Early Childhood Specials

At the ripest time for language development, our language specialists uses engaging songs, games, and stories to build vocabulary and an early awareness of language structures.

Even our youngest students study new languages through fun, engrossing activities.

In pre-kindergarten, students may:

• Exchange Spanish greetings
• Learn Spanish vocabulary
• Discover Spanish-speaking cultures
• Participate in songs and stories

As students progress, Spanish class gives them an outlet to talk about and describe their feelings in new and exciting ways. In kindergarten, they’re encouraged to participate in Spanish-focused activities that challenge their developing minds and reward their efforts.

Movement exercises and a stimulating, interactive games on special equipment build spatial awareness, sensory integration, fine and gross motor, and social skills. 

Our pre-kindergarteners have a lot of energy, and here they harness it to discover and grow in awareness of their bodies and surroundings.

In pre-kindergarten, students may:

• Cooperate in games and team sports
• Develop body and spatial awareness
• Establish good sportsmanship
• Participate in structured and exploratory movement activities
• Explore a variety of age-appropriate equipment

As in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten students combine routine and structure with the freedom to explore new ways to get moving.

In kindergarten, students may:

• Take part in stretching and running exercises
• Participate in structured activities like parachute fun and climbing the cargo net
• Use balls, hoops, scooters, and hippity-hops
• Play noncompetitive games and develop sport skills

Shapes. Patterns. Vivid colors. Creative self-expression is part of the daily routine. On special days, children travel to our art studio, using chalk, paint, and papier maché to hone design skills and craft products that make them brim with pride.

The world of art gives our pre-kindergarteners the opportunity to discover and create. Our littlest artists feel the texture of paint, marvel at the mixing of colors, and create one-of-a-kind masterpieces. They connect with their creations and delight in their work.

In pre-kindergarten, students may:

• Practice fine motor skills
• Express creativity
• Build self-esteem
• Explore materials

In kindergarten, our students focus on the joy of creating. As they explore art materials and methods, we invite them into a world of discovery and imagination, where there is a constant hum of energy.

Improvisation, puppetry, and costumed role-playing extend the dramatic play in our classrooms to a larger stage, building language skills and confident self-expression.

Pre-kindergarteners are ready for creative play, and the structure of a drama class in a safe environment makes acting fun. Pretending to go different places and become different characters is a major part of the drama fun.

In pre-kindergarten, students may:

• Gain an understanding of proper audience manners
• Understand the stage as a performance area
• Comprehend basic stage direction
• Experience character development by participating in mini-performances
• Experiment with improvisation

In kindergarten, students have fun flexing their imaginations. They come to every drama class excited and ready to take on another adventure.

Through dance, rhythmic movement, voice, and Orff percussion instruments, students get early exposure to pitch, beat, rhythm, tempo, and the joy of communal music-making.

Music in pre-kindergarten is an exploration of sounds made by playing rhythm instruments, singing songs, and moving to music. The children discover steady beat, pitch, and tempo while making their own music.

In pre-kindergarten, students may:

• Experience the movement, rhythm and tempo of music
• Discover and use a variety of instruments
• Explore sounds made by a variety of instruments including one’s own voice
• Experiment with improvisation

Our kindergarteners learn about music by singing, moving, playing classroom instruments, and listening. From the very start, they explore and discover music from many different cultures and in a variety of styles.

The rich linguistic culture of classrooms is enriched further by visits to the library, for listening, storytelling and exploration. The start of a lifelong love of the world of books begins in pre-kindergarten.

In pre-kindergarten, Seven Hills students develop an appreciation of literature that lays the groundwork for a lifelong love of reading, learning, and intellectual exploration. They learn good library manners and listening skills while also exploring a wide variety of authors and illustrators in traditional folk and fairy tales. Most importantly, they will understand how to recognize and understand a character’s feelings, sharing these stories and building social skills along the way.

In kindergarten, students continue to be introduced to different authors, illustrators, and literary styles in fun and creative ways. Students will learn to recognize and perform the beginning, middle, and end of a story while also learning how to care for their library books and other materials. In order to make the experience more meaningful, students read stories and participate in activities that complement their classroom’s academic curriculum.

In daily classroom interactions, social and emotional growth is fostered through guided group learning and circle time. These valuable skills are reinforced by our guidance counselor, through games and stories that bring our school values to life.

Using puppets and stories, the pre-kindergarten guidance curriculum teaches students about joining a group, acceptable group behaviors, recognizing feelings, and respecting others.

Find out more about our pre-kindergarten curriculum.

In kindergarten, selections from children’s literature are used to help students understand their feelings, and to teach them self-acceptance, self-reliance, and social skills.