other.
Daily Activities and Preschool Schedule
7:00-7:30 Breakfast
7:30-8:00 Singing and morning circle
8:00-9:00 Teacher directed learning activities/ discovery and exploration
9:00-9:30 Outside time (or rainy day activities)
9:30-10:00 Snack, bathroom, wash hands
10:00-11:00 Teacher directed learning activities/ discovery and exploration
11:00-11:30 Outside time (or rainy day activities)
11:30-12:15 Lunch, bathroom, wash hands
12:15-12:30 Storytime
12:30-2:00 Optional nap time or quiet free play, discovery, exploration
2:00-2:30 Waking up, bathroom, wash hands
2:30-3:00 Afternoon snack
3:00-4:00 Outside time (or rainy day activities)
4:00-5:00 Children’s choice discovery and exploration
