• Language and Literacy

• Math and Problem Solving Skills

• Social and Emotional Development

• Fine-motor Skills

• Gross-motor Skills

• Creative Development (includes Music, Arts & Craft, Speech & Drama)

• Nature and Science exploration

• Physical Development

The child in this age group now talks in sentences of 4 or more words. He or she talks about activities (e.g., what was done in preschool that day) easily, without repeating syllables or words. Your child understands and answers simple who, what, and where questions.

The Language and Literacy continues language development in a fun way. A fundamental goal of the language program is to make the children understand the systematic relationship between the letters and sounds and to sensitize them to sound similarities by getting them to listen to patterned, predictable text. They learn phonics while enjoying the feel of reading and language. Zoo-phonics (see separate write-up) methodology is used by St Gerard's to teach children phonics.

The children will be provided with regular opportunities to express themselves on paper, without feeling too constrained for correct spelling and proper handwriting to emphasize that writing has real purpose.

Children will also expand on social communication and story-telling skills by "acting out" typical scenarios (e.g., cooking food, going to sleep, and going to the doctor) with a dollhouse and its props. Children are also encouraged to be involved in role-playing activities.

Mathematics helps children make sense of the world around them and find meaning in the physical world. Through mathematics, children learn to understand their world in terms of numbers and shapes. They learn to reason, to connect ideas, and to think logically.

Understanding the concept of number is fundamental to mathematics. Children move from beginning to develop basic counting techniques to later understanding number size, relationships, and operations. The children are encouraged to arrange sets of concrete objects in one-to-one correspondence, count by ones to 10 or higher, etc.

Recognizing patterns and relationships among objects is an important component in children's intellectual development. Children learn to organize their world by recognizing patterns and gradually begin to use patterns as a strategy for problem-solving, forming generalizations, and developing the concepts of number, operation, shape, and space. Pattern recognition is the first step in the development of algebraic thinking.

Children are encouraged to recognize and reproduce simple patterns of concrete objects (e.g., a string of beads that are yellow, blue, blue, yellow, blue, blue), begin to recognize patterns in their environment (e.g., day follows night, repeated phrases in storybooks, patterns in carpeting or clothing), etc

Geometry helps children systematically represent and describe their world. Children learn to name and recognize the properties of various shapes and figures, to use words that indicate direction, and to use spatial reasoning to analyze and solve problems. Children begin to recognize, describe, and name shapes (e.g., circles, triangles, rectangles-including squares), begin to use words that indicate where things are in space (e.g., "beside," "inside," "behind," "above," "below"), begin to recognize when a shape's position or orientation has changed, begin to put together puzzles of increasing complexity.

Measurement is one of the most widely used applications of mathematics. Early learning experiences with measurement should focus on direct comparisons of objects. Children make decisions about size by looking, touching, and comparing objects directly while building language to express the size relationships. two or three objects by size (seriation) (e.g., largest to smallest) (age 4).

Children use sorting to organize their world. As children recognize similarities and differences, they begin to recognize patterns that lead them to form generalizations. As they begin to use language to describe similarities and differences, they begin sharing their ideas and their mathematical thinking. Children can be actively involved in collecting, sorting, organizing, and communicating information. Children match objects that are alike, sort objects into groups by an attribute and begins to explain how the grouping was done, etc

Social skills are behaviours that improve the child's personal interactions with peers and others. Children learn to take turns, share and work co-operatively to solve problems. Children also learn to express their feelings in words and gestures. Children are also encouraged to understand that their peers have their own opinions and feelings. Independent conflict resolution is also encouraged. Children will be introduced to norms and rules governing different environmental settings (eg, the dinner table, library, at play, etc) and taught the appropriate behaviours in different social settings. Children will be encouraged to perform their daily routines independently.

Children continue to develop gross-motor and fine-motor skills through a comprehensive program of outdoor activities, play and work activities. Gross motor skills are developed through playground activities, water play, sand play, bicycles and tricycles and games. The focus is increasingly on associative and co-operative play. Fine-motor skills are developed through activities such as painting, threading, pegging etc - all designed to improve tactile integration and manipulation, grasping, releasing and bilateral skills. These are designed to help the children hold, write and draw with pencils comfortably.

Developmentally appropriate play, music and art lessons will help to build the child's cognitive, social and physical skills and his or her specific stage of development. Creative development at St Gerard's encompasses music appreciation, arts and craft, speech and drama. Music appreciation includes action songs and rhythms which further contributes to language development. Children will experiment with different mediums and this enhances their imagination and help them to make their own discoveries about learning. Speech and Drama, where appropriate, will be introduced to enhance their confidence and self-esteem. To keep lessons stimulating, the programs are changes regularly.

Children will be introduced to Science in a fun way. The children will be exposed to basic science skills like observing, comparing and questioning. The focus is to learn about the world through all their 5 senses. We will provide opportunities for children to explore, investigate and experiment with objects that interest and challenge them. This will open the window of opportunity for them to accomplish several feats - they can learn and apply new skills like keen observation and collaborate with peers and develop their grasp of basic concepts like growth, colours, weight, etc.

Playground activities, Sand play, Water play, learning to ride bicycles and tricycles have been incorporated into the curriculum to focus on the children's physical development and the development of gross-motor skills.

Field trips are to be carried out as and when needed to support an ongoing theme or as a term end activity. Field trips help children learn and understand the world in a fun way. Field trips may include visits to supermarkets, parks, fire stations, the Zoo, the Birdpark, etc.