four year old curriculum

Hicksville Nursery School prepares children to be successful and happy learners. We guide children to a healthy self-image, loving and respectful relationships with others, and a responsible attitude toward their environment. We focus on hands-on learning experiences, and exploration and discovery with age-appropriate educational materials.

These are the goals for our four year old class. Using individualized instruction, theme teaching, small group work, and large group learning environments, we attempt to achieve the goals listed below.  However, please remember that each child is unique and will develop socially, emotionally, as well as academically, at different rates of development.
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Language Arts
​Our phonics program teaches a  letter/sound each week. Each sound is taught in an “enjoyable,  multisensory way”. Our open communication between home and school helps  parents  reinforce what the children are learning in school. We do extensive work with  phonemic awareness using songs, identifying and  practicing rhyming words and  recognizing sounds in words. We introduce the children to a wide range of  children’s literature during our daily story times. During story time children  are making predictions, building vocabulary, and recalling facts about the  story. The letter sound becomes the
basis for each week’s activities throughout  the  day.

Handwriting/Fine Motor Skills
The focus is on developing hand  strength and fine motor skills as  well as gaining a good pencil grip. They have lessons for  developing their handwriting skills. They learn how to form  the capital/lowercase letters using a pencil. They will learn how to print their names. Drawing, coloring, cutting, painting,  molding  with play dough and using small manipulatives are  important aspects of the curriculum in developing fine  motor  skills.

Mathematics
Our Math program emphasizes learning in  small increments and reviewing the previously learned concepts throughout the
year. At the preschool level it works  with concepts of shapes, colors, calendar  skills, patterns,  beginning numerals, beginning money  concepts, sorting and graphing, grouping,  sequencing, matching, measurement, and  counting.

​Science
Our  science program is a hands-on  nature curriculum. The children have many  experiences including planting  seeds,
watching the metamorphosis of a butterfly,  studying animals, insects  and plant life, studying the five senses and observing
the weather and the  changing of the seasons. We also do simple science experiments using water,  magnets and other materials. The solar system will be  introduced.

Social Studies 
We  begin each year learning about  ourselves, our families and friends, and our community. We study about different countries and the world around us.

Gym/Large Motor Skills
We spend part of our day in the gym to give  children a chance to use their active growing bodies and develop their large motor skills. In the gym they will skip, jump and climb. They will also  throw, catch, bounce and kick a ball. On a daily basis they have an opportunity to pedal tricycles.