Curriculum
At PNS, we feel the best way for children to learn is through play, while using a wide variety of developmentally appropriate materials and equipment. Our goal is to provide a nurturing environment for students to develop confidence and a positive foundation for elementary school, while fostering independence and socialization.
We provide fun opportunities for cognitive growth everyday. We want students to develop positive and caring relationships with both adults and peers. Our large classroom is bright and cheery. It is divided into centers allocated for dramatic play, projects, writing and coloring, S.T.E.M. activities, puzzles, reading, building, sensory bins and rug toys. We are fortunate to be able to change our toys and theme every week. We aim to acclimate our students to the social experiences of school through play by reinforcing sharing, taking turns, polite manners, using our words and personal space to name a few.
We love art projects here at PNS! They are a highlight of each day; students are very excited to do them. They usually correspond to the book we read and the weekly theme. We emphasize the benefit of the process, not the end work. We love watching our students learn and grow!
We go outside everyday, unless it is below freezing or raining. We have a large playground space with swings, a sandbox and climbing structure. On days we cannot go outside, our large classroom provides the space to bring out musical instruments, marching band, parachute or scarves. We love to get our students moving!
We strive to work in partnership with parents, communicating on a regular basis to ensure that we are meeting the needs of the whole child. Parents are always welcome in the classroom and have the opportunity to share special talents or knowledge with the class.
Our curriculum is in accordance with the RI Early Learning Standards and we are fully licensed by RI DHS. Our two-day program (3-year-olds) consists of several hands on activities throughout the day to promote independence and basic skills. During circle time pre-reading skills are introduced through large group stories, songs and games. We introduce one letter of the alphabet each week. Projects and activities during center time are designed to reinforce the recognition and formation of the letter. We focus on pre-writing skills such as cutting, tracing, painting, and using glue. All these activities and more are excellent for strengthening fine motor skills which are necessary for writing.
Our three-day program (4-year-olds) builds on the skills the students have already acquired. Math, Science and Social Studies are integrated throughout our theme-based creative curriculum. Students are divided into small groups and instructed to rotate through several stations which build pre-kindergarten learning and literacy skills. We teach recognition and beginning letter sounds. We learn to sort, graph, compare, make patterns, measure and recognize numbers. We teach our students to observe, predict, investigate and build.
