Pre-Primary

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The Hydrostone Academy Pre-Primary is a warm and nurturing environment that serves the developmental needs of three to five-year-old children. The curriculum is delivered through the classroom environment, materials and daily activities. All areas of child development are considered important. We recognize the basic goodness in each student. Our goal is to create a classroom culture where children are able to experience their wisdom and vitality. Rhythms and cycles are a constant part of nature and human life. The classroom routine works in harmony with daily, weekly and seasonal rhythms. Stories, songs, verses and other classroom activities enrich the experience of the seasons as well. Seasonal festivals and events provide an opportunity for parents, friends and the larger community to join in celebrating with students. 

Social and emotional development is nurtured constantly. Children are treated with respect and learn to be respectful. We use descriptive, rather than judgmental, language when commenting on a child’s work or behaviour. We honour children’s ideas and personalities. Children have choices within firm, but friendly, limits. We expect children to push boundaries and we use guidance, redirection and natural consequences rather than punishment. Boundaries help children feel secure and when they feel safe, they are available for learning. Children are encouraged to model the teachers’ use of positive language. They learn to listen to each other and defend their own rights in an appropriate manner. They learn to take turns and to wait for a desired material or outcome. Throughout all the children’s social interactions, they learn that they are an important part of our Pre-Primary community and are supported daily to become good citizens of the world. Through books and teacher-led discussions, children learn about their own and others’ identities in relation to race, gender, culture, religion, ability, and other dimensions of difference, and they begin to develop a vocabulary to discuss human diversity with kindness, respect, and curiosity. For example, personal pronouns and gender identity are discussed and practiced in a developmentally appropriate way, and children learn vocabulary to describe their own skin colour and other characteristics.

Physical/mental/emotional health learning is facilitated in a variety of ways. Through modelling and coaching from teachers, children learn to identify feelings. They discover that it’s normal and healthy to have unpleasant feelings and begin to learn how to manage them properly. There are many options available to children to support emotional regulation when they are feeling sad, angry, frustrated, etc. Teachers may offer children a hug or cuddle, a safe space to be alone, a ride on the stationary bike, or some playdough to squeeze; in time, children learn to advocate for their own needs. Health-related topics such as proper handwashing, the benefits of wearing proper outdoor clothing, consent, body boundaries, and fairness are integrated into daily routines.

Language development Morning circle is a time when children are encouraged to participate in a rich language experience. The learning and repetition of verses and songs, along with gestures and movement, enhances vocabulary, articulation, memory, visual imaging and sequencing. Every morning a story is told at the end of circle, offering children a forum to practice listening skills as well. At the end of each week, children are invited to act out the story of the week, building recall and narration capacities.  French is also introduced at circle through verse and song, providing children the opportunity to practice new words and French sounds and laying the foundation for the elementary French program. Children have many opportunities to interact with a variety of texts. Books are always available to the children in several areas of the classroom, and teachers often choose books to read and discuss with the group. During weekly visits from our book buddies, older children (typically between grades 2 through 5) read books with the Pre-Primary children. Teachers choose a variety of texts to share with the students that reflect diversity and inclusion across race, gender, age, ability, family composition, religion, identity and experience. Children often choose to create their own texts as well, asking teachers to write down stories as the children dictate them and provide the illustrations. Children’s language arts skills are further developed through social play with puzzles and cooperative board games, and conversing and sharing jokes and tongue twisters at snack and lunch time.

Cognitive development is stimulated through many activities. Opportunities for experiencing math concepts abound each day. Skills such as correspondence counting, shape recognition, spatial awareness and measurement are practiced during activities like unit block building, puzzles, stringing beads, sand and water play and art, to mention just a few. Science concepts of observation, questioning, experimenting and hypothesizing occur through the observation and manipulation of natural materials and through teacher directed activities.

Physical development is a continuous practice in the Pre-Primary classroom. Circle is a wonderful opportunity for children to exercise and strengthen both large and small muscle groups and to develop a sense of rhythm and balance. The materials on our shelves are aesthetically pleasing and attract children to exercise and strengthen their fine and gross motor muscles, through their use. Outdoor play is an essential part of a child’s day. The core of outdoor play is expansive movement, challenging their gross motor skills. Outdoor play promotes learning through the senses as we move through the seasons and is a good foundation for understanding the world. Once a week, children participate in an indoor physical education class in the gym, which includes a variety of gross motor activities. They learn foundational physical skills through play with balls, beanbags, hoops, ribbon sticks, balance beams, scooter boards and more. A variety of cooperative games, such as parachute play, are also introduced. Children exercise their bodies through different kinds of locomotion, dance and yoga to help stimulate and strengthen the physical senses. 

Aesthetic development is valued and expressed through the environment and choice of natural materials used in the classroom. Wooden toys and nature blocks, beach stones and river stones, sand and water provide the basis for architectural marvels. Once a week, artist quality watercolour paint, paper and brushes are provided for children to explore colour through the process of wet on wet painting. A young child’s interaction with this painting process can allow them to feel the effects and quality of colour within themselves. Children are also given many opportunities to explore other visual art materials and activities such as tempera and finger paints, basic printmaking, cutting and pasting, beeswax crayons, chalk, cardboard sculpture, and more. It nurtures the soul to be surrounded by things that appeal to the senses.