What Does My Preschooler Do at School: Unpacking Preschool Curriculum

Asking your child, “What did you do at school?” might not always warrant a clear answer, but understanding preschool curriculum can offer you more insight about what your child is doing (and learning) at preschool.

The time between waking up and school drop-off for little ones can be stressful. Hunting down missing socks or gloves and wrangling kids into carseats can be enough to require a second pot of coffee before 8 a.m. Once your little one is safely left in the capable hands of early childhood educators, many of us move on to our own to-dos with little knowledge about what our child’s day-to-day experience looks like. And, if you have ever asked a toddler what they did at preschool you may get a mash-up of fact, fiction and downright fantasy. Thankfully, preschool educators are highly skilled and use evidence-based curricula to move children along a path of development with creativity and care. 

The Basics of Preschool Curriculum

At a high level, preschool serves as a safe and nurturing environment for kids at this pivotal stage of development to gain cognitive, emotional, social and physical skills. While the approach may vary across preschools, the core elements of any preschool curriculum is preparing little learners for kindergarten. 

Denver Public Schools (DPS) does a wonderful job of outlining Preschool Curriculum with the following goals:

• Cognitive development 
• Language receptivity and expression
• Thinking and reasoning 
• Gross and fine motor skills
• Social and relational behavior
• Physical health and nutrition

DPS also outlines what a typical preschool day might look like in a school-based setting. Primrose School of Denver Central Park outlines their active minds, healthy bodies and happy hearts approach to preschool curriculum. 

Early Learning and Development Guidelines

While there are various types, or philosophies, of preschools (learn more about the types of preschools in our blog post), preschool providers in Colorado work within a set of guidelines, called the Early Learning and Development Guidelines (ELDGs). These guidelines support how children grow from birth to age 8 and are used to track specific milestones for each age group while also acknowledging changes in culture, language and ability level. The guidelines were created for parents, educators and child advocates to support them in their developmental and behavioral expectations for children at each age. With kindergarten readiness as the goal for preschool curriculum, here are some of the specific developmental milestones for children ages 3-5. 

• Physical Health and Development — Developing motor control, coordination and balance during physical activities. Have a basic understanding of how the body can move in relation to an object. Also, fine motor skills like hand-eye coordination for daily tasks like holding a utensil or a pencil and drawing. 
• Social and Emotional Development — Identifying emotions, self-regulation, forming relationships with others, experimenting with independence and expressing personal thoughts and feelings. 
• Language Development — Using language in conversation, comprehending increasingly complex vocabulary, storytelling and identifying the difference in sentence structures like questions or exclamations. 
• Early Literacy — Recognition of one’s own name, letters and numbers. Also differentiating between sounds and written language, forming an understanding of story themes and appreciating the purpose of books and stories. 
• Math Skills — Recognizing numbers in correct sequence, being able to see and count different amounts, matching and grouping activities. Additionally, recognizing patterns in colors, shapes or sizes as well as the comparison of size or sequence.
• Science and Technology —. Observe and develop an understanding of the natural world including the earth, sky, weather patterns, time of day, plants and animals. 
• Social Concepts — Social studies milestones cover the relationship to one’s self, family, community and world including basic geographical concepts. Making the connection of past, present and future and how one can make an impact on something in the future. 
• Creativity and Art — Participating in listening, dancing or singing to music and the concept of movement as an individual expression. Using different materials to draw, paint or mold as well as recognizing the difference in textures. 
• Learning and Behavior — Paying attention, being curious and demonstrating an eagerness to know more. Beginning to learn the basics of cooperation, sharing and being able to play both a showing and observing role with peers. 

The above are just a sampling of the milestones outlined in the EDLGs. To read the full list, go to Earlylearningco.org or download this PDF for Ages 3-5. 

Beyond the Basics

Looking for more information about preschool curriculum, kindergarten readiness and the benefits of preschool? 

• Learn more about the benefits of preschool on young minds and their future success on our Why Preschool webpage. 
• Dive into information about kindergarten readiness in Colorado. 
• Use “Is My Child Ready to Enter Kindergarten?”  and the Kindergarten Readiness checklist from Colorín Colorado to track your child’s progress and areas for growth.

Check out the Transition to Kindergarten guide from the Colorado Early Learning and Development Guidelines to help prepare your child in transitioning from preschool to kindergarten.