Preschool Curriculum

PRESCHOOL

Grades 18 Months through Pre-K

Children’s earliest learning experiences are a celebration of discovery. At The Milton I. Schwartz Hebrew Academy Preschool, we create a nurturing and stimulating environment to help children explore the world around them. We provide children with activities that facilitate development at their own pace. Our comprehensive program fosters children’s love of learning, as well as their social, emotional, intellectual, physical and spiritual growth.

Children learn through an abundance of hands-on, sensory, experiential and nurturing activities that promote identity and community. We encourage them to explore and be active participants in the learning process. Jewish experience is woven into the structure of daily life, providing children with a meaningful exploration of Jewish traditions and values.

I. Curriculum

PINNACLE

The Pinnacle Curriculum is developmentally appropriate for children. Based on the works of Piaget, Gardner and Erikson, the curriculum facilitates social, emotional, cognitive and physical development. Flexible programming accommodates various learning styles. Themes that capture children’s interests link to key standards to enrich developmental milestones. Daily interactive activities help children develop a love for learning while they are growing, playing and having fun.

In conjunction with the Pinnacle program, monthly themes with relevant and meaningful content are organized into smaller weekly themes. This approach helps foster children’s natural curiosity about the world around them.

LETTERLAND

Letters come to life in the imaginary world of Letterland. This phonics curriculum teaches the alphabet and all 44 letter sounds in the English language. Children master the alphabet through engaging stories, songs and pictures. A writing element is also included. Several tools, such as rhyme and repetition, teach children how to properly write each letter. Our goal by the end of Preschool is to give each child the tools to blend sounds together to write and read words and then string words together to make simple sentences.

PASSPORTS PROGRAM

Passports is a cultural and geography enrichment curriculum implemented in Junior Kindergarten. This curriculum teaches children about the world and its many different people. Each month the class takes a virtual journey to a different country. The journey includes learning about the landscape, weather, language, art, music, animals, food, flag, money, native dress, games and customs of that nation. Children learn with all of their senses. They taste foods, create art and listen to music from the featured country and participate in games designed to stimulate excitement for learning.

II. Grade Specific Learning

18-MONTH PROGRAM

Through the Pinnacle Curriculum, children in the 18-month program learn basic skills to become happy, productive and caring individuals.

They learn to empathize with others, accept and celebrate differences between themselves, communicate their feelings, resolve conflicts in constructive ways and become part of a loving community. Activities lay the groundwork for later formation of values such as courage, wisdom, prudence, endurance, commitment and justice.

2-YEAR-OLD PROGRAM

In our 2-year-old program, we nurture the whole child. In addition to following the Pinnacle Curriculum, we create a caring community of learners by developing children’s self-confidence and fostering positive feelings toward learning.

Children explore and learn about their environment, investigate what sparks their curiosity and experiment with cause-and-effect relationships. Recognizing that play is vital for children learning about their environment, we provide opportunities for group problem solving through modeling, coaching, grouping and other strategies.

Our curriculum helps children explore and acquire key concepts and tools of inquiry appropriate for their age. It allows us to provide meaningful experiences to develop the children’s language and literacy skills. Approaches include storytelling, charts, labeling, poetry, field trips and dramatic play. We also encourage exploration of patterns with math, art, music, nature, blocks and other materials. Children work on developing fine motor skills with pegboards, beads, construction sets, cutting, drawing, painting and puzzles. Finally, we encourage self-help skills such as dressing, toileting, serving, feeding, washing hands and picking up toys.

3-YEAR-OLD PROGRAM

The 3-year-old program centers on the Pinnacle and Letterland curricula. Much of the day is spent in learning-center activities, utilizing Pinnacle’s weekly unit themes. The learning centers provide hands-on fun in language, creative arts, math/manipulative, dramatic play, science/sensory, music/movement and outdoor learning. Activities meet learning objectives and help children become
lifelong successful learners.

4-YEAR-OLD PROGRAM/JUNIOR KINDERGARTEN

Our 4-year-old program incorporates all three Preschool curricula: Pinnacle, Letterland and Passports. The main focus of Junior Kindergarten is teaching children skills to succeed in Lower School and beyond. Children practice community-building, writing and basic math skills daily. Our goal by the end of Junior Kindergarten is to encourage every child to feel comfortable writing and identifying letters, making basic written words and sentences, and understanding basic addition.

JUDAICS

Our Jewish early-childhood program enables students to become curious and creative learners with a strong sense of belonging in the school community. The goals are the same that teachers have for children everywhere — helping children feel safe, develop positive self-images, love learning and grow to be happy, productive adults. Our school, however, strives for even more. We seek to give our children the gift of a Jewish heritage. As Jewish early-childhood educators, we foster a love for Jewish learning, a fascination with holidays and lifecycle events, and a passion for approaching the world in a Jewish way.

Through the teaching of Torah stories, rituals, lifecycle events and holidays, children understand basic community behaviors. Torah study enables our teachers to have discussions with children about friendship, compassion, honesty, integrity, perseverance and other important values.

The Judaic Studies curriculum is designed to provide a hands-on, engaging and enriching experience for our children. We use a variety of educational techniques for learning Torah, such as song, dance, arts and crafts, storytelling and integration with general studies. By taking student learning beyond specific classroom activities, children reach a deeper, enduring understanding of Judaism, which can establish the basis for lifelong Jewish learning and living. Curricular resources include “Fingerprints,” “Chai Learning for Jewish Life” and “Torah Alive.”

HEBREW

Our Hebrew language program imparts a basic knowledge of Hebrew that provides a foundation for future study of the language. We develop our children’s ability to communicate in Hebrew by providing many opportunities to use linguistic patterns and vocabulary. Children connect Hebrew to everyday social situations related to their experiences in the home, at school, in encounters with friends and in holiday celebrations. Our program makes Hebrew a source of pleasure for the children.

Principles that guide our program are:

• The child in the center — The entire program and all activities were designed with children in mind. Children are guided by research on language acquisition at each primary age. We imbue in children a love for Hebrew as well as a sound basis of the language by teaching it in an authentic communicative manner.

• Graded, systematic language instruction — We focus on linguistic patterns that are the foundation of the language. Through these patterns, children learn the rules of the Hebrew language. The inclusion of vocabulary familiar to the children facilitates progressive learning. For example, chocolate and shokolad. This creates a sense of basic knowledge and confidence in Hebrew and enables the child to speak Hebrew from the very first sessions.

• Spiral instruction — Children learn to use language through repeated encounters with the same pattern in different contexts. Each study unit builds on those before and includes the previously learned vocabulary and patterns.

• Israel education — The Hebrew language serves as a bridge connecting the children to Israel and Judaism. The program includes activities and teaching aids that, in addition to Hebrew language instruction, provide a window on the landscapes and people of Israel.