Robert begins the 4 PreK school year as a member of the flexible day program. His parents plan for him to start the year as a half-day student but will add on an afternoon each month. By February he will be attending five full days a week. This gradual addition of time at school coincides with his maturation. Having reviewed his progress last year, his teachers recognize his readiness for their program, and are eager to help him succeed in their classroom.

The routine of the day is familiar to Robert, although his teachers and many of classmates are new to him. Once the year has gotten underway, his teachers will increase their expectations for Robert so that he will grow and develop. Teachers help Robert’s parents disengage sooner each morning than was expected in the 3 PreK program.

Robert’s continued personal growth and social development are important to his teachers. They will expect him to participate in most classroom activities, express his emotions, eagerly explore toys and materials, and interact positively with others in the classroom. His teachers encourage Robert’s abilities to sit at work tables, exchange his ideas and thoughts with his classmates, enter into dramatic play by adopting a role that fits the play of his classmates, find materials with which to work, make a plan for his block play that involves other children’s ideas, and play with different children rather than the same friend he knows best.

Teachers will introduce Robert to the Second Step program, which builds skills each year through fifth grade. He will learn the beginning concepts of anger management, empathy, and conflict resolution by listening to stories with puppets and pictures. He will practice helpful phrases to remember when conflicts erupt.

Language and literacy skill activities are more abundant this year, and letters and sounds will become more familiar and meaningful to Robert as he discovers the containers filled with objects to sort by sounds, the sandpaper letters to trace, the sand trays used for making letters with his finger, and the alphabet books. He and his classmates sing songs with letters, sounds, rhymes and alliteration. They discover the familiar letters in everyone’s name. Some classmates crack the code to reading while others are comfortable recognizing the letters in their names. All the students work on comprehension skills when they act out familiar stories with their classmates, retell the main events of a story just told by a teacher, guess what will happen next by looking at the pictures in a book, and comment on the actions in a story.

Robert’s writing skills grow stronger as he works with the many tools designed to increase his small muscle development (tweezers, basters, perforating pens, tongs etc.) He wants to make signs to accompany his building projects, write messages to his friends, and use words in meaningful ways.


Service Learning activities continue to expand Robert’s awareness that he is a member of a community and responsible for his community. Robert’s class will be paired with a Lower School classroom, and Randy will interact with his buddy for the year.

The music teacher will arrive once a week, and PE classes will occur twice a week.

As Robert completes his 4PreK year, he has learned to trust himself and others, increased his self-discipline, gained an awareness of others, developed creative ideas, and found pleasure in the process of learning.