Four-year-olds attend either four or five days a week. Classes meet Monday through Friday or Tuesday through Friday.

Curriculum

Our Fours curriculum focuses on the following areas: language development, cognitive abilities, social/emotional development, fine and gross motor skills, and creativity.

As part of their language development, we encourage our four-year-olds to have a sense of humor. We look for opportunities to laugh with them, by reading funny books and making up silly rhymes. Our teachers encourage the children to think for themselves, engage in conversations with their peers, and be an interested listener. During circle time and show and tell, our four-year-olds get the opportunity to further their language skills by speaking in front of their classmates.

Cognitive activities include learning colors, shapes, upper and lower case letters, and numbers. Fours will also begin to write their names, trace letters, trace shapes, count up to 100, sort objects by various criteria, and recognize patterns. We also explore opposites, weather, feelings, sensory activities, days of the week, months of the year, and lots of other exciting topics. Learning is accomplished through reading, circle time, singing, folder activities, science, social studies, daily writing centers, painting and other art activities.

Free play, both indoors and outdoors, encourages social development. We encourage our four-year-olds to problem-solve with each other before “reporting” issues to the teachers. Our teachers set clear limits and rules and enforce them consistently. We encourage our Fours to develop emotional self-control, and treat their peers with kindness and respect. The Fours are given opportunities to help in the classroom. Favorite “jobs” are line leader, calendar helper, door holder and caboose.

Fine motor skills are enhanced when the four-year-olds use pencils, crayons, markers, paint, scissors, puzzles, lacing boards, sewing cards, play dough and all kinds of art media. Gross motor skills are developed through classroom activities, weekly music and movement class, and outside playground time. The four-year-olds will use the toilet, dress themselves and wash their hands on their own, thus giving them the independence they’ll need to be ready for Kindergarten.

Our four-year-olds strengthen their creativity when they work on an art activity at least twice a day. The children are encouraged to cut, glue, glitter and paint on their own. Their artwork is an expression of themselves; they like to explain how and why they have created their art. The Fours like to create artwork using many different creative tools. Artwork is usually centered around the letter of the week and we frequently use food as an art tool. For example, we might make a picture of a jellybean with Jello, or paint a carrot using a real carrot for a paintbrush. The Fours like to make art fun and creative!