Pre-Primary

A Foundation for a Lifelong Love of Learning

At Gulf Stream School, our Pre-Primary program nurtures the whole child, supporting academic, social, physical, and emotional growth from the earliest years through Kindergarten. Through purposeful play, exploration, strong relationships, and increasingly structured learning experiences, children develop curiosity, confidence, independence, and the foundational skills that prepare them for what comes next.

As students progress through Pre-Primary, learning grows alongside them — from discovery through play in PK1–PK4 to the introduction of more formal academic skills in Kindergarten — while preserving the joy, creativity, and sense of wonder that are central to early childhood.

Learning Through Play

Our Pre-Primary philosophy is rooted in teaching the whole child, supporting academic, social, physical, and emotional growth. Our play-based program provides longer periods of uninterrupted play that focus on process rather than product. Purposeful play encourages curiosity, discovery, and problem-solving while supporting individual growth and the development of a positive self-image.

Our classroom spaces encourage students to interact freely with classmates, teachers, and the environment around them. We use open-ended questions and materials that encourage meaningful discovery, problem-solving, and creative thinking. Throughout the day, students take part in both small-group and large-group instruction, allowing teachers to meet individual needs while supporting growth across all areas of development.

Kindergarten
Building the Bridge to Formal Academics

In Kindergarten, structured instruction is balanced with inquiry-based exploration, hands-on experiences, play, and creativity, helping students develop the strong foundational skills and social confidence needed for Lower School and beyond.

List of 2 items.

  • Strong Academic Foundations

    Through a structured phonics approach and rich language arts experiences, students strengthen reading comprehension, expressive language, and the skills needed to become confident, independent readers.

    In mathematics, Eureka Math develops number sense, problem-solving skills, and an understanding of how mathematical concepts connect to the world around them.

  • Learning Beyond the Core

    Pre-Primary students benefit from a rich, well-rounded school experience that includes opportunities for Spanish, music, performing and fine arts, physical education, library experiences, technology, and hands-on learning.

    In Kindergarten, students begin applying their learning through STEM experiences and engineering challenges, including activities such as designing parade floats and programming Bee-Bots. Spanish instruction builds language skills and vocabulary, with American Sign Language incorporated into learning experiences where appropriate.
     

Explore the Pre-Primary Curriculum

See how learning develops year by year throughout our Pre-Primary program.

Pre-Kindergarten Curriculum

List of 11 items.

  • Reading

    • Emphasis on enjoyment of listening to and discussing stories
    • Introduction to the difference between letters, words and sentences
    • Acquisition of a sense of story structure (beginning, middle, end)
    • Introduction to letter recognition
    • Development of letter recognition
    • Development of letter-sound association
    • Introduction to the combination of sounds into words
    • Development of the concept of print
    • Introduction to Reader’s Workshop

  • Language Arts

    • Practice in writing names
    • Introduction to story elements
    • Beginnings of personal connections to texts
    • Focus on increasing vocabulary
    • Emphasis on appropriate responses to questions
    • Introduction to journaling
    • Opportunities to role play
    • Participation in songs and “finger plays”
    • Development of interest in symbolic representation (drawing, letters, numbers, sounds, print, etc.)
    • Utilization of a variety of manipulatives and papers (markers, crayons, chalk, lined paper)

  • Math

    • Bridges Math: Pre-K curriculum based on conceptual understanding, building key skills, and solving complex problems
    • Numerical relations (counting, ordering)
    • Practice in one-to-one correspondence
    • Introduction to measurement
    • Practice in patterning
    • Introduction to geometry (attributes of shapes)
    • Introduction to estimation
    • Practice in sorting and classifying
    • Introduction to pictorial representation of data, such as graphs
    • Emphasis on use of manipulatives to solve problems
    • Introduction to number recognition and writing
    • Introduction to subitizing, quickly identifying numbers in a set

  • Social Studies / History

    • Development of an understanding of community
    • Introduction to the school community and its members
    • Focus on the members of a family and their roles
    • Emphasis on American holidays and customs
    • Introduction to holidays and customs of other cultures
    • Introduction to transportation
    • Understanding of the dynamics of various families

  • Science

    • Investigation of topics such as animals, weather, seasons, senses, nature, human body, and healthy habits
    • Emphasis on exploring, observing and predicting
    • Focus on cause and effect
    • Recognition of the difference between living and non-living beings
    • Recognition of colors and their hues
    • Identification of the conditions necessary for plant growth and their life cycle

  • Spanish

    • Introduction to language through audio-visual tools, role playing, singing, dancing, storytelling, sorting, counting, etc.
    • Emphasis on use of songs and games that reinforce Spanish vocabulary and teach traditions of Hispanic culture
    • Use of stories to enhance Spanish and listening skills
    • Focus on answering simple questions in Spanish

  • Art

    • Focus on recognition of colors
    • Exposure to different media (paint, clay, crayon, glue)
    • Development of drawing and cutting skills
    • Emphasis on imagination and creativity

  • Music

    • Introduction to tapping a beat and recognizing melody
    • Focus on singing rhymes
    • Introduction to instruments
    • Emphasis on listening
    • Participation in the Holiday Show, Grandparents’ Day and Spring Concerts

  • Physical Education

    • Stress on following directions
    • Emphasis on safety, participation, and sportsmanship
    • Development of spatial awareness and body control
    • Practice in various locomotor modes (walk, run, hop, skip, gallop, slide)
    • Practice in non-locomotor movement (bend, twist, spin)
    • Use of a variety of equipment

  • Social / Emotional Development

    • Focus on making friends and being a friend
    • Stress on distinguishing oneself from others
    • Attention to turn-taking, sharing, and cooperation
    • Focus on roles within a group
    • Development of self-control and coping skills
    • Nurturing of independence
    • Development of self-esteem and confidence through competence
    • Development of ability to initiate play
    • Fostering of positive self-esteem and ability to make one’s own choices
    • Development of self-regulation skills
    • Management of transitions

  • Motor Development

    • Development of finger strength to prepare for writing
    • Development of proper pencil grip
    • Introduction to handwriting skills
    • Development of hand-eye coordination
    • Focus on fine and gross motor skills and coordination

Kindergarten Curriculum

List of 11 items.

  • Reading

    • Identification of phonemes in initial, medial, and final positions
    • Emphasis on blending sounds
    • Recognition of rhyming
    • Practice in retelling stories
    • Introduction to sight words
    • Stress on decoding CVC words
    • Use of Columbia University's Reader’s Workshop
    • Development of love and appreciation for literature

  • Language Arts

    • Focus on proper upper and lowercase letter formation and spacing
    • Introduction to punctuation
    • Journaling, drawing, labeling, writing sentences
    • Introduction to sentence composition
    • Focus on reading comprehension
    • Emphasis on sequencing
    • Practice in dictation
    • Development of speaking skills

  • Math

    • Eureka Math: Kindergarten through 4th-grade curriculum focused on strategic thinking and understanding the "why" behind the numbers
    • Focus on number recognition and writing (1-100)
    • Recognition of numbers before and after
    • Introduction to place value
    • Introduction to skip counting (5s, 10s)
    • Introduction to addition and subtraction facts to 10
    • Practice in patterning
    • Interpretation of graphs
    • Focus on story problems and drawing the picture also using number bonds and number sentences
    • Exploration of two and three dimensional shapes

  • Science

    • Exploration of seasons, environment, life cycle of a butterfly, plants, the five senses, and magnets
    • Emphasis on observation and learning through experimentation

  • Spanish

    • Extension of vocabulary and concepts begun in Pre-K
    • Acquisition of basic speaking and listening skills
    • Study of animals, colors, family, parts of the body, occupations, and feelings
    • Focus on writing short, dictated sentences
    • Development of pre-reading skills through stories, rhymes, games, and songs
    • Use of symbolic representation in drawings
    • Introduction to Spanish alphabet sounds
    • Focus on vowel sounds

  • Social Studies / History

    • Focus on calendar (days, weeks, months, seasons)
    • Emphasis on “All About Me” (child, family, school, country)
    • Emphasis on individual responsibility
    • Development of independence and confidence
    • Introduction to global awareness and citizenship
    • Discussion of the importance of respect for cultural differences, holidays, and customs

  • Art

    • Coordination with academic curriculum
    • Units on the environment, science, and artists
    • Projects that coincide with letters studied in class
    • Introduction to developmental artistic materials and techniques to develop fine and gross motor skills

  • Music

    • Development of senses of beat and melody
    • Introduction to tempo and dynamic
    • Development of listening skills
    • Expansion of knowledge of instruments
    • Participation in the Holiday Show, Grandparents’ Day, and Spring Concerts

  • Physical Education

    • Stress on following directions
    • Emphasis on safety, participation, and sportsmanship
    • Development of spatial awareness and body control
    • Exploration of various locomotor (walk, run, hop, skip, gallop, slide) and non-locomotor (bend, twist, spin) movements
    • Introduction to pathways (straight, curved, zigzag, over, under, around, etc.)
    • Introduction to throwing techniques
    • Practice of hand-eye and foot-eye coordination
    • Use of a variety of equipment
    • Emphasis on health benefits of physical activity

  • Social / Emotional Development

    • Focus on making friends and being a friend
    • Stress on empathy
    • Attention to turn-taking and sharing
    • Focus on appropriate group behavior
    • Practice of self-control and coping skills
    • Emphasis on both independence and cooperation
    • Development of self-esteem and confidence through competence

  • Motor Development

    • Focus on strengthening pencil grip
    • Improvement of handwriting skills
    • Further development of hand-eye coordination
    • Development of fine and gross motor skills

Growing in Confidence, Creativity & Independence

Throughout Pre-Primary, children learn to communicate, collaborate, listen, problem-solve, and express themselves with growing confidence. Whether they are creating, experimenting, performing, playing, or working together, students are encouraged to take an active role in their learning and develop the skills and habits that support continued growth.

Main Campus: PK4 - Gr. 8
Gulf Stream Campus

3600 Gulf Stream Road
Gulf Stream, FL 33483
Phone: 561.276.5225   Fax: 561.276.7115

DBC: PK1, PK2 & PK3
Delray Beach Campus

2515 North Swinton Avenue
Delray Beach, FL 33444
Phone: 561.278.7735