What Students will learn in PreSchool

Smart kids have so much in their life: They repeat lyrics, poems, jokes, and stories word for word. They whistle, hum, sing jingles, gurgle, gargle, and babble. They tap fingers, sticks, or toys rhythmically on a surface. They draw on the bathroom mirror in the steam, take toys apart, make collections, create and entertain imaginary friends. They make up games with special rules, skid or sock-dance on the kitchen floor. They perform tricks on bikes, skates, or skateboards. They build with blocks or other objects and knock them down, They ask why and how things work, mimic the sounds of animals, machines, or unusual voices, rearrange and redecorate their environment. Smart kids, want to hear the same story over and over, Makeup dances to music on the radio, TV, or CDs,  Mix potions—sugar water or soapsuds whipped into a froth, Befriend and care for younger children and animals

You probably have dozens of these “smart” pictures of your kids, but you might be thinking, “Who knew what my kid will become? Researchers are discovering that many of those curious behaviors are clues to the special ways that kids are smart in. If you learn to recognize the clues, you can help them get even smarter.

While you take these courses with your kids, do observe the signs of intelligence. Build on them, encourage them and play along.

Let’s get started,

General Outcome 1 (PreSchool)

As you take these courses with your kids, they will listen, speak, read, write, view and represent to explore thoughts, ideas, feelings and experiences.

1.1 Discover and Explore

Express ideas and develop understanding

  • share personal experiences prompted by oral, print and other media texts
  • talk about ideas, experiences and familiar events

Experiment with language and forms

  • talk and represent to explore, express and share stories, ideas and experiences

Express preferences

  • talk about favourite oral, print and other media texts

Set goals

  • talk about own reading and writing experiences

1.2 Clarify and Extend

Consider the ideas of others

  • listen to experiences and feelings shared by others

Combine ideas

  • connect related ideas and information

Extend understanding

  • express interest in new ideas and experiences

General Outcome 2 (PreSchool)

Students will listen, speak, read, write, view and represent to comprehend and respond personally and critically to oral, print and other media texts.

2.1 Use Strategies and Cues

Use prior knowledge

  • connect oral language with print and pictures
  • understand that stories, information and personal experiences can be recorded in pictures and print and can be listened to, read or viewed
  • expect print and pictures to have meaning and to be related to each other in print and other media texts
  • understand that print and books are organized in predictable ways

Use comprehension strategies

  • begin to use language prediction skills when stories are read aloud
  • ask questions and make comments during listening and reading activities
  • recall events and characters in familiar stories read aloud by others
  • read own first name, environmental print and symbols, words that have personal significance and some words in texts

Use textual cues

  • attend to print cues when stories are read aloud
  • begin to identify some individual words in texts that have been read aloud

Use phonics and structural analysis

  • begin to make connections among sounds, letters, words, pictures and meaning
  • identify and generate rhyming words in oral language
  • hear and identify sounds in words
  • associate sounds with consonants that appear at the beginning of personally significant words

Use references

  • recite the letters of the alphabet in order
  • copy scribed words and print texts to assist with writing

2.2 Respond to Texts

Experience various texts

  • participate in shared listening, reading and viewing experiences, using oral, print and other media texts from a variety of cultural traditions and genres, such as picture books, fairy tales, rhymes, stories, photographs, illustrations and video programs
  • listen and view attentively
  • identify favourite stories and books

Construct meaning from texts

  • relate aspects of oral, print and other media texts to personal feelings and experiences
  • talk about and represent the actions of characters portrayed in oral, print and other media texts
  • talk about experiences similar or related to those in oral, print and other media texts

Appreciate the artistry of texts

  • experiment with sounds, words, word patterns, rhymes and rhythms

2.3 Understand Forms, Elements and Techniques

Understand forms and genres

  • experience a variety of oral, print and other media texts

Understand techniques and elements

  • develop a sense of story through reading, listening and viewing experiences
  • identify the main characters in a variety of oral, print and other media texts

Experiment with language

  • appreciate the sounds and rhythms of language in shared language experiences, such as nursery rhymes and personal songs

2.4 Create Original Text

Generate ideas

  • contribute ideas and answer questions related to experiences and familiar oral, print and other media texts

Elaborate on the expression of ideas

  • listen to and recite short poems, songs and rhymes; and engage in word play and action songs

Structure texts

  • draw, record or tell about ideas and experiences
  • talk about and explain the meaning of own pictures and print

General Outcome 3 (PreSchool)

Students will listen, speak, read, write, view and represent to manage ideas and information.

3.1 Plan and Focus

Focus attention

  • attend to oral, print and other media texts on topics of interest
  • make statements about topics under discussion

Determine information needs

  • ask questions to satisfy personal curiosity

Plan to gather information

  • suggest ways to gather ideas and information

3.2 Select and Process

Use a variety of sources

  • seek information from a variety of sources, such as people at school, at home, in the community, picture books, photographs and videos

Access information

  • use illustrations, photographs, video programs, objects and auditory cues, to access information

Evaluate sources

  • ask questions to make sense of information

3.3 Organize, Record and Evaluate

Organize information

  • categorize objects and pictures according to visual similarities and differences

Record information

  • represent and talk about ideas and information; dictate to a scribe

Evaluate information

  • share new learnings with others

3.4 Share and Review

Share ideas and information

  • share ideas and information about topics of interest

Review research process

  • share information-gathering experiences

General Outcome 4 (PreSchool)

Students will listen, speak, read, write, view and represent to enhance the clarity and artistry of communication.

4.1 Enhance and Improve

Appraise own and others’ work

  • make statements related to the content of own and others’ pictures, stories or talk

Revise and edit

  • retell ideas to clarify meaning in response to questions or comments

Enhance legibility

  • form recognizable letters by holding a pen or pencil in an appropriate and comfortable manner
  • explore the keyboard, using letters, numbers and the space bar

Expand knowledge of language

  • explore and experiment with new words and terms associated with topics of interest
  • experiment with rhymes and rhythms of language to learn new words

Enhance artistry

  • experiment with sounds, colours, print and pictures to express ideas and feelings

4.2 Attend to Conventions

Attend to grammar and usage

  • develop a sense of sentence

Attend to spelling

  • hear and identify dominant sounds in spoken words
  • demonstrate curiosity about visual features of letters and words with personal significance
  • connect letters with sounds in words
  • print own name, and copy environmental print and words with personal significance

Attend to capitalization and punctuation

  • recognize capital letters and periods in print texts
  • capitalize first letter of own name

4.3 Present and Share

Present information

  • share ideas and information about own drawings and topics of personal interest

Enhance presentation

  • use drawings to illustrate ideas and information, and talk about them

Use effective oral and visual communication

  • speak in a clear voice to share ideas and information

Demonstrate attentive listening and viewing

  • follow one- or two-step instructions
  • make comments that relate to the topic being discussed

General Outcome 5 (PreSchool)

 

Students will listen, speak, read, write, view and represent to respect, support and collaborate with others.

5.1 Respect Others and Strengthen Community

Appreciate diversity

  • explore personal experiences and family traditions related to oral, print and other media texts

Relate texts to culture

  • explore oral, print and other media texts from various communities

Celebrate accomplishments and events

  • share stories, using rhymes, rhythms, symbols, pictures and drama to celebrate individual and class accomplishments

Use language to show respect

  • use appropriate words, phrases and statements with adults and peers when speaking and listening, sharing and taking turns

5.2 Work within a Group

Cooperate with others

  • participate in class and group activities
  • find ways to be helpful to others

Work in groups

  • ask and answer questions to determine what the class knows about a topic
  • listen to the ideas of others

Evaluate group process

  • respond to questions about personal contributions to group process