Early Years

Early Years comprises K4, K5 and 1st grade, the early years of school life at The Columbus School. These years are characterized by exploring in community and building social skills through play and routines while developing foundational skills in English and Spanish.  In K4 most of the day takes place in Spanish with one hour of English per day, while in K5 and 1st most of the day is developed in English with one hour of Spanish per day. Children work on motor, language, math, and socio-emotional skills in addition to social science and natural science concepts through a variety of methodologies. Within an Early Years child’s day, there are times to sing, play, listen, work in centers or stations, talk, think, read, write, debate, move, build, solve problems, make class meetings, and develop projects. To guide our curriculum we use the Bridges math program and the Balanced Literacy / Reading and Writing Workshop approach in language. Our entire curriculum and our assessments are based on standards that are consistently aligned between one grade level and another.