PreK3, Prek4, and Kindergarten
Preschool
Country Day’s Preschool (PreK3, PreK4, and Kindergarten) creates a positive, caring space for our students to grow and learn. Our early childhood teachers understand that children have a tremendous capacity for understanding. They are creative, curious, and learn best through play. We encourage and nurture social and emotional growth by implementing activities and planning experiences that are both developmentally appropriate and challenging. With these opportunities, our students are encouraged to play, explore, build, create, discover, and grow. We also believe that each child is unique- our teachers differentiate their instruction to accommodate these differences. We are dedicated to the education and well-being of the whole child.
Language Arts:
At Alexandria Country Day School, our preschool program is thoughtfully designed to foster early literacy and language development through research-based instruction. We proudly implement the Heggerty Phonemic Awareness curriculum for our PreK and Kindergarten the Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) program to give our youngest learners a strong start.
The Heggerty curriculum provides daily, engaging lessons that develop essential phonemic awareness skills — the building blocks of reading success. Through fun and interactive activities, students learn to hear, identify, and manipulate sounds, preparing them for confident reading in later grades. CKLA complements this by integrating foundational reading skills with rich content knowledge. Our preschoolers are introduced to vocabulary, comprehension strategies, and early writing, all while exploring topics in science, social studies, and the arts. Together, Heggerty and CKLA help us create a joyful, literacy-rich environment where every child is empowered to grow, explore, and thrive.
Mathematics:
The Pre-Kindergarten Math program consists of hands-on discovery and exploration using concrete manipulatives. The focus is on number sense, counting strategies, sorting, graphing, creating/extending patterns, problem solving through story problems, shapes, composing/decomposing numbers, comparison of quantity, measurement, making sets and introduction to addition/subtraction concepts.
In Kindergarten, Singapore Math emphasizes critical thinking and problem solving. Students begin with concrete manipulatives and move towards abstract numerical understanding. Pictorial representation is a crucial part of this program that helps students develop strong conceptual understanding. Essential math skills are also part of the program to ensure that our students are fluent in addition and subtraction. The focus areas are number sense, counting strategies, sorting, graphing, creating/extending patterns, problem solving through story problems, shapes, composing/decomposing numbers, comparison of quantity, measurement, making sets, skip counting, tallying, place value, estimation, addition and subtraction.
Physical Education:
Country Day’s daily Dynamic Physical Education program gives students the opportunity to participate in various activities that improve general physical fitness, fine and gross motor skills, team work, and sportsmanship while having fun.
Fine Arts:
Primary School Fine Arts classes engage students in process art, which focuses on the process rather than the product, and theater arts, where students learn about self expression through play. Teacher-directed Fine Arts lessons teach basic art skills and techniques and allow students the opportunity to explore a variety of art supplies and strengthen gross and fine motor skills.
Library Study:
By hearing stories read and told, checking out books, learning to use the library, and making book-related crafts, children have many opportunities to discover new worlds through books and develop a passion for reading.
Music:
Primary students are introduced to music concepts such as steadybeat, note family, same and different patterns, loud and soft, and tempo. Music concepts are learned through playing instruments, movement, singing, games, and dramatic play.
STEM:
This course provides students with 21st century skills and the benefits of hands-on STEM learning through Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math related activities.
