Sprouting Little Learners
Sprouting Little Learners
The curriculum that I use is not a boxed curriculum that I purchased. My entire program is built on differentiation for individual student needs. I find it is easier to meet each child at their level if I am not tied to following a set curriculum. I have pieced together my own curriculum over the years. Below you can find a detailed description of the curriculum at Thinkie Beans Preschool and the skills that are taught.
Writing Skills are separated into 4 levels.
Level 1 – Name Recognition and Spelling: The very first skill we begin to work on in writing is being able to recognize our name in print, name the letters of our name both in order and in random order, and being able to put the letters in order to spell our names. Once we have mastered this, we move on to level 2.
Level 2 – Name Writing: Once students know the letters in their name and are able to spell their name, we begin working on writing our name. We learn to form each letter correctly and write our names with the first letter capitalized and all the rest lowercase. This is how we will write our name, so learning it this way from the beginning avoids having to relearn name writing later. Once we have mastered writing our name, we move on to level 3.
Level 3 – CVC Word Building: Once we are able to spell and write our names, we begin working on using what we know about letters and sounds to begin spelling words. We begin with stretching basic CVC words into their 3 sounds and assigning each sound a letter in order to spell the word. Once we are able to do this skill with ease, we move on to the final level of the writing curriculum.
Level 4 – Emergent Writing: For this level, we begin working on actual writing. We draw pictures and practice stretching words into sounds to create phonetic spelling for words and practice labeling and writing words and sentences to describe our pictures. We continue to build on these skills until it is time to head off to kindergarten.
Ongoing Skills Practice: Handwriting is an ongoing skill we work on in preschool. We work on pencil grip and how to correctly form letters while learning the fine motor skills needed for writing. We also work on coloring skills and cutting practice throughout the years.
End of Year Goal: To get through at least level 2 and be able to write our name before Kindergarten.
Literacy is also broken into 4 skill levels.
Level 1 – Letter Recognition: The first thing we begin working on in preschool is knowing the names of all the letters and the sound each letter makes. We learn both the short and long sound for each of the 5 vowels, and we learn capital and lowercase letters together. Once we know most of the letters and sounds, we move on to a level 2.
Level 2- Beginning Sound Isolation: Being able to isolate beginning sounds is phonemic awareness skill. Because we work on this skill set every day, sometimes by the time we know our letter names and sounds, we can already isolate the beginning sounds in words. If this is the case, we skip level to 2 and go right to 3. If not, we spend some time working on this skill first.
Level 3 – CVC Word Reading: Level 3 is all about using what we know about letters and sounds to read words. We start by focusing on basic CVC words. We practice saying each sound, then putting them together to read the word. Once we are able to do this with ease, we move on to the final level of the literacy curriculum.
Level 4 – Emergent Reading: Once we have learned how to read basic CVC words, we are ready to do some real reading. We begin reading simple sentences and stories that focus on sight words and CVC words, and continue to build on these skills as we are ready for them. We begin to read words with blends and digraphs and silent e, and we begin to read longer and more advanced stories. We continue to build on these skills until it is time to head off to kindergarten.
Ongoing Skills Practice: Phonemic Awareness and Letter-Sound Recognition are two skills that we work on for the duration of the year. We practice these skills every day and continue to review them all year long.
End of Year Goal: To know all the letter names and the sounds they make before kindergarten.
Math is also broken into 4 Levels.
Level 1 – Numbers to 10: The first thing we begin working on is being able to count to and recognize numbers to 10. Once we have mastered that, we move on to level 2.
Level 2 – Numbers to 20: Once we are proficient with numbers to 10, our next goal is to be able to recognize numbers and count to 20. This can be a tricky skill set, as some of the teen numbers are confusing (Why do we say thirteen and not threeteen when we say fourteen? And why does fifteen sound so much like fifty?). Once we have mastered this tricky set of numbers, we move on to a level 3.
Level 3 – Numbers to 100: Kids love being able to count to 100! Recognizing numbers beyond 20 we don’t start until we solidly know numbers 0-20. However, for counting purposes, once we can count to 20 we keep right on going with learning to count to 100. It seems to be the skill kids are most proud of when they master it!
Level 4 – Early Math Skills: Once we have proficiency with numbers to 20 and some familiarity with higher numbers, we begin working on some early kindergarten math skills. We begin working on things like addition, subtraction, patterns, skip counting, comparing numbers, etc. We continue to build on these skills until it is time to head off to kindergarten.
Ongoing Skills Practice: We work on writing numbers to 10, counting, naming basic colors, and naming basic shapes all year long. These are skills we practice during our whole group math time and calendar time every day.
End of Year Goal: To have mastered level 1 and at least be starting level 2. The end of year goal is for all students to be proficient with recognizing, counting, and writing all numbers 0-10 and have at least some familiarity with 11-20.
We work on a lot of academic skills at Thinkie Beans Preschool. These skills are important for kindergarten readiness. However, the academic skills are not the most important skills needed for kindergarten success. Some of the most important skills we are learning every day are how to be a good student and how to be a good citizen.
This list could go on and on. These skills are so important for school readiness, and they cannot be taught in isolation. The best way for students to learn these executive functioning skills is to be in a structured learning environment with other kids and adults who aren’t their parents or guardians. This is probably the single most beneficial part of enrolling your child in preschool before their kindergarten year!
Not every student will come to preschool at a level 1 in any area, and not every student will leave preschool at a level 4 in every area. Kids come to preschool at all different levels, and they leave at all different levels as well. The level 4 in the curriculum is there so that there is not a “ceiling” on learning. Students will continue to learn and grow for as long as they are here. The “End of Year Goal” is there to show not only where we like for kids to be before walking through the kindergarten door, but to also show that a level 4 is not- and should not be- a realistic goal for every kid. Many things factor into these goals, including how old the child is when they enter kindergarten as well as how many years they do of preschool and how many days they attend preschool each week. A reasonable goal for students leaving preschool is that they be able to write their name, name the letters and sounds, and have proficiency with numbers to 10.