Pre-Kindergarten
Teachers:
Mrs. Zeleny
Mrs. Worsham & Mrs. Hay- Teacher Assistants
Dear Prekindergarten Families:
Welcome to Prekindergarten! This will be an important and exciting year for you and your child. Your child will be involved in a wide variety of engaging learning experiences that will nurture academic and social development. In Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS), Differentiated Instruction is an initiative at all grade levels. Our classrooms are highly diverse, and teachers plan strategically in order to meet the needs of ALL learners. Your child’s instructional program will include the following elements:
Language Arts – Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking:
The Prekindergarten Language Arts program is based on the Maryland College and Career Readiness Curriculum for reading, writing, listening and speaking. Objectives related to reading skills such as phonological awareness, phonics, and comprehension are taught each day. Prekindergarten writing instruction focuses on the conventions of writing as well as writing to communicate ideas related to personal experiences and stories. Each day, children are involved in listening to stories, songs and poems that expand oral language. The progress of students toward language arts objectives are evaluated routinely through teacher observation and periodic assessments. AACPS creates a positive literacy culture in the classroom by prompting growth mindset and risk taking. Prekindergarten students participate in both large and small group instruction daily that focuses on key literacy components that supports both comprehension and decoding.
Mathematics:
AACPS Prekindergarten Mathematics program implements the Maryland College and Career-Ready Standards and focuses on establishing and extending understanding related to number, quantity, addition, subtraction, geometry, and measurement. AACPS values creating a positive math culture in the classroom by inspiring success for all students through growth mindset and risk taking. Students will participate in both large and small group instruction that will support their new learning to real life situations. AACPS embraces opportunities to make math visible with the use of concrete manipulatives and representations to develop conceptual understanding. Math is a social experience as students engage in meaningful conversations with their peers.
AACPS strives to inspire students to see the beauty in math through games and real-world problem-solving. Students can practice mathematics at home including counting steps from the house to the playground, counting items while they clean their room, cooking with a family member and through basic play.
Science:
The AACPS Prekindergarten Science program is based on the Maryland Early Learning Standards for Science. It is organized into the following units: weather, plants, animals, and the observable properties of objects. Students engage in large and small group lessons that focus on learning important science concepts, applying new science understandings to hands-on activities, and bringing science to life.
Social Studies:
AACPS Prekindergarten Social Studies program is based on the Maryland Early Learning Standards for Social Studies and is organized into units around the themes of rules, symbols of the United States, families, friends, maps and globes, and workers in our community. The Develop, Inspire, Grow (DIG) Prekindergarten Social Studies Curriculum also incorporates social/emotional literacy to support instruction in empathy, problem solving, and conflict resolution.
Environmental Literacy:
Students learn about “The Trouble with Trash!” They explore that trash causes trouble by filling up landfills and by littering land and water. Students learn to recycle at school and at home. They learn not to litter and to clean up litter (with adult help). Students take action to help the environment by hosting a recycling picnic at school for family members to share what they have learned.
Visual Arts:
The Prekindergarten general Visual Arts program provides students with a variety of experiences including drawing, painting, printmaking, and sculpture. Skills, concepts, and experiences are presented within a differentiated visual arts framework that exposes children to a variety of tools, techniques and master exemplars. Visual Arts classroom experiences tap heavily into brain-based learning strategies and 21st century skills. In addition, Maryland College and Career Ready Standards and Practices, Arts Integration, and STEM practices are embedded in instruction. All factors combine to offer students in all grades a balanced, complete program in a visual arts education.
Play is an essential part of the prekindergarten day as it allows students to use their creativity while developing their imagination and critical thinking skills. Through play, prekindergarten students can apply new learning, ask questions, seek out new information, and discover new ideas.
Additionally, Health, Music, Physical Education, Library Media and Technology activities are incorporated in the prekindergarten day.