Nursery Goals & Curriculum - The Ramaz School
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Nursery Goals & Curriculum
The goals and objectives of the Nursery program are to foster trust and independence, and to help children become members of a group within a warm and supportive classroom.
Through play and multi-sensory activities, children grow and develop all their skills. Jewish life and values are an integral part of all aspects of our program.
Themes for this Year May Include:
Rosh Hashana
Sukkot
Torah
Stories
Water
Colors
Shapes
Animals
Opposites
The Four Seasons
The Five Senses
Thanksgiving
Textures
All About Me
Chanukah
Tu B’Shvat
Planting and Flowers
Purim
Pesach
Yom Ha’Atzmaut
Shavuot
The teachers select themes that are appropriate for each class and might make changes that reflect the interests of the children in the class. We encourage emergent curriculum in our Nursery program so that a class can learn about any area of specific interest to them. Throughout the day, children engage in block play, dramatic play, art activities, sand and water play, outdoor play, cooking, circle time, story time, movement, and music. Many of these activities are experienced in small groups to ensure that each child is given the opportunity to actively engage in all parts of our program.
While understanding that children develop and mature as individuals at different rates, there are basic milestones that each child should reach through the Nursery experience. Through daily interaction with children, teachers, and materials, the children continue to develop in the following areas throughout the year:
SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL
COGNITIVE
SELF-HELP SKILLS
FINE MOTOR
GROSS MOTOR
JEWISH LIFE
LANGUAGE
HEBREW
MATHEMATICAL CONCEPTS
EMERGENT LITERACY
Social/Emotional
Nursery children should be able to:
Separate from parents.
Develop trust.
Develop independence.
See self as part of the group.
Express feelings, acknowledging others, recognizing others needs and feelings.
Relate and respond to adults and peers.
Understand humor.
Initiate and respond to social situations (thank you, hello, please).
Compromise/work cooperatively in small groups.
Solve own problems and negotiate.
Accept changes in routine and make transitions.
Share materials.
Take turns.
Participate in group activities.
Cognitive
Nursery children should be able to:
Verbally express ideas and feelings.
Ask questions and share information.
Be curious about how things work.
Follow directions.
Master and complete tasks.
Make discoveries.
Name colors.
Begin to understand similarities and differences.
Self-Help Skills
Nursery children should be able to:
Help clean up after an activity.
Put on and take off coat.
Pour liquids.
Take out toys independently.
Initiate putting on socks.
Pull pants up and down.
Put on shoes, basic clothing (shirts, pants, underwear).
Identify the need to use the toilet.
Use toilet independently.
Fine Motor
Nursery children should be able to:
Manipulate small objects.
Feed self.
Use a fork.
Properly hold scissors and begin to cut with scissors.
Turn pages of a book.
Complete puzzles.
Copy lines and simple shapes.
Zipper clothes.
Begin to write name.
Unbutton.
Build a tower.
Hold crayon/marker.
Use small peg boards.
Gross Motor
Nursery children should be able to:
Sit on a chair without falling off.
Walk up stairs alternating feet.
Walk without using handrails.
Begin to walk down stairs, alternating feet.
Run easily.
Kick a ball forward.
Throw a ball.
Begin to catch a ball.
Jump with both feet.
Pedal a tricycle.
Have awareness of own body in space.
Jewish Life
Nursery children should be able to:
Establish the beginning of a Jewish identity.
Develop a sense of pride in being Jewish.
Gain information about the Jewish holidays and Shabbat.
Begin to understand and love prayers.
Learn
Modeh Ani
and
Shema
in
tefillah
Learn about taking out the Torah on Mondays and Thursdays.
Learn about different
minhagim
(Jewish customs).
Learn and recite
brachot
before eating.
Wash hands before eating bread.
Learn the first paragraph of
birkat hamazon
after eating bread.
Wear a kippah/hat (boys).
Light candles, say Kiddush, cut challah, and sing Shabbat songs at the Shabbat party.
Learn
parsha
stories.
Participate in Shabbat Oneg every Friday.
Language
Receptive Language
Identify common objects and pictures.
Understand most sentences.
Understand physical relationships (up, on, under).
Follow multi-step directions.
Listen to stories.
Expressive Language
Know own first and last name, age, and gender.
Use multiple words in a sentence.
Use pronouns (I, you, me, we, they).
Use plurals.
Recall words to familiar songs and chants.
Recite simple rhymes.
Ask questions.
Understand the difference between a question and a comment.
Hebrew
Nursery children will:
Be able to understand the Hebrew spoken in the classroom (receptive language).
Be able to use repetitive patterns throughout the day (expressive language).
Know songs, stories, and dances that are appropriate and are integral with the curriculum.
Be able to recognize all the pronouns and several verbs, and to say sentences in present tense with a pattern.
Mathematical Concepts
Nursery children should be able to:
Count aloud from 1-10 and attempt to count higher.
Identify numbers 1-5.
Count down from 5-1.
Begin to develop one-to-one correspondence.
Understand size vocabulary (big, small, smallest, too big, too small).
Understand and use positional vocabulary (before, after, in between, comes next, next to, in between, in, out, under, in front of, behind, on top).
Use ordinal position words (first and last).
Categorize (color, shape, and size).
Recognize an A-B pattern.
Recognize simple shapes.
Use language to make comparisons (long, short).
Emergent Literacy
Nursery children should be able to:
Verbally respond during story time.
Be attentive during story time.
Look at books independently.
Ask teachers to read a story.
Begin to recognize rhyming words.
Be curious about the alphabet.
Retell a story.
Recognize own name.
Identify first letter of own name.