Essential Standards

Children learn best when they are interested and engaged in activities.  Young children thrive on active, hands-on experiences.  We believe in child-centered and play-based learning.  We encourage children to explore by using their senses and imaginations.  Children learn by "doing" in a safe and developmentally appropriate environment.  Many opportunities, including a healthy balance of teacher-directed and child-lead activities, allow for the development of social, emotional, cognitive, language, creative, science, sensory, and motor skills.  We believe in authentic learning experiences, taking advantage of "teachable moments." 

RCW preschool offers developmentally appropriate learning experiences that foster the skills children will need in the future, including social and emotional skills, cognitive, language and literacy, math and science, fine motor and gross motor skills and many other exciting experiences.  Because play is a young child's "work", play and many other hands-on experiences are an important part of your child's day.  During play with other students, children learn problem solving skills, sharing, creativity, imagination, development of relationships, and much more.  We offer a fun, safe, and caring learning environment that seeks to meet the needs of every child, enriching their days with endless learning opportunities.

Below you will find the Essential Standards for 3-4 year old Preschool:

Mathematics

M1 Rote Counting (count 1-10, ordering)

M4 Ordinality (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th)  

M6 Relation and Operations (understanding that quantity changes) 

M7 Measurement

M8 Repeating Patterns

M9 Knowledge and Visualization of Shapes 

M12 Sorting

Language, Literacy, and Communications

L3 Vocabulary and Syntax (descriptive words, verbs, complex vocab) 

L5 Phonological Awareness (rhymes) 

L6 Letter Recognition (colors, letters in name) 

L7 Concepts of Print (features of book, front/back) 

L8 Comprehension of Narrative Text (retells a story) 

L9 Writing Conventions (write name) 

Social Systems

SS2 Civics (community helpers, family/all about me)

SS3 Personal History  

SS4 Family Narratives and Traditions 

SS5 Conservation (recycle, earth day)

SS6 Physical Characteristics of Community (map) 

SS7 Economic Reasoning  (needs to live vs wants)

Scientific Thinking 

ST1 Observe and Question (comparing) 

ST4 Evaluate 

ST5 Communicate

ST6 Apply 

Approaches to Learning

AL3 Attending

AL5 Diligence (works despite distractions) 

AL8 Playfulness (imagination) 

Physical and Movement Development

P3 Locomotion (climbs and plays on equipment) 

P5 Dexterity (draws freely) 

P6 Self Care (puts on and takes off coat, bathroom on own, etc) 

Social and Emotional 

S2 Self-Awareness (identifies self as part of a group/family, as boy/girl) 

S3 Emotions (shows understanding of own and other’s emotions) 

S4 Managing Thinking (attends for longer, ability to follow directions)

S5 Managing Emotions and Behaviors (calms self, express feelings) 

S6 Social responsiveness (shows empathy, labels others' emotions) 

S7 Building Relationships (establish and maintain relationships) 

S8 Social Skills (cooperative play, solve problems, take turns) 

Arts Domain

A5 Child uses art for self-expression