Kids Under Construction Educational Preschool, Inc.
Kids Under ConstructionEducational Preschool, Inc.

Our Curriculum Reflects Our Values

We have developed a curriculum that exceeds state licensing requirements and offers a high degree of flexibility. In keeping with our philosophy of an all-inclusive approach to early childhood education, our curriculum components are age-specific and can be adjusted to meet the needs of children at varying stages of development.

In general, our curriculum is divided into two parts, or levels.  The Level I content is specific to our preschool curriculum for three to four year olds and focuses on autonomy and the social setting, while beginning to introduce basic skills concepts as well. Level II content is presented in our KinderJump program for four and five year olds (one year before starting kindergarten). The Level II content is intended to build upon the skills developed throughout the third year of life and is specifically designed to allow for flexibility as a means to meet each individual child at his or her own starting point and assist each child in reaching his or her maximum potential. 

For the Upcoming School Year...

We are very excited about our plans for the coming school year. Our theme will be "Me & My Place in Space." Throughout the year we will be focusing on the similarities and differences in the people, places, and things in our world and will begin our journey looking at our own individual uniquenesses and then move on to our families, communities, and places across the world. 

 

Why use a thematic approach? By choosing a theme, the teacher is able to plan activities throughout the days and weeks that lead to a unified, in-depth study of the topic.  Children learn best by practicing and applying their skills in meaningful contexts.  Consequently, they tend to learn and retain more when they are exposed to repeated and interrelated concepts.  Through this approach, children will experience connected topics in many areas (math, science, language, social studies, music, etc.), rather than a day that is broken into unrelated segments.

 

What We Teach and How We Teach It

Kids Under Construction believes that knowledge builds upon knowledge. Therefore, we utilize scientific and research-based curriculum and assessment to guide each individual child’s learning, growth, and development so that every child builds a solid foundation for their future. Our programs are comprehensive, in that they meet individual needs and guide all areas of development – both socially and academically.

 

Core Knowledge® Preschool Sequence

The Core Knowledge movement is based on the principle that a grade-by-grade core of common learning is necessary to ensure a high quality education, beginning in Preschool and continuing through 8th Grade. Core Knowledge is a solid, specific, and research-based collective curriculum which enables children to establish strong foundations of knowledge. The Preschool Sequence provides specific goals, skills, and content in the areas of literacy, math, science, movement and coordination, social and emotional development, music and visual arts, and more! The Preschool Sequence is easily adaptable and may be used with accelerated learners as well as with children with special needs. Outcomes, assessment opportunities, cross-curricular connections, instructional grouping, and the daily routine are all components of the lesson planning process and a curriculum plan guides lesson planning throughout the year to ensure that all skills in the Sequence are included. At Kids Under Construction, all staff members attend monthly lesson planning workshops together so that we may provide the best course of learning and activities for all of our learners from month to month and year to year. The Core Knowledge Sequence meets state and national early childhood standards and is the foundation of all programming at Kids Under Construction.

 

Incredible Years Social Skills Program

This research-based, nationally-acclaimed social skills program uses a common sense approach to teaching children the skills they need to function and interact appropriately with others. Incredible Years uses simple language that children understand and is set up so that children may implement these skills on their own or with teacher assistance. This program teaches children classroom behavior, social skills and interaction, problem-solving, and how to manage emotions. It helps children learn to follow directions, ignore distractions, interrupt appropriately, share, take turns, and teaches conversational skills.  Most importantly, it teaches children that they have the control to make choices and accept consequences, they can be successful, and that they’ve done a good job doing it!

 

 

Handwriting Without Tears®

This age-appropriate, award-winning curriculum uses a developmental approach that is based on research about how children learn best. Handwriting Without Tears includes everything preschoolers need to develop the handwriting skills necessary in kindergarten and uses an engaging multi-sensory approach to teaching and learning. Skills are taught in a developmental progression that builds upon what children have previously learned.  Songs, music, and hands-on manipulatives help reach a variety of learning styles and encourage active participation. Research supports the active teaching of handwriting and shows that writing by hand strengthens fine motor skills and creative writing abilities.

 

Heggerty Phonemic Awareness Curriculum 

The journey to reading begins with phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness is the ability to understand that spoken words are made up of individual sounds called phonemes, and it’s one of the best early predictors for reading success.

 

AlphaTales – Scholastic Literacy Tools – Letter of the Week

Learning the alphabet and the sounds that letters represent is vital to learning to read. AlphaTales is a series of 26 books. In each book, children meet a letter mascot who leads them through an entertaining story and letter-play activities that include a hide-and-seek picture game and a rhyming cheer for each letter. Children are engaged and having fun as they build important letter recognition skills that lay the foundation for reading success.

 

Enrichment – Music, Art, Intergenerational Experiences, and MORE!

Learning about “the arts” heightens critical and creative thinking skills, allows children to channel their emotions, and provides children with a well-rounded, comprehensive education.

 

Curriculum Content and Skills Overview

At Kids Under Construction, we value imagination, hands-on activities, and play-based learning. Utilizing these values, children in all of our classes are presented with fun, engaging opportunities to gain and refine skills in each of the following content areas which lay the foundation for future success in school and in life. 

 

Movement and Coordination

This area focuses on skills and activities that extend and refine ideas of body image, the body’s capabilities and provides opportunities for enhancing time, space and language concepts, as well as social development (teamwork and cooperation).

 

Autonomy and Social Skills

This area focuses on the development of those emotional and social skills that enable the young child to function independently within the social setting of the class group.

 

Work Habits

This area lays the foundation for the way in which children will later approach academic work in kindergarten and beyond. 

 

Oral Language

This area focuses on understanding and using spoken language through the development of basic conversational skills, as well as more complex skills.

 

Nursery Rhymes, Poems, Songs and Fingerplays

This area introduces young children to nursery rhymes, poems, fingerplays and songs—listening to and keeping the beat, listening to and interpreting the simple words of a given selection with gestures and actions, as well as learning about rhyming words, all of which aid in developing memorization skills and further extends children’s understanding of both the form and function of language.

 

Storybook Reading and Storytelling

In listening to and talking about stories that are read aloud, children build both listening and speaking skills. They are introduced to new vocabulary and formal written grammar, ways of linking and relating ideas, and refine narrating, predicting, and imagination.

 

Emerging Literacy Skills: Reading and Writing

This area builds on oral language skills, storytelling, rhyming, and motor development.

 

Mathematical Reasoning and Number Sense

The focus here is on recognizing similarities and differences, making comparisons, developing number sense and measurement skills.

 

Orientation in Time

The focus here is on the development of an inner sense of time; this orientation in time is essential not just as a reference point for future instruction in history, but also as another step towards personal autonomy, which requires that children be able to organize time, monitor behavior and independently accomplish given activities throughout the day, week and so on.

 

Orientation in Space

The focus here is on the development of a sense of orientation in space, which enables the child to situate himself or herself in space in relation to his or her physical movements, as well as provides a context and vocabulary for later instruction in geometry and geography.

 

Scientific Reasoning and the Physical World

This area introduces children to a systematic way of looking at, describing and explaining the world around them. This systematic approach may be summarized as: (1) reflect and ask questions, (2) plan an activity and predict what will happen, (3) carry out the activity and observe what happens, and (4) report findings (words, drawings, displays, photos, etc.) and reflect on other related questions.

 

Music

This area offers children the opportunity to practice oral language skills, discriminate sounds (which aids in developing phonemic awareness), and practice social skills.

 

Visual Arts

This area focuses not only on producing art, but also on examining and appreciating examples of various art forms. The use of various media and techniques provides rich opportunities for sensory exploration and manipulation, as well as the development of fine motor skills. In addition, through painting and drawing, children make their first attempts at graphic representation, a precursor to writing. 

We're Here to Help You!

Kids Under Construction Inc.
4821 Bloom Avenue

White Bear Lake, MN 55110

Phone: 651.762.9596

 
You may also get in touch with us using our contact form or email us directly at:
KUCpreschoolWBL@gmail.com 

Upcoming Events

Sept 5 - Orientation

Sept 9 - First Day of School

Dec 23-3 - Winter Break

Mar 9-15 - Spring Break

May 22 & 23 - Graduation

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