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Nursery children must be three years old by August
31. Children of this age have begun to use language to communicate
needs and feelings. They begin to play with sounds and rhymes.
Often the articulation of some words is unclear. They might recognize
their name on the job chart and may notice that another name has
the same beginning letter. Fine motor skills are slowly developing,
and they enjoy many activities that support the development of
these skills.
The transition from thinking with the body to thinking
with the mind has begun to take place. Various play behaviors begin
to emerge that continue through the early childhood years. Some
children are watchers; some are doers. Some need support to get
involved in activities, and others are particularly independent.
Some engage in parallel or associative play, and a few engage in
cooperative play, which increases as the children grow older. But
children of this age have difficulty understanding any point of
view other than their own. While play behavior does become more
cooperative, egocentric behavior still dominates.
The Nursery children spend most of their time in
their nurturing homeroom environment, where they play out dramatic
scenarios in the dress-up corner, use paint and glue, make constructions,
and enjoy music and movement activities. Teachers develop curriculum
emerging from the children’s play. They are visited in their rooms
by the music teacher and the foreign language teacher. They go
to the gym for Physical Education with the P.E. teacher, and spend
time every day on the play roof.
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Area
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Concepts
and Skills
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Activities/Materials
to Support Development
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| Community
Building/Group Membership
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- Separation
- Security/safety in classroom
- Developing self-regulation and impulse control
- Learning group rules
- Sharing toys
- Developing independence
- Working together
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 Circle
time and class meetings when problems arise, throughout the
day, and embedded in the curriculum Classroom
jobs Learning
the schedule Group
responsibilities Working
as a group to achieve a goal Introducing
the concept of friendship Listening
and discussing stories Drawing Dictating
ideas Singing Cooking Making
class books Dramatic
play Free
choice decisions
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| Social
Studies |
- Process building—parts of the whole, start to finish
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Assembling
ingredients and following recipes Cooking Eating
at snack time Trips
in the neighborhood
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Parts
of face Color
of eyes, skin, lips Recording
the information on paper Group
discussions about families, friendship, group responsibilities
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| Language
Arts |
- Discussing
- Listening to others and giving opinions
- Observing/Experimenting
- Noticing language patterns
- Following directions
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Circle
time Listening
to and discussing books and puppet shows in a group (words,
rhymes, plot, motivations) Awareness
of classmates’ names on pictures and job chart Singing
and rhyming games Poems Movement
and songs
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Math
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- Counting; size; shape
- Use of mathematical language
- Comparing, sorting, ordering
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Calendar Taking
attendance Counting
songs Graphing
and graphs Legos Cuisenaire
rods Pattern
blocks Geoboards
and other manipulatives Cooking One-to-one
correspondence at informal times Matching
games Dividing
materials
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| Science |
- Living Things
- Body Awareness
- Change/Interaction
- Children’s interests
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Planting
seeds and tending plants
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Exploring
senses Self-portraits Study
of faces Nutrition
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Cooking Sand
or water table Environmental
awareness
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Examination
of items of interest to the children: leaves, stones, shells,
etc.
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Music
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Appreciation
of classical music and musical stories Learning
new songs and names of instruments Marching
band Sing-alongs
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Physical
Development
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- Physical Education
- Outdoor Play
- Fine Motor
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Movement
challenges Beginning
cooperative games Building
with large blocks Using
table toys and manipulatives (e.g. pegs, blocks, puzzles, beads,
Legos) Guidance
toward appropriate utensil grip for drawing and writing Playdough Art
materials Cutting Cooking Stirring Pouring
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World Language
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- Awareness of other languages
- Comfort with learning of French and Spanish
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Spanish:
unit built around the children’s story Ricitos de Oro y
los Tres Osos French:
unit built around the children’s story La Petite Poule Rouge Both
units involve Total Physical Response activities, songs, games
to build vocabulary, listening comprehension, and comfort with
speaking.
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