Saint Catherine Early Childhood Curriculum
Four-Year-Olds
Four-year-old children are typically energetic and imaginative. They will often delight in humor and in being silly. Rapid language development is displayed in four-year-olds. They are quite verbal and enjoy conversation with both peers and adults. Activities should be planned to promote and foster language opportunities.
Children this age are more perceptive of the world around them. They are better able to classify, sort, and understand spatial relationships. Their eye-hand coordination is improving and they are able to complete more detailed art activities. Children need opportunities to explore a variety of concepts through manipulation of materials. They should be allowed to initiate their own learning through a variety of choices.
Greater self-control of the body and muscles is developed through the gross motor and fine motor activities that are a part of their work and play. Most four-year-olds show self-confidence and are willing to try new things. They may run, climb, and ride a tricycle at full-speed. Supervision at this developmental stage is critical, as they cannot always accurately estimate their own abilities and are capable of trying out dangerous and outlandish tricks.
Four-year-old children are generally cooperative and respond well to positive motivation. They are very sensitive to both praise and criticism. Children should be provided with many opportunities to develop social skills, such as cooperating, helping, and negotiating as they communicate and work on their daily projects. Activities that support exploration and problem solving will build self-confidence, self-esteem, and a positive attitude toward learning.
It is especially important for teachers to be familiar with each child’s prior school experience. Some four-year-olds will have had school experience, while others have not. This difference greatly impacts a child’s readiness for learning. Teachers must design programs that are appropriate for all children, yet individualized enough to meet the specific needs of each child. Allowing children to work at their own pace individually, in groups, and in centers, will help achieve this goal.
1. Listening – The student will develop listening skills.
a. Listen, with interest, to stories read aloud.
b. Listen for a specific purpose (e.g. enjoy stories, poems, songs, tapes).
c. Begin to retell stories in sequence.
d. Demonstrate active listening (e.g. orient to speaker, make eye contact, respond to cues, follow simple directions, refrain from interrupting).
e. Recall some facts and details.
f. Follow simple directions and commands. Follow two directions in sequence (e.g. “Please wash your hands and sit down.”).
g. Recognize and name common sounds (e.g. animal, home, school, musical instruments).
h. Discriminate different sounds (e.g. soft/loud, same/different).
i. Repeat a simple sequence of sounds (e.g. rhythms, patterns of language in stories, songs, and chants).
j. Repeat a short sequence of orally given numbers.
k. Recognize some rhyming words.
l. Recognize some opposite words.
m. Understand descriptive words.
n. Understand prepositions (e.g. on, under, in, behind).
o. Participate in reciprocal conversations.
p. Answer simple “who”, “what”, and “where” questions.
q. Explore letters. Associate some letter sounds with appropriate letters.
r. Understand new vocabulary words in context.
2. Speaking – The student will communicate effectively in a variety of situations.
a. Use language for a variety of purposes (e.g. expressing needs and interests).
b. Speak clearly and understandably to express ideas, feelings, and needs. Pronounce and enunciate words clearly.
c. Express self non-verbally through gestures, facial expressions, and pantomime.
d. Express ideas in complete sentences of six or more words.
e. Expand vocabulary to express feelings and ideas.
f. Carry on a conversation with adults and peers.
g. Contribute in small and large group class discussions to share experiences and ideas with others.
h. Begin to relate ideas, events, and experiences.
i. Begin to use compound sentences.
j. Ask simple questions using, who, where, what, and why.
k. Pronounce most speech sounds clearly, except for “s”, “z”, “th”, “r”, and “f”.
l. Recognize and begin to retell familiar stories, nursery rhymes, bible stories, etc.
m. Recite simple finger plays, songs, and prayers.
n. Enjoy playing with language (e.g. rhyming words, silly songs, nonsense words).
o. Say full name, age, and gender.
Reading
1. Literacy Readiness – The student will demonstrate emergent literacy
skills.
1. Literacy Readiness – Develop an understanding that writing is a way of
communicating for a variety of purposes.
a. Hold crayons with two fingers and thumb grasp.
b. Dictate words and phrases related to ideas or illustrations.
c. Use drawings to represent an idea or story. Provide an oral explanation of the details in a drawing.
d. Use letter-like shapes, symbols, letters, and words to convey meaning.
e. Scribble-write familiar words with mock letters and some actual letters.
f. Begin to print own first name.
1. Number Sense – Begin to associate number concepts, vocabulary, quantities,
and written numerals in meaningful ways.
Patterns, Relations, and Algebra
1. Patterning – The student will identify simple patterns and repeat
them.
a. Recognize patterns of numbers and objects.
b. Continue simple patterns (e.g. red, black, red, black).
c. Create a simple ABAB pattern of shapes or objects.
2. Classification – The student will classify objects according to their attributes.
3. Geometry – Identify, compare and begin to reproduce circle, triangle, rectangle,
and square.
4. Measurement – The student will participate in measurement activities.
a. Measure objects using nonstandard units of measurement (e.g. pencil, paper clips).
b. Begin to use terms to compare the attributes of objects (e.g. bigger, smaller, lighter, heavier, taller, shorter, more, less).
c. Measure length using informal units (e.g. cubes, inches, blocks).
d. Order a set of objects according to size or length.
e. Explain distance in terms of close and far.
f. Describe different rates of speed (e.g. fast, slow).
g. Begin to identify and use the concept of time (e.g. day, night, week, yesterday, today, tomorrow).
h. Recognize that various objects measure time (e.g. clock, timer, calendar).
i. Sequence events in the context of daily activities (e.g. Wash your hands before lunch.).
1. Science Processes and Inquiry – The student will investigate and experiment with
objects to discover information.
Physical Science
1. Physics – The student will investigate and describe objects that can be sorted in
terms of physical properties.
a. Classify items according to their common properties (e.g. goods, animals).
b. Identify the different ways by which objects move (e.g. straight, round and round,
back and forth, zig zag).
c. Develop an awareness of the properties of some objects (e.g. float-sink, heavy-
light, rough-smooth, hard-soft, solid-liquid, wet-dry).
Life Science
1. Self – The student will develop an understanding of himself/herself and the
health of his/her body.
a. Identify parts of the body.
b. Recognize what causes growth (e.g. food, sleep).
2. Plants/Animals – The student will understand general facts about plants and
animals.
a. Distinguish between living and nonliving things.
b. Explore nature and the environment. Observe a variety of plants and animals.
c. Recognize what various plants and animals need for growth.
d. Identify similarities and differences among plants and animals.
e. Identify familiar animals and their offspring.
f. Demonstrate a beginning awareness of the changes that plants and animals go through during their life cycles (e.g. seed/plant, egg/chicken).
Earth Science
1. Weather/Seasons – The student will recognize changes in weather and the
seasons.
e. Identify the sun, moon, and stars.
History
1. Family – The student will describe important family traditions.
a. Describe family celebrations and holidays.
b. Recognize symbols associated with family celebrations and holidays.
Civics
1. Citizenship – The student will exhibit traits of good citizenship.
a. Work and play cooperatively in a variety of settings (e.g. large and small groups,
learning centers).
b. Recognize the importance of his/her role as a member of the family, the class, and the community.
c. Recognize the need for rules.
d. Develop an awareness of how people positively affect the environment.
e. Recognize patriotic symbols and activities (e.g. American Flag).
f. Recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
Geography
1. Community – The student will identify characteristics of his/her
neighborhood/community.
a. Name own town.
b. Respect similarities and differences of people from other cultures.
c. Identify transportation and communication in the local community.
c. Recognize the rules and consequences to living in a community (e.g. obey stop
signs).
d. Begin to learn home address and phone number.
Economics
1. Economics – The student will explore various careers.
a. Identify important community helpers and what they do (e.g. police officer, fire
fighter, doctor, dentist, teacher).
b. Identify different school personnel (e.g. secretary, principal, custodian).
c. Develop an awareness that money is needed to purchase things.
Creed
1. Creed – The student will understand that he/she is part of God’s family.
a. Express a positive awareness of self as a unique and special child of God.
b. Demonstrate an understanding of God as Father.
c. Demonstrate an understanding of Jesus as the Son of God.
d. Recognize, respect, and appreciate God’s creation. Become acquainted with the
creation story.
e. Realize that nature is a gift from God.
f. Develop an awareness of Church. Begin to understand and demonstrate proper
behavior in church.
g. Recognize the special role(s) of the priest.
h. Experience the elements of the liturgical year (e.g. Advent, Christmas, Lent, Holy
Week, Easter).
i. Recognize holy days and religious customs (e.g. All Saints Day, Christmas,
Easter).
j. Recognize the significance of religious symbols (e.g. sign of the cross, crucifix,
rosary, holy water, Bible).
2. Scripture – The student will recognize major stories and characters of the Old
and New Testaments.
a. Begin to understand the history of God’s people through Bible heroes in the Old Testament.
b. Begin to understand the mission of Jesus through the stories in the New Testament.
Christian Living
1. Christian Response – The student will begin to understand that Jesus wants us
to follow His words and examples.
Prayer
1. Prayer – The student will experience varied forms of prayer.
a. Understand prayer as “talking with God”.
b. Understand that God listens to each prayer.
c. Pray at meals and snack time.
d. Learn simple and formal (memorized) prayers to be used in daily life.
e. Make the Sign of the Cross.
f. Understand that Church is a special place to pray and thank God.
Arts and Crafts
1. The student will use various media to express ideas.
a. Use art to recognize and use colors, forms, shapes, and textures.
b. Begin to design patterns.
c. Use own ideas to work imaginatively with art materials and tools.
d. Begin to produce recognizable forms when using self-expressive materials.
e. Work with a variety of self-expressive materials (e.g. clay, paint, crayons).
f. Use arts/crafts supplies and tools correctly and with proper care.
Music
1. The student will learn to appreciate music as a means of expression.
a. Listen to a variety of music. Recall lyrics and melody to songs.
b. Sing a variety of songs.
c. Recognize loud and soft, fast and slow, high and low sounds.
d. Recognize and reproduce rhythmic patterns.
e. Move freely in response to music and change of tempo.
f. Clap, sing, and/or dance in unison.
g. Experiment with a variety of musical instruments.
h. Recognize a variety of musical instruments by sight and sound.
i. Use instruments properly.
Dramatic Play
1. The student will engage in spontaneous imaginative play.
a. Engage in role-playing activities using a variety of materials.
b. Participate in creative dramatics (e.g. choral reading, finger plays, pantomimes,
flannel board play).
Fine Motor
1. The student will participate in activities that use small muscles to improve a
variety of fine motor skills.
a. Grasp small and large objects.
b. Use an assortment of manipulatives with skills (e.g. stack 10 or more blocks, thread small beads on a string, drive nails and pegs).
c. Begin to hold writing instruments appropriately.
d. Begin to draw and color beyond a simple scribble.
e. Copy simple shapes (e.g. cross, circle, square).
f. Trace or copy simple capital letters (e.g. L, M, N, O) and numerals.
g. Manipulate blunt scissors. Cut simple shapes.
h. Use glue and paste properly.
i. Manipulate clay materials (e.g. rolls, balls, snakes, cookies).
j. Complete simple puzzles with as many as 10 - 12 pieces.
k. Carry a medium-size container without spilling excessively.
l. Pour with a pitcher with undue spilling.
m. Use a spoon and cup well.
n. Dress self, including some buttoning, snapping, and zipping.
Gross Motor
1. The student will develop gross motor skills.
a. Walk a straight line.
b. Run easily and stop quickly.
c. Run, jump, gallop, and hop around obstacles.
d. Alternate feet when ascending and descending stairs.
e. Walk on tiptoe.
f. Walk backward five steps or more.
g. Walk forward (one foot in front of the other) on a broad balance beam.
h. Balance on one foot for approximately 3-5 seconds.
i. Keep feet together while jumping.
j. Clap and march to music.
k. Pedal and steer a tricycle with ease.
l. Catch a large ball with two hands.
m. Throw a ball overhand.
n. Demonstrate increased tumbling skills. Turn a somersault with assistance.
o. Climb confidently on climbing apparatus.
Social and Emotional Development
1. The student will practice acceptable social skills and expression of feelings.
a. Separate easily from parents.
b. Form relationships with adults other than family members.
c. Enjoy playing with other children. Make and maintain friendships.
d. Enjoy playing organized games with others.
e. Participate in class activities. Engage in new activities willingly.
f. Develop increasing ability to share without being overly submissive or directive.
g. Share feelings appropriately. Recognize feelings of others and respond appropriately.
h. Demonstrate a positive attitude and feel confident about self.
i. Work and play independently (5 – 15 minutes).
j. Work independently and/or cooperatively to solve problems and resolve conflicts.
k. Develop the ability to make choices.
l. Help others and accept help from others.
m. Recognize and appreciate uniqueness of self and others.
n. Follow classroom rules and expectations. Recognize consequences of behavior.
o. Respect others (e.g. property, materials, ideas, beliefs).
p. Respect differences and similarities in others (e.g. cultural, ethnic, abilities, disabilities).
Self Help
1. The student will practice taking care of personal needs.
a. Demonstrate growing independence in taking care of personal needs (e.g. use toilet independently, wash hands unassisted, dress self, use facial tissue, feed self).
b. Demonstrate proper grooming and body care.
c. Identify good foods for health.
d. Recognize importance of exercise.
e. Understand the need to stay safe.
f. Demonstrate appropriate responses to dangerous situations (e.g. fire, tornado, traffic, strangers).
g. State name, age, parents’ or guardians’ names, and gender.
Work Habits and Attending Behavior
1. The student will develop effective work habits.
a. Follow two-part directions.
b. Willingly participate in activities.
c. Use class materials appropriately.
d. Help clean work/play area.
e. Demonstrate appropriate transition skills.
f. Pay attention in large and small group activities for short periods of time.
g. Attend to an individual activity for five to fifteen minutes (longer if interested).