Our Early Childhood classrooms are rich and vibrant environments that introduce four- to six-year old children to the joy of learning.
Our curriculum introduces age-appropriate academic skills through discovery, exploration, and imaginative play, supporting every child’s individual growth as they develop independence. Children have the opportunity to make their own choices within a carefully crafted learning environment that includes whole class, individual and small group lessons, centers, and plenty of indoor and outdoor play. Children learn the importance of friendship and respect, and most of all, what it means to be a caring and responsible community member.
Early Childhood students also enjoy classes in Spanish, art, physical education, and music, as well as walks to the park and public library. Skills such as active listening, understanding and expressing their feelings, self-regulation, compromise, and collaboration are taught and practiced to help children build strategies to navigate their social world. A strong sense of community is fostered through classroom meetings, collaboration with peers, and exposure to diverse ideas, cultures, and experiences, laying the foundation for students to become advocates for social justice and responsible and reflective citizens of the world.
Our youngest children build a foundation for literacy through interactive story time and imaginative role playing. We build on literacy skills through explicit phonics and phonemic awareness instruction, including playing with sounds through rhymes, syllables, and letters. Students are also introduced to basic concepts of print through storytelling, book discussions, and independent reading. Teachers work one on one with students to ensure that they achieve at every level. Students also experience Reader’s and Writer’s workshop and dive deeper into phonics and handwriting techniques.
Hands-on activities, manipulatives and real world problems are at the heart of all math lessons. Students discover the joys of math through activities including counting, ordering, comparing, recognizing patterns, while they develop fluency and number sense. Students enter first grade with a comprehensive conceptual understanding as they progress through the Math in Focus program.
Our project-based curriculum guides and inspires students to think critically about issues that affect them and the world, while they collaborate with their peers to find solutions. It's all grounded in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, our blueprint to understand and engage with the issues that will impact our communities today and in the future. Hands-on activities, building, making, and experimenting make their learning fun.
2023-24 Themes
Prekindergarten: Community, Architecture and Building, The Mysteries of Light.
Kindergarten: Food and Culture, Water, Living Things and How They Grow.
Our Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten students practice a variety of skills in their centers, where they receive individual and small group support from teachers. Centers include games, art activities, literacy and math investigations, and extending their learning through play. Students develop independence and cooperative skills as they practice how to manage their choices and time.
Prekindergarten and Kindergarten students study Spanish two days per week using memory tools, stories, songs, and patterns to increase their vocabulary. They play games and engage in a variety of activities that will help increase their ability to have practical conversations and gain confidence in learning a new language.
Early Childhood students explore a wide range of mediums, including painting, collage, sculpture and fiber arts, providing new opportunities to express themselves artistically. Joyful opportunities to sing, play rhythm instruments, dance, tell stories, and act, get students moving, thinking and inspiring their creativity. Our students become confident music-makers, showcasing their skills in twice yearly performances and during all-school assemblies.
Physical Education is fun and interactive, providing a balance of gross motor skills development, cooperative team building skills, and mindfulness exercises. Children enjoy a range of activities including yoga, obstacle courses, community sports, and age appropriate games. Students also participate in weekly investigations of health and wellness, engaging with age appropriate topics that foster good physical and mental health.
Some of the best learning happens through play - with water, dirt, and natural materials - and through climbing, crawling, running, jumping, and participating in physical activities. Time for fresh air and social interaction is important, and so Early Childhood students enjoy two periods of recess per day - in the schoolyard, at the Nest, or in the park - outside in all kinds of weather. Our outdoor experiential education program provides additional hands-on field studies and nature play, integrating mindfulness and reflective practices, a healthy lifestyle, scientific inquiry, and environmental stewardship.
Students focus on values and concepts important to building a strong community: friendship, self-image, peacemaking, equality, similarities and differences, understanding, and acceptance. They also take time for reflection and mindfulness which helps them to grow into good community members.
Even the youngest FFS students engage with the Quaker values and practices. In a developmentally appropriate manner, teachers guide our PreK and Kindergarten students to begin taking part in the silence of Meeting for Worship. Through exploration, mindfulness, and centering amongst the silence, students are gradually exposed to the power and pleasure of a still, quiet moment.
Early childhood students regularly practice yoga
Recess in The Nest
Kindergarten Morning Meeting in the school yard
Kindergarten PBL: building prototypes of toys
Consulting an expert in Pre-K PBL
Exploring forces and physics through art
© 2023 Frankford Friends School