Early Childhood Program (PS/PK)

Our Philosophy

Philosophy

Our approach to teaching and learning is rooted in the theory that children learn best through play, with ample opportunities for self-directed choices. We use an emergent, project-based approach to play-based learning where children have opportunities to pursue self-directed interests both indoors and outdoors.

We address physical, cognitive, language, social-emotional, and classroom readiness skills for a well-balanced curriculum that meets children where they are and challenges them to reach new levels.

Our learning goals for the children are achieved through a balance of child-directed experiences, large group concept sharing, and small group teacher guided skill development. All experiences are embedded into the day as children are immersed in meaningful learning in a developmentally appropriate environment.

The teacher’s role in our play-based program is to observe, guide, and scaffold the children’s thinking and growth. Teachers observe children and look for clues within their play that show their interests. Teachers help children find ways to explore their own ideas and find answers to their own questions through inquiry-based investigation and exploration.

Family Partnerships and Community Connection

We understand that, for many children, their time in the Woodland Early Childhood Program is their first opportunity to join a school community, and we strive to make the experience both joyful and memorable. We strongly believe the importance of positive authentic relationships and partner closely with our families to successfully support the needs of each child in our care. This is often a families first introduction to the Woodland Community and while each Early Childhod classroom builds a community, the Early Childhood community is an entry point to building strong involvement and foundations within our larger school community.

Our Curriculum

Project and Play Based Learning
Our early childhood curriculum is centered around units of study, using an emergent curriculum and project-based learning approach to guide our investigations. Teachers plan and promote meaningful learning experiences based on close observation of children’s interests and developmental needs. Our units of study balance child centered and intentional introductions of topics, ensuring a progression through our learning goals and objectives that encourage lifelong learners.

Each of our classrooms are divided into interest areas where children have time for self directed learning and exploration. Interest areas include a Creation Station, Imaginative Play, Construction Zone, Language and Literacy center, Discovery Zone, and Math and Manipulatives. All classrooms have a designated Calm Spot for social emotional learning (SEL) support.

Our Outdoor Classroom is considered an extension of each classroom where we extend our Interest Areas, and include large motor opportunities.

What is Emergent Curriculum?
Children construct their own knowledge through a carefully planned curriculum that engages and builds upon the child’s current knowledge, recognizing that knowledge cannot simply be provided for the child. The curriculum, often emergent in nature, is based on the interests of the children. When learning is the product of the child’s guided construction rather than simply the teacher’s transmission and the child’s absorption, learning becomes individualized. Most important, teaching becomes a two-way relationship in which the teacher’s understanding of the child is just as important as the child’s understanding of the teacher. Emergent curriculum is not a free-for-all. It requires that teachers actively seek out and chase the interests of the children. This kind of teaching environment demands a high degree of trust in the teacher’s creative abilities, and envisions an image of the child as someone actively seeking knowledge. This NAEYC Article includes additional information about Emergent Curriculum: Emergent Curriculum in Relationship-Driven Learning Environments.

What is Project Based learning?
Young children are naturally curious beings with a desire to seek the answers to their questions. Through project based learning, children have the opportunity to resolve answers to their question through in-depth investigations of a topic of interest. Teachers curate units of study spanning the course of 6-8 weeks on topics of interest derived from the children's interest.

Supporting Whole Child Development

Social Emotional Learning
Social emotional learning (SEL) is foundational to each child’s learning journey here at Woodland. It is an integral part of each child’s day in early childhood as we navigate identifying big emotions, scaffold self-regulation, and discover strategies for managing a full day of socialization and learning opportunities. The Woodland Early Childhood Program utilities trainings and techniques from the Center for Optimal Brain Integration (COBI) to understand and guide our responsive and resilience building practices for our youngest learners.

Each classroom space designates an Calm Spot area, complete with books, sensory tools, emotion charts, soft items and textures. These spaces are designed for 1-2 children to practice identifying and working through emotions, and for teachers to aide in co-regulation.

All classrooms dedicate the first portion of each school year to building strong classroom community. Our classroom agreements include affirmations of kindness, safety, learning aptitude, and a flexible mind-set.

Mixed-Age Group and Development
Each early childhood classroom has an equitable split of 3-5 year olds in preschool (3-4 years) and prekindergarten (4-5 years) in which our early childhood educators scaffold their learning through curating their experiences including whole-group and small group learning opportunities. Our prekindergarten students are encouraged to develop their leadership skills and strength of voice, with an emphasis on Kindergarten-readiness development. Our preschool children are encouraged to develop an understanding of our daily routines, and developmentally appropriate self-help skills as they gain confidence in their abilities.

Benefits of Mix-Age Programs:

Stimulate each other’s development
Academic and social skills are improved for all children
Build self-esteem
Increase leadership skills

NOTE: All children must meet the following qualifications to enter Woodland's Early Childhood program:

Fully potty trained- this includes full independence in pulling their clothing up and down, in wiping their own bodies, and in expressing the need to use the facilities.
5 years of age by September 1st to enter our Woodland’s Kindergarten program.

ECE Milestones

Social Emotional

Regulates own emotions and behaviors

Is able to look at a situation differently or delay gratification
Manages classroom rules, routines, and transitions with occasional reminders
Takes responsibility for own well-being

Establishes and sustains positive relationships

Begins to engage with trusted adults as resources to share mutual interests
Identifies basic emotional reactions of others and their causes accurately
Initiates, joins in, and sustains positive interactions with a small group of two to three children
Establishes a special friendship with one child, but the friendship might only last a short while

Participates cooperatively and constructively in group situations

Initiates the sharing of materials in the classroom and outdoors
Begins to resolve problems through basic negotiation and compromise

Physical

Demonstrates traveling skills

Coordinates increasingly complex movements in play and games

Demonstrates balancing skills

Begins to sustain balance during complex movement experiences

Demonstrates gross-motor manipulative skills

Manipulates balls or similar objects with a full range of motion

Demonstrates fine-motor strength and coordination

Begins to use small, precise finger and hand movements
Begins to use three-point finger grip and efficient hand placement when writing and drawing

Language

Listens to and understands increasingly complex language

Begins to respond appropriately to complex statements, questions, vocabulary, and stories, asking questions when needed; offers opposites for frequently occurring verbs and adjectives; understands the difference between similar action verbs
Begins to follow detailed, instructional, multistep directions

Uses language to express thoughts and needs

Describes and tells the use of many familiar items
Is understood by most people; may mispronounce new, long, or unusual words
Begins to use long, complex sentences and follow most grammatical rules; uses common verbs and nouns (including plural nouns)
Tells stories about other times and places that have a logical order and that include major details

Uses appropriate conversational and other communication skills

Begins to engage in complex, lengthy conversations of five or more exchanges
Begins to use acceptable language and basic social rules during communication with others

Cognition

Demonstrates positive approaches to learning

Sustains work on age appropriate, interesting tasks; can ignore most distractions and interruptions
Plans and pursues a variety of appropriately challenging tasks
Solves problems without having to try every possibility
Shows eagerness to learn about a variety of topics and ideas
Begins to change plans if a better idea is thought of or proposed

Remembers and connects experiences

Tells about experiences in order, provides details, and evaluates the experience; recalls three or four items removed from view
Draws on everyday experiences and applies this knowledge to a similar situation

Uses classification skills

Groups objects by one characteristic; then regroups them using a different characteristic and indicates the reason

Uses symbols and images to represent something not present

Plans and then uses drawings, constructions, movements, and dramatizations to represent ideas
Interacts with two or more children during pretend play, assigning and/or assuming roles and discussing actions; sustains play scenario for up to 10 minutes

Literacy

Demonstrates phonological awareness, phonics skills, and word recognition

Decides whether two words rhyme
Shows awareness that some words begin the same way
Shows awareness of separate syllables in words
Shows understanding that a specific sequence of letters represents a spoken word

Demonstrates knowledge of the alphabet

Recognizes as many as 10 letters, especially those in own name
Begins to produce the correct sounds for a 10-20 letters

Demonstrates knowledge of print and its uses

Knows some features of a book (e.g. title, author, illustrator, front and back covers); connects specific books to authors
Indicates where to start reading and the direction to follow

Comprehends and responds to books and other texts

Asks and answers questions about the text; refers to pictures
Begins to pretend to read, reciting language that closely matches the text on each page and uses reading-like intonation
Retells familiar stories and recounts details from a nonfiction text using pictures or props as prompts

Demonstrates writing skills

Writes partially accurate first name
Uses drawing, dictation, and early invented spelling to convey a message

Mathematics

Uses number concepts and operations

Verbally counts to 20; counts 10-20 objects accurately; knows the last number and states how many in all; tells what number (1-10) comes next in order by counting
Makes sets of 6-10 objects and then describes the parts; identifies which part has more, less, or the same (equal); counts all or counts on to find out how many
Identifies numerals to 10 by name and connects each to counted objects

Explores and describes spatial relationships and shapes

Begins to use and respond appropriately to positional words indicating location, direction, and distance
Describes basic two- and three- dimensional shapes by using own words; recognizes basic shapes when they are presented in a new orientation

Compares and measures

Uses multiples of the same unit to measure; uses numbers to compare; knows the purpose of standard measuring tools
Relates time to daily routines and schedule
Begins to create and read simple graphs; uses simple comparisons and ordinal terms to describe findings

Demonstrates knowledge of patterns

Extends and creates simple repeating patterns

Our Spaces

Indoor and Outdoor Classrooms

Our indoor and outdoor spaces are fluid physical connections to learning opportunities. You will see many indoor spaces mirrored in our outdoor environment, with the addition of gross motor opportunities. Our outdoor classroom provides diverse natural elements that challenge and enriches learning domains pertinent to the overall development and well being of young children.

Woodland’s Early Childhood program embraces Reggio Emilia’s viewpoint of the environment as the third teacher. Our educators intentionally set up environments to prompt learning concepts connected to child-led interests and observations.

Interest Areas

Discovery
Construction Zone
Imagination Station
Language and Literacy
Sensory
Math and Manipulatives

Our Schedule

A Day in the Life of Your Child

8:30am
Community Meeting/Morning gathering

8:45am
Specials rotations: art, music, Spanish, science, physical education and outdoor classroom exploration

10:00am
Morning snack, classroom interest areas, and small group instruction

12:00-12:35pm
Lunch

1:00-2:30pm
Nap/rest, limited table activities

3:30pm
End of school day (2:30pm early release on Fridays)

Extended Day Program option offered separately