EXPECTATIONS OF THREE-YEAR OLDS
The typical three-year old wants to please and is highly susceptible to praise.
Motor behavior is now sure. They enjoy gross motor activities with large objects. Block play usually includes much
carrying and lifting, which is as important as the finished product they are building.
Fine motor development has progressed to enable this age child to pick up small objects more easily. In writing with a
crayon, the adult grasp is simulated. Movements are still awkward. Sometimes they will pick up the crayon with the
non-dominant hand and then transfer it to the dominant hand.
Play now goes on with other children. Whereas at two they were involved in parallel play, they now begin to play
cooperatively. Play is often structured by the children's imagination.
Language has expanded and the three-year old now has the ability to have fun with language. They like to make up
new words and enjoy silly rhyming. They like guessing games. The concept of space and the understanding of place
words have developed so that the three-year old can respond to directions which include prepositions, such as "put the
ball under the table."
Three-year olds can be induced to respond by using words such as: help, needs, guess what and how about. They like
the idea of a surprise and a secret. Compliance is more assured by giving the three-year old a feeling that they have a
choice.
Three and one-half is an age of transition developmentally and visually. Children are more sensitive, non-conforming,
and anxious in their behavior. Stuttering, eye blinking, faulty eye coordination, and trembling hands are manifestations
of motor difficulties.
EXPECTATIONS OF FOUR-YEAR OLDS
At the age of four, children begin to test and feel their power. They need climbing apparatus’, ladders, boards, and
building blocks to release energy as well as learn. They enjoy dramatic play, excursions around the neighborhood,
books and stories, and talking.
Four is not an easy age for children. They are considerably more powerful than at the age of three; language is
developing very rapidly; time sense is increasing; and they can identify with a larger social group. They are selfsufficient in many of their personal needs. This leads many adults to think they can perform on a high level at all
times. When they retreat temporarily to needing help, or when they are suddenly defiant, it may be that they are
exhibiting a persistent need to experiment and test others. At four they have not learned all they need to know about
the ways of their own world, or about other children or adults. Consequently, they still require acceptance of feelings
and help with limits, just as they did at age three, but always with due recognition of their increased growth.
The four to five year old seeks to satisfy curiosity through a discovery process. A school learning environment arranged
with centers allows the freedom and materials to provide for individual and group learning. Each child should be
provided with opportunities to create, explore, discover, and experiment through their own experiences to enable
them to find their own unique place in the world.
EXPECTATIONS OF FIVE-YEAR OLDS
Five-year old children have lost the top-heavy look of infancy and are usually about twice as tall as at two. They are
dependable and obedient with a certain capacity for friendship. They are at their best in small group situations where
they can deal with something they can see for themselves. They are relatively independent and self-sufficient but still
need to be able to count on adults for security in the unfamiliar and unexpected.
Five to six-year old children think in concrete terms, therefore, they need concrete experiences in the learning
environment. They have a special need to experiment and discover things that can be related to their own experiences
and the world around them. Expression through movement and music is necessary for growth. Dramatic and rhythmic
activities are especially appropriate for the 5 to 6 year old.
This age child is interested in creative expression through language by the introduction of sounds, letters and words.
They enjoy learning games that give them opportunities to tell stories, read books through memory, and write language
experience stories.
The self-assuredness of the five-year old is no longer the characteristic of the five and a half-year old who is said to be
restless. During this period the child is in a more-or-less constant state of emotional tension. Many difficulties arise out
of an inability to shift and to modulate behavior. Teachers can help guide this behavior by planning a smooth transition
time when changing from one activity to another.
PRIORITY ACADEMIC STUDENT SKILLS
*Work and play cooperatively in a variety of settings (large groups, small groups, learning centers, etc.).
1. Exhibit behavior that demonstrates an understanding of school and classroom guidelines (routines, rules,
schedules, procedures, etc.).
2. Listen to others while in large and small groups.
3. Stay involved in a self-selected activity for an appropriate length of time.
4. Follow simple verbal directions.
5. Work independently and/or cooperately to solve problems.
6. Select and complete a task while working at a learning center.
7. Choose a variety of materials and activities from learning centers.
8. Recognize dangerous situations and take action to protect self (use of telephone, safety rules, etc.).
9. Attend to personal tasks (clothing, personal hygiene, etc.).
PRIORITY CREATIVE SKILLS
1. Express thoughts and ideas about work and play.
2. Develop and verbalize solutions to simple problems.
3. Think of new uses for familiar materials.
LANGUAGE ARTS
1. Complete simple rhyming pairs.
2. Hear and repeat sounds in a sequence (hand rhymes, vocal sounds, numbers in a sequence, etc.).
3. Hear and repeat a simple eight-to-ten word sentence.
4. Tell what happens first, middle and last about an event or activity.
5. Dictate a story about an event or experience.
6. Answer questions and contribute ideas that are relevant to the conversation or group discussion.
7. Speak using complete sentences that include a subject, verb, simple phrases and some adjectives.
8. Tell what is happening in a picture.
9. Identify and read first and last name in print.
10. Reproduce a three-object pattern from memory.
11. Identify and name eight basic colors (black, brown, red, yellow, orange, green, blue, purple).
12. Match at least half of the upper-case letters with the lower-case letters.
13. Begin to use initial and ending consonant sounds.
14. Begin to name the letters of the alphabet.
15. Begin to recognize, name and match words in context.
16. Read their own "writing" to the group, teacher and/or parents.
17. Demonstrate left-to-right and top-to-bottom eye movement when engaged in appropriate activities (looking at
pictures in sequence, following print on a page).
18. Show basic parts of a book (front and back), hold book correctly, indicate where to begin reading.
19. Print first and last name on unlined paper.
20. Trace, copy and generate shapes, letters and numerals. Children may still be reversing some letters.
MATHEMATICS
1. Identify, name and draw a circle, square, rectangle and triangle when shown an example.
2. Identify some three-dimensional objects (box, can, etc.).
3. Sort objects, group into a set and tell what the objects have in common (color, shape, size, etc.).
4. Build groups or sets that have more than, less than and equivalent quantities and tell which have more and
less.
5. Pair and count objects using one-to-one correspondence.
6. Count orally from one to twenty.
7. Count objects in a set orally one-to-one from zero through ten.
8. Construct, identify and name sets of objects zero through ten.
9. Identify and name numerals zero through ten, in and out of sequence.
10. Match sets of objects to numerals zero through ten.
11. Point to objects and name their ordinal position first though fifth.
12. Write numerals zero to ten, in and out of sequence, on unlined paper. Children may still be reversing some
numerals.
13. Identify and name sizes such as big, bigger, biggest; small, medium, large.
14. Identify and name lengths such as long, longer, longest; short, shorter, shortest.
15. Put objects in graduated order from shortest to tallest, thinnest to thickest, etc.
16. Identify and name a penny, nickel, dime and quarter.
17. Help create and explain a simple graph, such as a bar graph, showing how many boys and girls are in the class.
18. Complete and construct simple patterns with objects such as cars, blocks, etc.
19. Demonstrate (with objects) spatially related terms such as on, above, below, beside, under, on top of, behind
and over.
20. Identify the days of the week and months of the year.
Logical thinking Activities:

Classify blocks by size

Sort crayons, markers, and pencils into containers

Compare sets using more and less

Sorting buttons, keys, coins, pasta, cereal, fabric or paper scraps, marbles, balls, stamps, postcards, jar lids,
leaves, shells, playing cards, etc. and explaining why

Sorting zoo and farm animals for storage

Going on a shape or color hunt.

Give children a small card with a number on it. Put a large number card on the floor and ask children with the
matching card number to hop, jump, etc., then place their small number card on top of the big one. Continue
until everyone matches their numbers.
Seriation Activities:

Create graphs of snack time choices or how many kids walk or ride the bus

Voting

Differences in food

Comparing number of sunny days, cloudy days, etc.

Hang pieces of yarn in front of the room and ask which is the longest or which is the shortest. Have the kids
arrange the yarn by lengths from shortest to longest
Measurement Activities:

Measure shoes, height, length of table, etc. with yarn or hands

Sizes of containers

Blocks to build towers with length or height equal to other objects

Number of steps it takes to get somewhere,

Measure ingredients for cooking.
Shape Activities:

Hunt for shapes throughout the room

Pass around a shape and have children look at it and feel it with eyes open and closed

Have children hunt for shapes in a magazine and paste them on a page

Have the children make objects using a variety of shapes

Have ten cutouts of all different shapes and envelopes with that shape in them, kids place shapes into their
corresponding envelopes

Trace shapes, then color them in

Place one of each shape on a magnetic board or flannel board. Have the children look through a basket of
shapes and place a shape next to its corresponding match

Select several sheets of paper and draw one large shape (can also use numerals). Set out 20 inch long shoelaces
or string. Invite the children to create the shapes or numerals by placing the laces on top of the shape or
numeral on the construction paper sheets.

Use pieces of masking tape to make large outlines on the floor of a circle, square, triangle, etc. Let the
children take turns walking, crawling or hopping around the edges of the shapes. Or ask the child to first
identify the shape before walking around it.
Numeral Activities:

Have the children tell how many of each body parts they have. How many noses? How many eyes, ears, chins,
fingers, etc.

Select five index cards. On the left-hand side of each, write a numeral from 1 to 5. Then, on the right side,
punch a matching number of holes with a hole punch. Let the children take turns counting the number of holes
in the cards and naming the matching numerals. For older children, give them paper squares with numerals and
let them punch out matching numbers of holes.

For each child cut the numeral 1 to 5 out of posterboard. Set out glue and small objects, such as buttons,
toothpicks, cotton balls and circle stickers. Help them glue matching numbers of small objects on their
posterboard numerals. (1 toothpick for the numeral 1, 2 buttons for the numeral 2, etc.)

Cut five apple shapes out of cardboard. Cut one finger hole in the first shape, two in the second, and so on.
Color the apple shapes red and mark each one with the numeral that matches the number of holes in it. Let
your children take turns choosing an apple shape, sticking their fingers through the holes and then naming the
number of "worms" they see.

Number the inside bottoms of six paper baking cups from 1 to 6. Place the baking cups in a 6-cup muffin tin.
Give a child a box containing 21 counters (pennies, small buttons, beans, etc.). Have the child identify the
numerals in the bottoms of the paper baking cups and drop in the corresponding numbers of counters.

Divide a paper plate into six equal sections and label the sections from one to six by drawing on sets of dots.
Write a numeral from 1 to 6 on each of six spring-type clothespins. Let the children take turns clipping the
clothespins to the matching numbered sections on the circle.

Select five index cards. Write a numeral from 1 to 5 on each card. Give the cards to a child along with 15 paper
clips. Have the child choose one card at a time, name the numeral and then attach that number of paper clips
to the card.

Make a blank book for each child by stapling 10 pieces of white paper together with a colored paper cover.
Write "My Counting Book" and the child's name on the front. Number the pages in the book from 1 to 10. Let
your children look through magazines or catalogs and tear or cut out small pictures. Then have them glue one
picture on the first page of their books, two pictures on the second page and so on.
Opposites Activities:

rough and smooth-use rocks, fabric squares, etc.

hard and soft

Use boxes for the following opposites: big/little


open/closed
light/heavy

thick/thin

full/empty

wide/narrow

many/few

far/near

first/last
Pattern Activities:

Look for patterns on leaves

Working with simple patterns in their bead and block construction

Building patterns with two colors of Unifix cubes or pattern blocks

Constructing a pattern with two colors of napkins at snack time

Clapping the rhythms of their name

Coloring every second or fifth or tenth day on a calendar of days in school

Exploring patterns in wallpaper

Create patterns using sponge printing, collage materials, geometric shapes or wrapping or wall paper

Find patterns on the United States flag
Color Activities:

Glue a colored button to the bottom of a 6 cup muffin tin, using 6 different colors in each tin. (Have the same
number and same color of buttons off to the side.) Encourage the children to match the colored buttons to the
ones in the tins.

Try guessing how many of the same colored buttons, beads, etc., there are in a glass jar, then count to see
who came the closest.

Cut red, yellow and blue cellophane into desired shapes. Have the children glue the shapes on sheets of waxed
paper, overlapping the edges of the cellophane as they glue. Attach construction paper frames to the collages,
if desired. Then hand them in the window to let the light shine through all the colors.

For each child put a small amount of red liquid tempera paint and a small amount of yellow into a Ziploc
storage bag. Seal the bags closed. Then let the children squeeze their bags to mix the colors and create
orange. Follow the same procedure using blue and yellow paint to make green; red and blue paint to make
purple, etc.

Cut a 12-inch circle out of white tagboard and divide it into eight sections. Use crayons of markers to color
each section a different color and draw matching colored dots on eight spring-type clothespins. Then let the
children match the colors by clipping the clothespins around the edge of the wheel on the appropriate
sections.

Cut two squares each out of six different colors of construction paper and glue the squares on twelve index
cards. Mix up the cards and spread them out face down on a table. Let one child begin by turning up two cards.
If the colors match, let the child keep the cards. If they don't, have the child replace both cards face down
exactly where they were before. Continue until all the cards have been matched. Then let the child who ended
up with the most cards have the first turn when you start the game again.

Use red, yellow and blue yarn to form three circles on a carpet (or cut circles out of construction paper). Set
out red, yellow and blue wooden beads. Then let the children sort the beads by placing them inside the
matching colored circles.

Cut six squares out of different colors of construction paper and insert them in the sides of a plastic photo
cube. Do the same to a second cube, using the same colors. Then let the children move the cubes around to
find the matching pairs of colors. For variation, use one cube as a color die. Let the children take turns rolling
the die and then naming the color that comes up.

On a piece of paper for each child, attach several different colored self-stick dots in a row to start a pattern
(red, blue, red, blue; orange, yellow, green, orange, yellow green, etc.) Then give the children more dots and
let them continue the pattern across their papers. When they have finished, start a new pattern on each
paper, if desired.

Turn a shoebox upside down and cut two parallel rows of slits in the top. Draw different colored dots on the
ends of one set of tongue depressors and matching colored dots on the ends of another set. Insert one set of
sticks in one of the rows of slits. Then let the children insert matching colored sticks from the second set in the
appropriate slits in the other row.

Make colored eyeglasses by cutting frames out of desired color of tagboard and glue matching colored
cellophane squares over the eyeholes. (Use red, yellow and blue and combine the colors to make green, orange
an purple.) Then attach pipe cleaners to the sides of the frames and bend them to fit over the children's ears.

Place a small mirror in a glass of water and tilt it against the side of the glass. Stand the glass in direct sunlight
so that the mirror reflects a rainbow on the wall. Name the colors with the children (red, orange, yellow,
green, blue and purple). Explain that sunlight contains all these colors mixed together, but when it hits the
water (or raindrops in the sky), all the colors are separated.

Cut large squares out of selected colors of construction paper and spread them out on the floor. Then ask the
children to perform different actions by giving directions such as: "Jason, can you put your foot on a red
square? Brian, can you jump over a purple square?" Finally, ask everyone to find a square to stand on and let
each child name the color of his or her square.

Cut small matching squares out of different colors of construction paper. Place the squares in a paper bag and
have each child draw out a square. Play music and let the children move around the room to find their "color
partners" by matching up their colored squares. Then have them hold hands with their partners and circle
around the room. After everyone has joined the circle, stop the music, collect the squares and start the game
again.
MOTOR SKILLS
1. Demonstrate basic loco-motor movements such as walking, running, jumping, hopping, galloping, and skipping.
2. Demonstrate non loco-motor movements such as bending, stretching, pulling, pushing, etc.
3. Balance on one foot for approximately five seconds.
4. Walk and balance on a four-inch line or balance beam.
5. Coordinate large arm movements such as easel painting, woodworking, climbing, throwing, playing rhythm
band instruments, writing on chalkboard, playing with blocks, catching and tossing.
6. Demonstrate strengthened hand and eye coordination while working with pegs, stringing beads, using pattern
blocks, using crayons, pencils, paint brushes and fingerpaint on plain paper, cutting with scissors, using glue
and a variety of puzzles.
7. Hold and use a pencil, crayons and marker using thumb and two fingers.
SCIENCE
1. Observe and describe characteristics of the four seasons such as temperature, weather, appropriate clothing,
etc.
2. Observe and describe characteristics of weather using vocabulary such as sun, rainbow, clouds, fog, shadows,
dew, frost, rain, hail, sleet, snow, lightning, thunder, temperature and tornado.
3. Observe and describe what various plants and animals need for growth.
4. Observe, classify and describe the sensory attributes of objects according to taste, smell, hearing, touch and
sight.
5. Observe, describe and classify real objects according to their common properties (animals, plants, etc.).
6. State the opposite properties of some objects, such as magnetic-nonmagnetic, float-sink, heavy-light, roughsmooth, hard-soft, wet-dry, etc.
7. Observe and describe the sequence of "simple" life cycles such as plants, frogs, butterflies and chickens
(egg/chicken, seed/plant, etc.).
8. Discuss basic health needs of human beings such as good nutrition, dental care and exercise.
9. Describe simple conservation measures used to protect our environment.
10. Observe, describe and experiment with vibration and sound such as rubber bands, bottles of water and
homemade telephones.
Biological Science:

Observing animals and plants

Observing ant farms, spider webs, other animal homes

Providing care for class pets

Collecting and observing tadpoles

Life cycles of the butterfly

Examine textures found in natural items

Sprouting sweet potatoes, carrot tops, orange seeds, etc.

Seed collections

Class gardens

Hatching eggs

Collecting natural materials

Discuss insects and how they protect themselves

Observing characteristics, movement and feeding of various animals and insects

Imitating sounds made by various animals

Learning the names of animal babies

Discussing ways we care for animals and the way they help us

Watching and feeding birds and observing bird nests

Learning about the different parts of the body and the functions they play

Talking about the roles of family members

Discussing various community helpers

Discussing things children can do now that he couldn't do when he was younger and the things they can do
when they get older

Discussing uses of plants for food, clothing and shelter

Discussing the cycle of a tree and its uses

Caring for plants and exploring their growth

Discussing the different tastes of food (sour, sweet, bitter, salty, etc.)

Preparing vegetables and fruits for eating

Discussing and making butter, ice cream, soup, pudding, jello and applesauce
Physical Science:

Playing with water; floating and sinking, moving objects, etc.

Blowing bubbles

Gears, clamps and vices

Creating elevators

Weighing objects

Physical changes of water

Sound vibrations

Paper airplanes

Manipulating clay

Moving toys with or without wheels

Painting

Blowing activities using straws (blowing a cotton ball across the table, blow painting, etc.)

Rolling balls

Light and shadows

Listening to sounds of the city

Observing machines at work

Familiarizing children with gravity

Discovering the uses of magnets

Performing simple experiments

Siphoning from one container to another

Washing and drying doll clothes

Investigating water (evaporation, cleaning things, changes things, in different forms and purposes it serves).

Floating and sinking in water

Observing reflections in water.

Freezing ice and watching it melt

Providing dishes of things that look alike but are different (salt, refined sugar, powdered sugar, soap flakes,
flour, corn starch, starch, baking powder, etc.) and discussing the uses of each

Feeling various textures (fabrics, screen, wood, glass, metal, sandpaper, egg shells, rocks, nails, etc.).

Smelling various odors
Earth Science:

Discussing different kinds of weather and the apparel for different types of weather

Talking about things in the sky

Investigating the characteristics of snow

Exploring air: movement made by a fan, use paper bags, balloons, pinwheels, whistles, parachute, etc.

Discussing fog, sun and rain

Classifying rocks by size, shape, color, density and hardness (children can scrape them, drop vinegar on them,
weighing them, etc.).Making simple maps of the school property that show all the different surface coverings

Compare sand and soil
SOCIAL STUDIES
1. State their full name, age, birthday, address, telephone number and name of parent or guardian.
2. Identify the title of various school helpers and the individual who occupies that job in the immediate school
setting, including principal, secretary, custodian, counselor, librarian, nurse, cook and teacher.
3. Identify common occupations that occur within their immediate surroundings (bus driver, police officer,
firefighter, etc.).
4. Identify how children within the local community and around the world have needs in common and are also
unique as to languages, food, clothing, transportation and customs.
5. Recognize Michigan on a map of the United States.
6. Begin to develop an understanding of city/town, state, country.
The Playtime's the Thing
A debate over the value of make-believe and other games in preschool classes is deepening as more states fund programs
By Emma Brown
From Education Week [American Education's Newspaper of Record], Saturday, November 21, 2009. See
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/20/AR2009112002391.html
On a recent Thursday, 5-year-old Estefani Lovo Rivera took charge of a make-believe hair salon in her preschool
classroom at Oakridge Elementary in Arlington County. Wielding a plastic fork as a hairbrush, dispatching customer
after customer with a certain cool efficiency, she looked around the room for more classmates to entice.
"You have to come today," the budding stylist said. "Tomorrow we're closed!"
To the untrained eye, such play appears to be nothing more than a distraction from the real letters-and-numbers work
of school. But research shows that it might be an essential part in determining these children's social and emotional
makeup as adults.
As Estefani and the children buzzing around her -- one taking hair appointments over a telephone, another pretending
to curl a client's hair with an eggbeater -- spun their scenario, they were developing the roots of empathy and the
capacity to take turns, negotiate with peers and understand how their behavior affects people.
"Play is problem-solving," said Judy Apostolico-Buck, Arlington's early childhood education coordinator. "It's really
critical life skills."
The debate among early childhood educators over whether precious school hours should be spent on play has simmered
for years. But it is intensifying as preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds, once the province of child-care centers, is
increasingly embraced [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/07/AR2009060702116.html] by
public school systems to teach students the skills they need to be successful in kindergarten. That is especially true for
poor and minority children and those who speak English as a second language.
"If we are to prevent the achievement gap and develop a cradle-to-career educational pipeline, early learning
programs are going to have to be better integrated with the K-12 system," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said
Wednesday at a convention of the nation's largest early childhood organization, the National Association for the
Education of Young Children.
Locally and across the nation, time for play has been increasingly squeezed out of kindergarten and first grade as
schools, bent on raising student achievement, especially among poor and minority students, have focused on literacy
[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/22/AR2007052201696.html] and math skills for children at
ever-younger ages. The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires schools to ensure that all children are proficient in
math, reading and writing by 2014.
That proficiency is measured on tests, but the far-reaching effects of play don't show up in answers to multiple-choice
questions. They show up in life.
Research has shown that by 23 [http://www.highscope.org/Content.asp?ContentId=241], people who attended play-based
preschools were eight times less likely to need treatment for emotional disturbances than those who went to
preschools where direct instruction prevailed. Graduates of the play-based preschools were three times less likely to
be arrested for committing a felony.
"It's not that direct instruction caused delinquency," said Larry Schweinhart, director of the HighScope Research
Foundation in Ypsilanti, Mich., which conducted the study and developed the play-based curriculum that Arlington uses
in all 31 of its preschool classes for low-income children. "But it wasn't preventing it. It wasn't giving kids an
opportunity to develop socially."
A more recent study [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2174918/] showed that certain kinds of fantasy play,
in which students plan the roles they're going to fill, have a measurable effect on children's ability to control their
impulses. That skill is more closely correlated to academic success in kindergarten than intelligence is.
Direct instruction
Nevertheless, in kindergarten, children are playing for fewer than 30 minutes a day, according to a study
[http://www.allianceforchildhood.org/] of full-day kindergartens in New York City and Los Angeles published in the
spring by the Alliance for Childhood, a nonprofit group based in College Park. They spend four to six times more time
on literacy, math and test-taking than they do on play.
More than 1.1 million children were enrolled in 38 state-funded preschool programs last year, according to the National
Institute for Early Education Research, and that number continues to climb. Alaska and Rhode Island introduced pilot
preschool programs this year, and despite the recession, state funding for pre-kindergarten classes rose this year by 1
percent nationwide, according to an October report [download at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2009/11/20/AR2009112002391.html - scroll down] by the Pew Center on the States. Virginia, Maryland
and D.C. public schools put more money into preschool this fiscal year.
Play advocates welcome the dollars but worry that politicians eager for tangible returns on taxpayers' investment in
early education, and school officials eager for better test scores, will push for more direct instruction, an efficient way
to get short-term gains in literacy and math.
"Teaching numbers, teaching letters, teaching facts through direct instruction will get you better test scores," said
Steven Barnett, director of the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University. "There's no
question about it, because you're basically teaching the items on the test."
There's no such incentive, advocates said, to give children time to build things with blocks or play dress-up. The choice
between measurably improving math and language skills and making time for play is particularly an issue in
jurisdictions that offer half-day preschool, said Barbara Bowman, who has advised Duncan on early education issues
and is a founder of the Erikson Institute in Chicago, a graduate school in child development.
"Ending the achievement gap is one of the high priorities, and that means giving low-income kids the same skills and
knowledge that middle-class kids have," Bowman said. "In a short school day, sometimes direct instruction is a better
device."
Broadening vocabularies
In Arlington, where preschool classes are full-day, an hour or more of play is balanced by 45 minutes of teaching
literacy skills directly. Playtime doubles as a time to build vocabulary.
At the Oakridge salon, teacher Kate Durbin, who had been watching, introduced two words, asking one student
whether he was "curling" his classmate's hair and another whether she could make an "appointment."
Children need to play and learn the alphabet at school, Durbin said, because they might not learn it anywhere else.
"The benefit of a full-day program is that we can do all those things," she said.
The hybrid model appears to be working, at least as far as tests can detect. Through fifth grade, low-income county
students who attended preschool consistently scored higher on state SOL tests than low-income students who didn't
attend preschool, according to an analysis commissioned by the school system last year.