Curriculum

Children will ask and answer questions in order to seek help, get information, or clarify something that is not understood.** For example, during a classroom activity, a child may ask, "Can you help me with this math problem?" or "What do we do next?" In response, their peers or teacher might clarify by saying, "You need to add these two numbers together," or "Next, we are going to read a book."

Children will add drawings or other visual displays to their descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings. For instance, after describing their favorite animal, a child might draw a picture of that animal and label it, saying, "This is my dog, Max. He is brown and loves to play fetch!" This helps enhance their verbal descriptions and provides a clearer understanding of their ideas.

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 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 produce complete sentences when appropriate to the task and situation. For example, during a show-and-tell, a child might say, "I brought my favorite book because I love the story," rather than just saying, "My book." This encourages clear communication and helps them express their thoughts more effectively.

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 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 be able to define words by category and by one or more key attributes.** For example, they might say, "A duck is a bird that swims," or "A tiger is a large cat with stripes."

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 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.