Preschool

The Early Childhood program at The Barstow School is designed to meet the mission of the school while providing a unique and challenging environment for children.  We are committed to providing a caring community where appropriate experiences provide growth in physical, social and emotional, cognitive and literacy development.  Creative Curriculum provides a comprehensive framework design in which children learn important skills and content and develop social competence.  Our teachers work diligently to provide a learning environment that supports the individual needs of every child.

Curriculum and Assessment are linked through a Developmental Continuum containing 10 goals and 50 objectives for children ages 3-5.  Each objective is broken into three developmental steps allowing teachers to design and provide specific support and experiences to children.

Early literacy concepts are introduced through integrated interest areas, large and small group activities, outdoor play and individual instructional experiences.  Teachers provide a variety of materials and instructional strategies to support language development.   Every letter of the alphabet is introduced ranging from sight identification to sound combinations.

The goal of our literacy program is to increase vocabulary and language, phonological awareness, knowledge of print, letters and words in addition to increasing comprehension, understanding of books and see literacy as a source of enjoyment. The Preschool program uses a variety of opportunities throughout the day to build competence in mathematics. Children are introduced to key math components including number concepts, patterns and relationships, geometry and spatial sense, measurement, and data collection, organization and representation. Math instruction includes concrete objects for a hands-on experience. Science and Social Studies concepts are integrated into the daily preschool program through thematic units of study.