Curriculum

Children will count, pronounce, blend, and segment syllables in spoken words. For example, they might clap their hands for each syllable in a word like "elephant" (three claps) or say, "Let's say the word 'butterfly' together: but-ter-fly." They can also blend syllables together by sounding out the syllables separately and then combining them to form the complete word.

Children will describe familiar people, places, things, and events, and, with prompting and support, provide additional detail.For example, a child might say, "My friend is tall," and with a prompt like "What else can you tell me about your friend?" they could expand by adding, "She has curly hair and wears glasses."

Children will blend and segment onsets and rimes of single-syllable spoken words. For example, when given the word "cat," they will identify the onset /k/ and the rime /at/, allowing them to blend the sounds together to say "cat.

Children will add drawings or other visual displays to their descriptions as desired to provide additional detail. For example, when describing their favorite animal, a child might say, "I like cats," and then draw a picture of a cat with details such as its color, size, and any special features like its collar. They could also use labels in their drawing, saying, "This is my cat, Luna, and she is fluffy and orange."

Children will be taught phonological awareness as well as three-letter words and beginning and ending sounds. Isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in three-phoneme (consonant-vowel-consonant, or CVC) words.1 (This does not include CVCs ending with /l/, /r/, or /x/.) They will be able to produce the initial sound of a given word.

Children will speak audibly and express their thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly. For example, they will articulate their emotions by saying statements like, "I am happy because I got to play with my friends," or "I feel angry when someone takes my toy."

Children will demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print. They will learn concepts such as reading from left to right, recognizing the front and back covers of a book, and identifying the title and author. For example, they might point out the title of a story and explain that it's what the book is called. This helps them develop early literacy skills, providing a strong foundation for future reading and writing success.

Children will follow words from left to right, top to bottom, and page by page. They will understand the basic directionality of print by practicing with books, learning that text flows in these specific directions. For example, as they read a picture book, they might point to the words and say, "I read this line first, then the next line." This helps reinforce their understanding of how print is organized on the page.

Children will learn how to make requests and ask for permission using polite phrases. For example, they will practice saying phrases like "Can I please have a turn?" or "May I go to the bathroom?" Additionally, they will learn to give positive responses, such as "Yes, of course!" and negative responses, like "I'm sorry, not right now," in a respectful way during role-playing and interactive activities.

Children will recognize that spoken words are represented in written language by specific sequences of letters. For example, they will understand that the word "cat" is made up of the letters C, A, and T. They will develop the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds in words through activities like saying the sounds aloud or using phonemic games, such as blending sounds together to form words, like /k/ /a/ /t/ to say "cat." This foundational skill supports their reading and writing development.