Preschool Overview
Curriculum
At St. Petersburg Primary School, our play-based curriculum is grounded in research and aligned with the Florida Early Learning and Developmental Standards. Children learn through play, discovery, interaction, and direct instruction, with lessons designed to support their social, emotional, physical, intellectual, and spiritual growth. Our teachers thoughtfully plan thematic units of study that weave standards into engaging, hands-on experiences—supporting children who need extra encouragement as well as those who are ready for added challenges.
Our One-Year-Old program utilizes the Experience Early Learning curriculum, designed specifically for toddlers 18 months and older. This program provides sensory-rich, play-based activities that build early language, motor, cognitive, and social-emotional skills through themes, books, manipulatives, and music.
Our Two-Year-Old and Three-Year-Old programs learn through Frog Street Toddler and Frog Street Preschool. Frog Street is a joyful, play-based program that combines fun songs, stories, and hands-on exploration with age-appropriate learning in math, language, problem-solving, and creativity. It also builds strong social-emotional skills through Conscious Discipline® and has been shown in independent studies to support kindergarten readiness, especially in reading for both English and Spanish-speaking children.
Our Pre-Kindergarten program uses Learning Without Tears and Kickstart to Literacy to strengthen literacy, math, and handwriting skills. Monthly thematic units incorporate science and social studies, while teachers expand on student interests to keep learning meaningful and child-centered. STEAM learning is woven throughout the day, encouraging open-ended problem solving and a love for the process of discovery.
Daily Activities
The Preschool program includes the following daily activities:
🖍️ Work-Play Period: Children make choices of working at different learning centers - home-living center, blocks center, manipulative toys, sensory bins, art center, dramatic play and book center.
👏 Large and Small Group Experiences: Singing, music, rhythm, dramatizations, finger plays, stories, unit studies, art, sequencing, sorting, fine and gross motor activities, listening exercises, and other readiness activities are coordinated by the teacher.
🥕 Morning Snack: Parents provide a nutritional snack for their children.
🌳 Outside Play: A minimum of 30 minutes of scheduled playground time in the morning - choices of tricycles, sandbox, swings, balls, and climbing equipment. Children staying for After School Clubs have additional playground time in the afternoon.
😌 Quiet Time: A brief quiet time to listen to music or stories and look at books.
📖 Weekly Christian Education and Monthly Chapel: Christian Education focuses on teaching core Bible stories to foster curiosity and reflection, while helping children become thoughtful, compassionate people. The program is grounded in the Presbyterian tradition which emphasizes God’s expansive and inclusive love for all people and our responsibility to respect and value every person for who they are.
Once a month, students will have Chapel with Rev. Robert Robert Galloway, Senior Pastor at First Presbyterian Church and our Christian Ed. teacher. We have separate Chapels for preschool and elementary school. Parents are invited to join us for Chapel where we will sing our fun songs and share the lessons learned that month.
🏵️ Spanish: Weekly Spanish classes will teach students beginning conversational Spanish through movement, music and reinforcement activities.
Preparing your child for Preschool
School is going to be a great experience for your child! There is so much to look forward to: circle time, new friends, music, make-believe, new toys and games, art projects, a new playground to explore and learning their ABC’s and 123’s! Since new situations can sometimes be stressful for children, parents can help ease the situation by preparing their child in the following ways:
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Be sure your child has a good night’s sleep and is healthy before arriving at school.
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Always speak of going to school as a pleasant, exciting event.
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Take time beforehand to talk over the new experience of going to school so that the event will be looked forward to with pleasure and anticipation.
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Rehearse a good-bye routine with your child. For instance, create a special handshake, blowing of kisses, special jingle to remind them you’ll be back soon, etc. Avoid hugs as those can be difficult to let go of.
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Read books about going to school that talk about what children can expect during a typical school day. There are many other wonderful books about school that you can read.
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Talk about how much fun you had when you went to school. Reminisce about your favorite teachers and tell funny stories.
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Prepare your child for the fact that you will have to leave but will return promptly when school is over.
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Get to know the teacher. Your child will be happy and secure knowing that his/her teacher and parents are friends.
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Be sure to attend your Meet and Greet appointment. You and your child will get to meet their teacher and visit the classroom.
