The Orange Room is for the Universal Prekindergarten program. Children must turn 4 by December 31 to qualify.
Children Try New Things
In the Orange room the teachers are constantly encouraging the children to “try”. Whether it‘s new foods, an activity or strengthening their pre‐writing skills. The Orange room teachers believe that the process is more important then the product. Our curriculum possesses community involvement at all times; walks in the neighborhood (while at times playing “I Spy” games), field trips which are normally associated with either our theme and or the children’s expressed interests, and visits to the supermarket and farmers market (as we buy items/ingredients for cooking projects).
Cooking is Learning
We use cooking activities to identify products used, learn new vocabulary, and observe the physical changes when ingredients are mixed together. We also enjoy tasting and sharing thoughts during the cooking activities. Dialogue and interaction between the children is also a huge factor during our cooking activities.
Free Choice Play
Free choice play is a big and important part of the children’s day where they can make their own choices, negotiate when/if needed and carry on conversations with both peers and teachers. Each child is given the opportunity to help with classroom set up and clean up weekly, which has shown to be a positive way to promote the importance of responsibilities, and displaying that the class is theirs and that they CAN be involved.
Playtime Out-of-Doors
We believe that no child should be left inside therefore encouraging and implementing outside play and gross motor activities in the classroom is a key component of the curriculum. The UPK class has dance/movement time, Zumba and yoga in the classroom. The children learn to distinguish between the three (“fast movement and slow movement”). During movement activities imagination and role playing is being used. The teachers have noticed that the children exposed to both movement, Zumba and yoga during their school days have strengthened their listening skills and imagination play.
