• Care for their personal needs and belongings independently
• Demonstrate self-control and follow classroom routines
• Use words to express needs, feelings, and frustrations in a constructive manner
• Attempt to resolve conflict on their own before seeking adult assistance
• Work productively during group activities with minimal assistance
• Sustain attention during self-chosen and teacher-initiated activities for 10- to 15-minute periods

• Begin to match pictures in stories with the associated written words
• Use pictures and context to make predictions in and respond to questions about stories
• Use drawing and basic writing elements to express ideas on paper
• Compare and contrast the lengths and sounds of different words
• Correspondence to written letters, identifying uppercase letters
• Use materials to continue strengthening fine motor grip and function

• Count up to 20 or beyond starting from one or any other number
• Compare numbers up to 10 or beyond using blocks or cubes to make length representations
• Solve simple addition and subtraction number stories by joining and taking away objects
• Describe the location of an object within a larger set of objects (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th)
• Find various geometric shapes in a picture or a larger geometric shape
• Use attributes of size, shape, or color to repeat a pattern created on their own using manipulatives

• Identify the various properties of matter through mixing, freezing, and thawing
• Use their senses to make various seasonal observations
• Understand the migration and hibernation patterns of different animals
• Use simple tools to extend observations and record them with words, pictures, and drawings
• Understand the concept of recycling and its importance to our care of the Earth
• Develop theories, explanations, and ideas and share them with others

• Point out the colors blue, red, yellow, green, purple, and orange when asked
• Count up to at least 12 without assistance
• Follow movement vocabulary including walk, jump, up, down, fast, roll, sit down, and stand up
• Show vocabulary understanding for body parts including arms, head, and eyes
• Sing the Spanish greeting song and follow its movements
• Begin to recognize miscellaneous words and phrases in classroom usage

• Have a more advanced understanding of what it means to be a naturalist
• Demonstrate a desire to explore the outdoors
• Understand additional senses beyond the basic five, such as the sense of space and movement
• Use a season wheel to help make weather observations
• Understand the importance of seeds and how living things help nature with seed dispersal
• Perform simple nature experiments and share and discuss findings

• Work towards age-appropriate competence in fundamental movement and motor skills that will serve as building blocks for future physical activities (run, walk, gallop, hop, jump, rolling, bouncing, tossing, and striking a ball)
• Use simple games that incorporate a variety of physical challenges (big and little/ up and down, fast and slow)
• Participate in physical challenges with developmentally appropriate tasks (station activities, gymnastics activities – balancing, rolling, swinging, jumping, and landing)
• Understand and move in different directions (forward, backward, to the side, in a circle and different pathways, straight, curvy, and zig-zag)
• Use play to facilitate arm and leg strength (animal movements, statues, making shapes)

• Demonstrate vocal signing on pitch
• Move appropriately to sounds
• Understand the basics of pitch and body
• Demonstrate fast and slow signing and corresponding movements
• Follow steady beats, alternating between macrobeat on the floor and microbeat on their laps
• Appropriately play various percussion instruments

• Understand how to appropriately care for books and other reading materials
• Demonstrate appropriate library behaviors
• Choose books and materials that are appropriate for their individual interests
• Follow a book’s storyline
• Evaluate books that are part of a larger series
• Understand and appreciate the job of an author and an illustrator and how they work together

Preschool children work hard in class during the school day and have two recess periods each day when they are able to unwind, play with friends, and get some exercise, while giving young brains a break and allowing children to better focus their attention while in class. Research also shows that this unstructured, free-play time is important for social-emotional health and development in children. Recess is held outdoors throughout the entire school year, as weather allows, with each grade level having time to themselves on the Preschool playgrounds, sandbox, and outdoor garden, with access to tricycles, tools, and other equipment to play with, as well as a small sledding hill in winter. When there is a need to stay indoors, the Read Preschool and Lower School Gymnasium and other spaces provide the space needed for play and games to still take place.