Trinity Day School Preschool Curriculum
Our goal is to create a secure, nurturing environment where children are accepted for their
individuality and respected as curious learners. With understanding, facilitation and a clear
knowledge of child development we will expose our students to a variety of age-appropriate
activities while empowering them to make independent decisions and choices in their
exploration. We will provide experiences that promote self-reliance and build self-esteem.
Guiding Principles are as follows:
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Positive interactions and relationships with adults provide a critical foundation for
successful learning.
Social-emotional competence is a significant factor in school success.
Constructive, purposeful play supports essential learning.
The physical environment affects the type and quality of learning interactions.
Teacher-family partnerships promote development and learning.
Program Goals and Content Standards:
Our curriculum objectives for learning and development are divided into nine areas of child
growth and development. The first four describe major areas of child growth and development:
social-emotional, physical, language and cognitive. The other five areas are described as
outcomes in early learning standards; Literacy, Mathematics, Science and Technology, Social
Studies, and The Arts. Attention is given to the different needs, interests and developmental
levels of the individual children and each child’s family and community cultures when planning
curriculum.
Social-Emotional Development
Young children’s social-emotional development involves learning how to understand their own
and other’s feelings, regulate and express their emotions appropriately, build relationships with
others, and interact in groups.
Social-Emotional Development Objectives (3):
1. Regulates own emotions and behaviors
a. Manages feelings
b. Follows limits and expectations
c. Takes care of own needs appropriately
2. Establishes and sustains positive relationships
a. Forms relationships with adults
b. Responds to emotional cues
c. Interacts with peers
d. Makes friends
3. Participates cooperatively and constructively in group situations
a. Balances needs and rights of self and others
b. Solves social problems
Physical Development
Physical development includes children’s gross (large muscle) and fine (small muscle) motor
skills. Balance; coordination; and locomotion, or traveling, are part of gross-motor development.
Grabbing an object; picking up a small object; cutting; drawing; and writing, are part of finemotor development.
Physical Development Objectives (4):
4. Demonstrates traveling skills
5. Demonstrates balancing skills
6. Demonstrates gross-motor manipulative skills
7. Demonstrates fine-motor strength and coordination
a. Uses fingers and hands
b. Uses writing and drawing tools
Language Development
Language is the principal tool for establishing and maintaining relationships with adults and
other children. Children’s desire to communicate their thoughts, ideas, needs, and feelings with
others motivates them to develop language. Language also involves learning about the structure
and sequence of speech sounds, vocabulary, grammar, and the rules for engaging in appropriate
and effective conversation.
Language Development Objectives (3):
8. Listens to and understand increasingly complex language
a. Comprehends language
b. Follows directions
9. Uses language to express thoughts and needs
a. Uses an expanding expressive vocabulary
b. Speaks clearly
c. Uses conventional grammar
d. Tells about another time or place
10. Uses appropriate conversational and other communication skills
a. Engages in conversations
b. Uses social rules of language
Cognitive Development
Cognitive development, also called intellectual development, is influenced by the child’s
approaches to learning as well as his or her biological makeup and the environment. Cognitive
skills include information processing, memory, classification, problem solving, language
acquisition, and reading and mathematics learning.
Cognitive Development Objectives (4):
11. Demonstrates positive approaches to learning
a. Attends and engages
b. Persists
c. Solves problems
d. Shows curiosity and motivation
e. Shows flexibility and inventiveness in thinking
12. Remembers and connects experiences
a. Recognizes and recalls
b. Makes connections
13. Uses classification skills
14. Uses symbols and images to represent something not present
a. Thinks symbolically
b. Engages in sociodramatic play
Literacy Objectives (5):
15. Demonstrates phonological awareness
a. Notices and discriminates rhyme
b. Notices and discriminates alliteration
c. Notices and discriminates smaller and smaller units of sound
16. Demonstrates knowledge of the alphabet
a. Identifies and names letters
b. Uses letter-sound knowledge
17. Demonstrates knowledge of print and its uses
a. Uses and appreciates books
b. Uses print concepts
18. Comprehends and responds to books and other texts
a. Interacts during read-alouds and book conversations
b. Uses emergent reading skills
c. Retells stories
19. Demonstrates emergent writing skills
a. Writes name
b. Writes to convey meaning
Mathematics Objectives (4):
20. Uses number concepts and operations
a. Counts
b. Quantifies
c. Connects numerals with their quantities
21. Explores and describes spatial relationships and shapes
a. Understand spatial relationships
b. Understands shapes
22. Compares and measures
23. Demonstrates knowledge of patterns
Science and Technology Objectives (5):
24. Uses scientific inquiry skills
25. Demonstrates knowledge of the characteristics of living things
26. Demonstrates knowledge of the physical properties of objects and materials
27. Demonstrates knowledge of Earth’s environment
28. Uses tools and other technology to perform tasks
Social Studies (4):
29. Demonstrates knowledge about self
30. Shows basic understanding of people and how they live
31. Explores changes related to familiar people or places
32. Demonstrates simple geographic knowledge
The Arts (4):
33. Explores the visual arts
34. Explores musical concepts and expression
35. Explores dance and movement concepts
36. Explores drama through actions and language
Assessment: Teachers will use ongoing assessments to plan and implement developmentally
appropriate curriculum that addresses specific learning outcomes. They will observe, record and
document children’s progress and use these assessments as a basis for a variety of educational
decisions that affect the child.
Communication: Written reports will be given to parents at least twice per year (in the fall and in
the spring). Conferences will be scheduled at those times to involve families in planning and
implementing assessments.
Orientation: Parent orientation will be held in the evening before classes begin. Parents will be
informed about school policies and will have the opportunity to meet their child’s teachers.
Student orientation is a staggered schedule held during the first few days of school.
Students meet in small groups which provide a calm, gradual introduction to our classroom
routines.