What Does Carousel Nursery School Teach?

Nursery School is the bridge between home and school, where a child learns independence and sharing, cooperation with classmates and teachers, and the ability to function in a group. Research psychologists have demonstrated by their experiments that “a child’s intelligence is not fixed at birth but in fact, can be dramatically affected by the child’s experiences and his/her environment, especially in the very early years”. With a planned curriculum, Carousel’s program allows each child to move at his/her own pace, to develop and refine large muscles, to strengthen small ones, to increase eye- hand coordination and to gain concrete and abstract concepts building toward reading readiness and number work. A child will develop socially by sharing materials, taking turns, following instructions by someone not his/her family, assuming responsibilities, and growing in self confidence.

Carousel Academy teachers work hard to ensure that students are confident and well-prepared for kindergarten. We also partner with parents and families to prepare each child for kindergarten, as well as their future educational career. The pre-kindergarten’s curriculum not only prepares each child academically but also includes important goals to enhance social and emotional skills.

Teachers use developmentally appropriate practices when planning and preparing lesson plans and experiences. The children learn with hands-on materials that both engage, develop, and enhance their academic skills and abilities. By the end of his/her nursery school career, we hope to have fostered in your child a love of learning and a positive attitude toward school life.

Below are some of the skills the children will work on throughout the school year in our Universal Pre-K and 4 year old classes. An introductory of these skills will be the focus of our 3 year old program.

Quantitative Skills

  • Rote counting 1-10 (1-20 by the end of the year)
  • Count objects 1 by 1 (1-20 by the end of the year)
  • Recognize numerals 1-10
  • Writing of numbers
  • Sort objects or pictures into different categories
  • Describe and classify the attributes of various objects
  • Simple comparative terms (big and small, heavy and light, etc.)
  • Recognize shapes
  • Recognize colors
  • also before and after, today, tomorrow and yesterday, days of the week, months and year, the four seasons and recurrence of familiar holidays.

Literacy Skills

  • Listen to peers and adults
  • Identify most of the letters in the alphabet (By the end of the year, identify the letter in first and last name)
  • Write most of the letters of the alphabet (By the end of the year, write first name)
  • Identify sounds of letters and beginning sounds of words
  • Identify print concepts (reading from top to bottom and left to right, the parts of a book. letters make words, and that words have meaning, etc.)
  • Identify the parts of a book
  • Retell simple and familiar stories
  • Recognize rhyming sounds

Social/Emotional and Self-Help Skills

  • Listen to peers and adults
  • Participate in cooperative play
  • Participate in whole group and small group instruction
  • Respect and use materials properly
  • Ability to state feelings
  • Ability to make individual choices
  • Button and zipper clothing/jackets
  • Take care of self in the bathroom
  • Follow themes (Our neighborhood, Fire Prevention, etc.) and holidays (Halloween, Mother’s Day, etc.)
  • Citizenship (The pledge of Allegiance);

Science

  • Classification ideas (fruits and vegetables, summer vs. winter)
  • Discovering the five senses; augmented by the Pre-School magazine “Let’s Find Out”

Arts and Crafts

  • Working with various materials (play dough, paint, paste, scissors, string, macaroni, fabric scraps); Usually relating to our weekly and/or monthly theme.

Music

  • Listening
  • Singing
  • Developing rhythm
  • Creating movement
  • Developing listening skills, and auditory discrimination.

Health and Safety

Done in connection with school activities and relating to

  • daily routines-body care
  • grooming
  • good health and nutrition habits
  • safety at home, in school, and in the car
  • Our program includes “Doctor’s Week”, “Good Food Week”, “Traffic Safety” and more.

Gross Motor Skills

  • Balance on 1 foot for 5 or more seconds
  • Throw ball overhand
  • Gallop
  • Walk full length of the balance beam
  • Walk up and down stairs alone
  • Manage climbing equipment
  • Skip on alternating feet
  • Hop 2 or 3 yards

Fine Motor Skills:

  • Grasp pencil, crayon, etc. correctly
  • Manipulate most tiny objects
  • Copy shapes from a given example
  • Draw a 2-6 part person

Additionally

Counting and basic words in French are taught. Special programs are presented such as, “A to Zap”;”Take Care”(home and personal safety), the Zoo Trunk by the Buffalo Zoo; a picnic and puppet show at year’s end; parties for birthday’s and holiday’s (Christmas, Valentine’s Day etc.), “School Bus Day” and final Graduation.Search for: