Four Year Olds
Four Year Old Preschool Program
Our 4-year-old curriculum focuses on further development of social and academic skills. Journaling and new language concepts are introduced. In addition to circle time, crafts and sensory activities, children participate in reading/writing readiness activities, science and math projects that prepare them for kindergarten.
Our 4 year old program meets on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from September through May from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Students must turn 4 before September 1st to be admitted to the program.
Typical 4 Year Old Day
9:30a: Student arrival & activity box
9:50-10a: Group time
10-10:30a: Art Time
10:30a: Teacher Directed Activity
10:45a-11:05a: Wash hands & snack time
11:05a: Open play
11:50a: Clean up time
11:55a: Second group time with song, calendar, show and tell
12:10-12:30p: Outside time
12:30p: Parent pick-up
Curriculum
Reading/Writing
Math/Science
Art
Social
Building Blocks of 4s
All of the elements of the 3’s program are in place at the beginning of the 4’s year. Each session begins with twenty minutes of Activity Box time, a major building block that grows throughout the year. Children choose manipulative items that encourage small motor skills, such as group board games, puzzles, and art activities. Items are added to the Activity Box to increase awareness of seasonal and holiday themes. There are longer listening times to introduce information.
Learning Through Play
- Weekly Reader and more take-home papers with age-appropriate activities
- A writing table is available, and each child gets a turn to take home the Writers’ Briefcase.
- Children help make books that circulate through the class featuring their activities and field trips.
- Field trips include gymnastics, theatre, a farm tour in the fall, a visit to a nature center in November to see how creatures and plants in the woods get ready for winter, and an ice skating excursion in January.
- Holiday celebrations have different building blocks, as well. There are eight play centers at the Halloween party, and the children make a photo book about their costumes. We make a piñata and break it at the Winter Party. The bunny has a surprise for us at the Spring Party.
Patterns & Counting
A big change in routine occurs in January. We learn about the calendar and practice the names of months and the days of the week. We create increasingly difficult patterns each month as we put the dates on the calendar, then look for patterns in other places. This is also a counting time. Through stories, poems and songs we emphasize rhyming words. We add graphing as a math building block. Longer group times allow for more books to be read, more music experiences, and more listening skills.
All of this is accomplished with hands-on appropriate activities. Children are experiential learners and need many opportunities to experiment with different materials in their environment. Along the way, there is still plenty of time for dramatic play, art, and outdoor play. The joy of learning is always the primary goal.
Alphabet Fridays
The program for Friday Classes is based on a curriculum of “Playing with the Alphabet.” Activities for each session are built upon a letter of the alphabet. The craft, music, movement, small muscle toys, and story are all selected to emphasize the special letter for the day. Children are encouraged to bring something from home that has a name beginning with that letter to display. Each child has an opportunity to be a Friday Special Person to increase self-esteem. A major group project each Friday is cutting and gluing pictures of items beginning with the magic letter to make a page for an ABC Book which is complete in May.
As in our entire curriculum, the activities are “hands-on” and developmentally appropriate, rather than pencil-paper-type tasks that foster little meaningful learning in young children. Some activities are more structured, such as craft projects that everyone does at the same time. Additional field trips and special events experiences re-enforce the alphabet concept. Though not intended to teach phonics, the result is awareness and readiness learned in the best way for young children – through play!
TCP is a special place that feels like a preschool preserved in time from my own childhood. Homemade playdough, gentle mornings playing and imagining with little friends, singing songs, reading books, painting, and exploring outside together! Getting to attend work days with my own children has been one of my most treasured memories with them. Such a lovely community of families and teachers to support and uplift each other during these precious early years!
