Our PreK class (one year before kindergarten) is great preparation for kindergarten.  Our goal is to ensure that students enter kindergarten with the confidence and skills for a smooth transition to kindergarten.  

SOCDS has two PreK classes: one larger (25) and one smaller (15).  The two lead teachers co-teach which means that they lesson plan and observe each classroom together. The teachers also integrate activities between the two classes.  Assignment to the two classes is done randomly unless there is a specific reason for a particular assignment.

Historically about 60% of our students attended SOCDS for the 3s turning 4 class, and 40% are new to SOCDS for PreK.  In addition, about 60% attend half day and the remainder attend full day.

Social – can follow classroom rules and remind friends to follow as well;  can play games using sportsmanship; can accept consequences of their actions

Group Behavior – can line up and keep hands to themselves;   can move between the center activities in a self-directed manner

Manner – appropriate use of Excuse Me;  can clean up work area without reminders

Reading Readiness – give an oral description of a simple process; retell a story with a beginning, middle and end; identify rhyming words; use word family knowledge to phonetically decode words; short vowel sounds; inventive spelling 

Mathematical Reasoning – sort on multiple dimensions; duplicate patterns with two alternating properties;   rote count and write 1-10; compare groups of 1-10;  sequentially write numerals 1-10; skip count by 5s and 10s 

A note on conflict resolution

One of the social developments of our PreK students is their exploration of how words have power.  The classroom conflicts have moved from snatching what is wanted and slapping for attention, to using words for power and meaning.  "You can't come to my birthday" or "Only Tommy is coming to my house for a playdate."  We are very attuned to this behavior and recognize that students need be guided on how to appropriately resolve their feelings of jealousy, abandonment, and power.  Throughout the school and from the very first morning, we model and praise appropriate group interactions.  In PreK we also use a series of plays and picture sequences to explore different responses to friends and interpreting how our actions impact others.