Curriculum &
Programming for
Preschoolers
Basic Considerations
Preschoolers
Setting Up the Physical Preschool
Environment: Basic Considerations
Preschoolers (3 - 5 years)
• Active learners
• Developing sense of self
• Learning to play with others
• Can put toys away in the right places
• Recognize and can choose a special interest area
• Learns through playing with dramatic play materials,
blocks, manipulatives, art materials, and books
• Are likely to want some choice about what to do and when
New concerns
• Use space to control group size
• Separate noisy and quiet areas
• Control traffic flow by setting up the classroom
Basic Activity Centers for
Preschoolers
Pretend play
• Doll play, house play
(kitchen, cleaning, …)
• Store, medical office
Music
Dress up play
Literacy & numeracy
areas
Cooking
Constructive play
Movement areas
Science & Discovery
Arts & Crafts
• Sorting & classifying
• Growth (e.g., plants)
• Pet center
• Painting, crafts, collage
Circle activity
Sample preschool classrooms
Sample Preschool classroom
Physical Development
Preschoolers
Preschoolers’ Physical Development
Leaner, lankier appearance
Increased motor coordination
• Learning new small-muscle skills
• Perfecting eye/hand coordination
• Learning new motor skills, like climbing, jumping, throwing and catching,
peddling a tricycle, pumping a swing, hopping on one foot and galloping
• Like to jump and climb but not aware of the risks in doing so
Motor developed also linked to social development and sense of
self
• Proud of physical accomplishments and insist on being watched
• Aware of the motor skills that other children are mastering
• May engage in competitive rough-and-tumble games involving sliding, racing,
jumping, balancing, and swinging without regard for safety
Remember, physical activity is critical for active learning
• Games like
“toe the
line” or
balance
beams
Improving throwing, catching & jumping skills
• Duck,
duck,
goose
• Red light,
green light
• Follow the
leader
Improving balance
• Wheel toys
& riding
path
• Climbing
structures
• Planks and
large
blocks
• Balls
• Hula hoops
• Tire swings
• Balance
beams
Games
Outdoor equipment
Activities for large-muscle
development
• Tether ball
• Circle
games
with large
balls
• Beanbag
toss
• Hopscotch
Sample preschool playground
Activities that enhance
small-muscle development
Activities that practice
finger isolation and finger
strength using materials
such as beads, pegboards,
geo-boards (rubber band
boards), lacing materials
Have a clothesline and
clothespins in the
dramatic play area
Arts & crafts
Play dough and a variety
objects to manipulate it
for rolling, cutting,
stamping, molding,
cutting, poking
Meal time
Cognitive Development
Preschoolers
Preschoolers’ Cognitive
Development
Preoperational stage of intellectual development (Piaget)
• Growing ability to use symbols
• Able to understand concepts and make generalizations and are
ready for a thematic curriculum
• Starting to organize their understanding of the world
• How are things alike and different?
• Interested in how things work, what things change into, and how
they can be transformed
• Interested and ready to learn about counting and creating sets of
objects up to 10
• Enjoy sorting things and making collections
• Remember things that happened in the past and anticipate what
will happen in the future
• Center on one thought, and unable to conserve
• Egocentric
Activities that promote
cognitive development
Matching & sorting
activities
• Color, shape,
type of food
Numeracy skills
• Counting by rote
• One-to-one
correspondence
• Matching
numerals to sets
• “take your
share”
• Crowd control
• Everyday math
Science
•
•
•
•
Balance scales
Water tables
Magnets
Nature (shells,
leaves, plants,
caterpillars…)
• Demonstrations
& class projects
• Pets (fish,
hamster, …)
Language Development
Preschoolers
Preschoolers’ Language
Development
Bursting with language
Learning rules of language as well as meaning of language
Do not just parrot back what they hear, but language use is an
original construction
Have mastered the basic vocabulary, rules, and most of the sounds
of language by 6 years of age
Ask questions such as when, where, why and how
Have capacity to master more than one language
Promoting Language
Development
Storytime
Conversations with (not at)
children
•Before reading
•During reading
•After reading
Support emergent literacy
•Read alouds
•Availability of books
•Alphabetic knowledge
•Phonological awareness
•Print awareness
•Writing activities
How to Read to Children
Before Reading Activities
Introducing the story
Activating background
knowledge
Generating interest
During Reading Activities
Making predictions
Making connections
After Reading
Follow-up activities extending what
children learned
Opportunity to generalize to
children’s lives and knowledge
Quick as a Cricket
Before Reading Activities
Have children describe animals with
adjectives
Play a game of opposites
During Reading Activities
Discuss describing words and types of animals
Have children guess what the adjective will
be
After Reading
Describe themselves using
the same pattern as the book
Draw a picture of animals
that reflect them
Play a game of opposites
Creativity
Preschoolers
Preschoolers’ Creative
Development
Enjoy creating with different materials, such as finger paint, water colors,
tempera, collage, play dough, clay
More interested in the process of creating than the product
Intensely interested and committed to own creations and is unlikely to welcome
interference
Enjoy telling stories and making up songs
Use drawing and art as a way to tell stories
Enjoy making up rhymes and playing with words
Enjoy different kinds of dramatic play, including macro play, in which they are the
actors, and micro play, in which they tell stories using miniature objects
Promoting Creative Development
Art
Music
•
•
•
•
•
•
• Singing
• Bands
• Dances and games
Tearing and pasting
Printing
Puppets
Collages
Drawing & painting
Crafts (egg carton
gardens, paper
plate faces, …)
Imaginative
Play
• Puppet shows
• Many different
kinds of props
• Firefighter,
restaurant,
beach, ….
Emotional Development
Preschoolers
Preschooler’s Emotional
Development
Initiative vs. Guilt (Erikson)
Self-regulation / executive function
Aware of own individuality and able to express feelings, needs and
desires
Evaluate own skills and compare them to others
Recognize ability to make choices and control impulsive behaviors
Respond positively to deserved praise and approval
Promoting Emotional Development
Activities to help children express their feelings
•
•
•
•
Puppets
“how am I feeling” chart
Feeling songs
Feeling stories
Help children cope with separation
Promote responsibility
• Dressing skills
• Keeping track of personal possessions
• Cleaning up after themselves
Social Development
Preschoolers
Preschoolers’ Social
Development
Want to participate in school and life activities
Growing role of friendship
• Form special friendships
• Initiate play and figure out ways of joining established groups
• Learning to assume the roles of leader and follower, even
though they may have a preferred role
• Engage in increasingly more complex games with friends
• Make plans with friends
Growing skill in social interaction
• Learning to settle conflicts and disputes with words
• Transition from solitary to parallel to cooperative play
Promoting Social Development
Setting the environment
to promote social
competence
Give special help to
children who are shy or
fearful of joining groups
Activities that encourage
social skill develop
• Pretend play, cooperative
games, cooperative art
projects
Give special help to
children whose
aggressive, impulsive or
bossy behavior causes
them to be rejected or is
hurtful to others
Be calm during conflict,
and use a problemsolving approach
Provide opportunities to
engage in play alone and
with others
Help children negotiate
with each other and
work out solutions to
conflicts themselves
Transitioning to Kindergarten
Skills Children Need to
Successfully Transition to
Kindergarten
Cognitive/Academic Skills
•Curiosity & initiative
•Problem solving
•Follow directions
•Speaking using complete
sentences words
•Some early literacy skills
•Identify rhyming words,
some letter knowledge,
can write own name
•Some early numeracy
skills
•Count to 10, Sort objects
according to size, shape
and quantity
Gross & Fine Motor
•Grip a pencil, crayon or
marker correctly
•Use scissors, glue, paint
and other art materials
Self-regulation
•Self-care
•Dressing, using
bathroom, knows name,
address, phone number
and parents’ full names
•Persistence
•Sustain attention
•Inhibit inappropriate
behavior
•Self-direction
Preparing Children for
Kindergarten
Discuss kindergarten
• Use enthusiasm and excitement
• Many terrific books
• Encourage children to express how they are
feeling
• Make kindergarten exciting, not something scary
Preparing Children for
Kindergarten (cont’d)
Schedule a visit or a series of visits to the new school for the
children. Take pictures or videos of these activities to share with
children and parents.
If the kindergarten program has different rules (such as lining up to
go on the bus), the preschool teacher may want to play games with
the children to familiarize them with the new procedures.
Invite a kindergarten child or older sibling to visit the preschool
and talk about his/her school.
Make a calendar to highlight important events such as visits to the
school, good-bye party, first day of school, etc.
Preparing Parents for
Kindergarten
Provide parents with
information about
the school their child
may be attending
Encourage parents to
attend kindergarten
"round-up" that the
school may plan for
incoming parents.
Discuss child care
options with working
parents.
Discuss the transfer of
records with parents
and provide release of
information forms to be
signed by the parents.
Help arrange a visit
for the parent and
child to the new
school.
Encourage parents to
build their child's
confidence about
going to school.
Introduce parents to
other parents of
children who will
attend the new
program.
Encourage meetings
of new classmates
prior to school
opening.
Discuss changes in
services for parents
that may not be
available in the
public school.
What is the future of
preschool?
Universal preschool
Rigorous academic
standards
High quality
teachers
Increased use of
technology
Pre-K – 3 continuum
Increased funding
for high quality
preschool programs