Early Childhood Curriculum

In Pre-Kindergarten, children learn to make meaningful decisions throughout their school day. Our Pre-Kindergarten program is designed as a center-based program, allowing students to choose what learning activities to complete throughout a school day. Meanwhile, students also receive one-on-one or small group instruction, while classmates are involved in educationally valuable work. Units of study, or themes, which are intentionally created to be interdisciplinary, provide intellectual stimulation and growth in a developmentally-appropriate way.

All of our teachers in Early Childhood and the Lower School are trained in practical Responsive Classroom strategies that build a strong community and a focus on the following areas: engaging academics, positive communities, and developmentally responsive teaching. Our curriculum and small class size enable our Pre-Kindergarten teachers to adapt to those who are ready for new challenges, as well as to support those who need reinforcement.  

With Pre-Kindergarten students, their play is their work and their work is their play. We provide a variety of opportunities for students to explore and play each daily.  Three- and four-year-old children are not expected to sit for long periods of time, and our day is structured with ample transitions through active time, center time, quiet time, outdoor/indoor recess time, and assorted types of activities. 

Learning centers in the classroom encourage the children to be active, to make choices, to experiment, to explore and to observe as they begin to make sense of the world around them.  Two field trips a year allow students to connect their classroom learning to real-world experiences, building more meaningful connections. 

Pre-Kindergarteners have a range of cognitive, social and emotional abilities, and students are nurtured in a print-rich environment, designed to foster growth at each stage in their growth as they prepare for Junior Kindergarten, where there is a focus on Kindergarten-readiness.

The Junior Kindergarten program is designed to continue to build on the foundation created in Pre-Kindergarten and to provide students with the necessary skills to enter Kindergarten the following year. In Junior Kindergarten, students are provided with an educational environment that fosters children’s initiative, active exploration of materials, and sustained engagement with peers, teachers, and activities while introducing and practicing important pre-academic skills required for Kindergarten readiness. 

In Junior Kindergarten, a thematic approach to learning is used.  Thematic instruction integrates basic disciplines such as early literacy, mathematics, science and social studies with the exploration of a broad subject that children understand and are interested in, such as communities, seasons, farms, or insects.  Teachers then connect the curriculum to the students’ lives, which makes the curriculum more meaningful for the youngest learners. Thematic instruction helps children make sense of what they are being taught, and they are then able to relate to real-world experiences and build on prior knowledge of topics and disciplines.

Our teachers devote extended time periods in the school day to center-based instruction so that students are able to get deeply involved in an activity and sustain activities such as dramatic play at a complex level.  Meanwhile, students also receive one-on-one or small group instruction during this time, while classmates are involved in educationally valuable work.

In the Junior Kindergarten year, we strive to help children see themselves as capable learners. In the classroom, students feel valued as individuals who are working hard each day to develop their own cognitive, social and emotional skills to allow them to make sense of and succeed in the world around them as they prepare for Kindergarten.

The Kindergarten Program seamlessly builds upon the strong foundation provided by our Pre-Kindergarten and Junior Kindergarten programs. In Kindergarten, students are part of a classroom community in which differentiated instruction allows each child to reach their full potential. Students are immersed in hands-on learning that encourages them to discover knowledge and apply it in new ways. This active participation in learning promotes our focus on both academics and learning through play as children progress to the more formal years of education.

In Kindergarten, our students, while academically capable, are also young children. Teachers develop a love of learning in our students by teaching the whole child, cognitively, socially and emotionally. By combining our academic curricular goals with goals for independence, self-confidence, and self-sufficiency, we foster the growth of strong character traits in our students. 

Teachers meet students where they are in their learning journey through instruction that differentiates content, process, and product. We use diverse learning modalities daily, allowing students to benefit from varied and exciting educational experiences. Small group lessons are combined with collaborative learning and whole-class instruction to ensure that students can achieve their personal best.

Kindergarten is a formative and memorable year in a child’s school experience. We strive to help children see themselves as capable learners, and our goal is to ensure students’ readiness for the requirements of First Grade while creating life-long learners who find joy in their studies.

At the Early Childhood level, it is important to familiarize students with the art studio environment and to provide a variety of hands-on experiences that develop cognitive, social, and kinesthetic growth. The children are encouraged to express their ideas about their artwork with both their teacher and their peers. Routine in the art room is the key to success. Classes usually begin with a short lesson involving the use of materials, and then they go to their seats and enjoy the freedom of exploring and creating with the given art medium while building their confidence to express themselves.

The Pre-Kindergarten, Junior Kindergarten, and Kindergarten students are provided with developmentally appropriate skills and knowledge while exploring, creating, and gaining an appreciation of the visual arts. Students will develop an awareness of both two and three-dimensional forms, manipulate art tools, and learn to use a variety of materials. During the year, each child will work on several projects that encompass a wide range of techniques. Many of the art activities in the Early Childhood years are introduced by reading children’s literature. Books become a handheld museum, offering a visual impression of both fantasy and reality. The stories and illustrations act as a springboard to encourage children to develop their own imagery when creating art.

The Lower Snowdon Lower School Library serves students every day of the school year. Students in Pre-Kindergarten through Fifth Grade visit the library once a week for scheduled book exchanges. This space is a vibrant, warm environment that is designed specifically for students in grades Pre-Kindergarten through Fifth Grade.  This print-rich environment provides opportunities for our Early Childhood students to develop their early literacy in an inspiring space. Pre-Kindergarteners and Junior Kindergarteners have various opportunities to interact with print in the Lower Snowdon Library, preparing them for reading. Meanwhile, Kindergarteners have the opportunity to check out books from the library which are suited to their reading abilities.  

The Lower Snowdon Lower School Library is also used for Early Childhood Assemblies which are held several times a month on Friday mornings.  Both faculty and students participate in leading assemblies, including the youngest students in Pre-Kindergarten, Junior Kindergarten, and Kindergarten.  These first opportunities in public speaking allow even the smallest students to serve as leaders to the rest of the Lower School community. Additionally, when there is inclement weather, the Early Childhood students will come to the library for some indoor-recess time allowing them to feel fully at home in the library.   Early literacy is critical to academic excellence and a warm, inviting library space is key to building a love of books and the pursuit of learning.

Music participation is important to each student's development.  It provides a unique way of knowing oneself and appreciating the world.  Students in Pre-Kindergarten, Junior Kindergarten, and Kindergarten discover a wide variety of musical styles through an activity-centered approach. Through the implementation of the First Steps in Music curriculum, students participate in vocal exploration, singing, expressive movement, beat keeping, and active listening activities during every class. They develop the foundation on which future music literacy is built. 

The Pre-Kindergarten, Junior Kindergarten, and Kindergarten music curriculum is grounded in research on music cognition, and engages students in active music making.  Every lesson employs a diversity of learning activities to best reach the learning styles of all children.  Students in Early Childhood demonstrate this learning by participating in choral performances in the Winter and Spring concerts.  As children progress through the Lower School, additional opportunities for performance arise.  The nurturing of the child's enjoyment, responsiveness, and sensitivity to music is always at the core of the Music curriculum.  Through musical immersion, we help students to become "Tuneful, Beatful, Artful."

Our Physical Education program in the Early Childhood years encourages our youngest students to participate confidently in a variety of activities designed to challenge and enhance each student’s ability throughout the critical stages of development.  With Physical Education every day, we provide a robust and diverse program that develops essential skills both in and outside of the classroom. Structured activities are designed to promote each student’s ability to listen and follow directions while focusing on fine and gross motor skill tasks. Students engage in less structured, discovery time where they may play and interact freely in a safe and familiar environment.

Through these activities, students thrive while building their problem-solving skills, resilience, and character. Our goal in Physical Education is to facilitate a love and appreciation for physical activity and connect the multitude of skills learned to prosper throughout their Lower School experience. 

Students learn Spanish in an immersive classroom through the techniques of the Total Response methodology.  The goal of the Spanish program in grades Pre-Kindergarten, Junior Kindergarten, and Kindergarten is to motivate children to the target language and introduce them to their sounds and words.  Songs, rhymes, and storybooks play an integral role in the Early Childhood curriculum as they provide meaningful input to learning vocabulary and expressions. In Kindergarten, the Spanish program reacquaints the children with the basic sounds of Spanish, and more oral production is evidenced as children are immersed in the language for longer periods of time.

A dedicated STEM class, twice a week, allows students to participate in an innovative program integrating just-in-time learning with high-interest topics. Each unit is presented in a Problem-Based Learning approach, and students are tasked with using 21st Century skills of collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking to solve problems in content-driven projects.  Each unit is aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and the themes explored in the Pre-Kindergarten, Junior Kindergarten, and Kindergarten curricula while focusing around essential questions pertaining to the topics at hand. The structure follows engineering design principles to encourage systematic processing of solutions. The integration of the disciplines and student choice contributes to the overall learning experience. Throughout the Early Childhood STEM program, students consider the essential question, How do scientists think about the world in which they live? to anchor their learning.