Lower School (Pre-K & K)

Kindergarten student coloring in a light-filled classroom

Love of learning takes root from the moment our youngest learners enter the transformative world of Green Acres' early childhood classrooms.

Make discoveries.

Ask questions.

Explore together.

Program overview

Academics

Teachers create a warm, secure classroom environment where children are exposed to a wide variety of materials and guide them in open-ended, hands-on activities to ignite their natural curiosity and creativity. These include a multitude of opportunities that launch children enthusiastically into the world of mathematical thinking and literacy. Within a carefully constructed framework, students are invited to make choices as they explore and learn.

Regular time with the school’s special subject teachers (art, music, physical education, library, science, Spanish, and creative movement) is critical to the integrated curriculum, and music is a part of each school day.

Social development

The early childhood program engages children in learning about themselves in relation to the world beyond their family and home. Because children learn through every social interaction, our program provides many opportunities throughout the school day for children to interact with peers and adults as they explore the classroom environment and outside spaces.

A blend of small homecorner pursuits and larger group activities helps broaden students’ social world. Through connections with classmates, children develop a more complex understanding of social relationships. They establish a sense of trust and well-being as they learn to share space, materials, friends and teachers.

Exploration & outdoor learning

Play and exploration are an integral part of the work of young children and an integral part of how they learn. Through both self-selected and structured activities, teachers facilitate natural opportunities for children to practice literacy and math skills in meaningful and contextual ways. Play also serves as the means through which children develop higher-order thinking skills foundational to later academic success, such as planning, organization, and problem solving. The early childhood classrooms are purposefully designed to nurture imagination and creative risk-taking, fostering intellectual growth across all domains.

Pre-k and kindergarten students spend a significant portion of their school day outdoors, where they explore and interact and begin to develop an understanding of the natural world. The outdoors is an extension of the classroom. In small groups with teachers, they visit various school playgrounds on our campus and follow paths through the surrounding woodlands. Off-campus field trips to places like local parks, nature centers, theaters, libraries, and the zoo expand their world.

Pre-k and kindergarten curriculum

Click a tile to learn more about each subject.

Language and literacy

Math

Science

Music

Art

Early childhood touchstone experiences

A touchstone experience is an experience that makes learning at Green Acres unique and transformative.

Integrated, thematic curriculum

Emergent curriculum

Inspired by the interests of students, teachers include children’s ideas to help determine themes and activities related to the curriculum. For example: When a pre-k child shared his enthusiasm for garbage trucks and his love of I Stink by Kate and Jim McMullan, a transportation theme emerged in the classroom. This curiosity fueled the investigation of all things that move. Teachers shared pictures, photographs, and books. Children created docks, runways, and parking lots in the big block area and made paper airplanes and boats that could float. The culminating project was the creation of a garbage truck that visited various Green Acres buildings to help recycle and compost.

Authors' Chair

Kindergarteners write and share original stories during a special time in the schedule called "Authors' Chair." Dictating stories for transcription frees students to focus only on the creative writing process (as opposed to manual writing). Kindergarteners are proud to share their stories with their homecorner friends. Through discussion and listening to their peers’ stories, children begin to understand the elements of a compelling tale. Authors are happy to call on their classmates to answer questions and hear feedback. Audience members practice respectful listening skills and turn-taking while discussing characters, story lines, and illustrations. Learning to provide feedback in a constructive manner is another important piece of this process.

Students on the move

We all learn best when we are given consistent opportunities to move. Green Acres students move as they transition from building to building on our wooded 15-acre campus. They play outdoors twice a day on playgrounds designed to match their physical development. Our students enjoy physical education classes several times a week and participate in a creative movement program for young learners. At a time when many schools are decreasing children’s opportunities to move, Green Acres heralds moving as a vital part of children’s growth. Deep learning requires an active mind and an active body!

Kindergarten Store

For over 30 years, the Kindergarten curriculum has included the Kindergarten Store. This part of the program offers rich opportunities for social and mathematical development. The "store" is stocked with recycled items, such as small toys or stuffed animals and unbreakable garage sale treasures, as merchandise. The currency used for the store is keys; no real money is used. Ahead of time, the children decide on a reasonable price for these items (from one to ten keys), and then they have an opportunity to buy goodies. Each visit, the "banker" (a student’s job) gives each child five keys. Some children spend all of their keys each visit, while others love to save some or all of their keys for future purchases. Each student has the opportunity to visit the store and "shop" many times!

[We] preserve childhood at Green Acres organically because we understand it and appreciate it. We respect and care for each child, who they are, and where they are in their development. Every day I feel fortunate to be part of this magical, precious time in a child's life. Trish, Kindergarten teacher