GUMC Preschool Curriculum

GUMC Preschool emphasizes play with a purpose through developmentally appropriate practices. We feel the social/emotional component of a child's development is the primary goal of Early Childhood Education. The progress of each child depends on their physical maturity, their stage of social emotional development, their cognitive ability, the experiences they have had, and the concepts they have mastered. This growth can not be hurried! However, the best incentive for children to succeed is to be in a loving, nurturing environment that continues to expose them to the necessary skills in a developmentally appropriate manner. We use a thematic approach here at GUMC. The themes listed below are used on a three year rotation and any cognitive skills we teach are taught through theme emersion. Evaluations are sent home in November, January and May. In January we hold optional Parent-Teacher conferences.

Themes 3's & 4's School Rules I Am Special/My Family Feelings Safety/Farm/Pets Fall/Autumn Zoo/Community Helpers/Food & Nutrition Thanksgiving Christmas Wild,Wild,West/Birds/Desert Winter Dinosaurs Valentines Transportation/Mother Goose/Books & Authors March Weather/5 Senses/Creation Sports/Safari/Spiders,Snakes,Creepy Crawlies Spring/Easter Camping/Praise God/Gardening Pond Life/Ocean Life/Mexico Mother's Day Fun in the Sun

Themes 5's (Pre-K) I Am Special Marvelous Me Bats/Beach Shapes Fall/Autumn Halloween Zoo Farm Thanksgiving Christmas Around the World Winter Outer Space Dinosaurs Valentines /Volcanoes Neighborhood Library/Light/Lunch 100 Day Celebration Rainforest Fairy Tales Easter/Eggs Plants Yellow,Yuck,Yummy Insects Mother's Day Kindergarten

Social Emotional Skills (3's, 4's, 5's)

• Separates from parent/caregiver with ease
• Participates in most classroom activities
• Eagerly explores toys and materials
• Shows some self-direction and self-confidence by choosing one activity out of several and becoming involved in it
• Is focused and productive while playing/working
• Interacts easily with one or more children (by communicating, taking turns, and sharing during play)
• Shows sensitivity and respect for peers
• Shows respect for adults
• Exhibits impulse control and self-regulation by waiting for turns in activities, cooperating in clean-up, verbally expressing feelings, and cooperating with adults and peers
• Follows simple classroom rules and routines with guidance
• Follows directions and accepts limits
• Takes appropriate care of classroom materials
• Manages transitions and accepts change with little or no protest
• Is attentive during teacher led activities (ie. Circle Time, Music Class, Christian Kids Time)
• Participates actively/passively during adult led activities (ie. Circle Time, Music Class, Christian Kids Time)
• Interacts easily with familiar adults
• Requests teacher's/assistant's attention appropriately (For ex. raises hand instead of calling out)
• Seeks only their fair share of the teacher's/assistant's attention
• Uses speech that is generally understandable
• Uses language to communicate ideas, feelings, questions, needs
• Uses language to solve problems
• Listens attentively
• Responds appropriately to questions
• Tries to take care of personal hygiene needs and self-help skills (such as putting on a jacket, unpacking snack/lunch, pouring water) before asking an adult for help

3's Basic Skills List

The following is a basic list of skills we expose our students to; however, in a typical day, our students are exposed to more kindergarten readiness skills than can be listed.

• Numbers 0-10
• Basic Shapes
• Basic Colors
• Recognizing First & Last Name
• Attempting to write first name
• Recognizing letters in first name
• Scissor Skills
• Correct grip of writing/drawing tool
• Rote counting
• Begin counting 1:1 Correspondence to 10
• Seasons

4's & 5's Basic Skills List

The following is a basic list of skills we expose our students to; however, in a typical day, our students are exposed to more kindergarten readiness skills than can be listed.

• Alphabet recognition (upper & lower case & letter sound)
• Numbers 0-20
• Basic shapes & colors
• 4's Sight Words (a, the, is, to, it, I, in, you, at, and, yes, no)
• 5's Sight Words (a, the, is, to, it, I, in, you, at, and, yes, no, like, my, see, go, at, am, we)
• Recognizing first & last name
• Writing first & last name
• Calendar, Days of the Week, Months of the Year, Seasons
• Right/Left
• Scissor Skills
• Correct grip of writing/drawing tool
• Recognizing basic patterns (ABAB, AABB)
• 1:1 Correspondence to 20
• Address, Phone Number, Birthday
• Basic Graphing
• Positional Words (over/under, above/below)