Children in the Early Childhood program are exposed to a wide range of experiences that foster language development and provide the foundations for reading. Spoken language is integral to each child’s day. We invite children to use and play with language during morning meeting, story time, music and movement activities, play scenarios, during one-on-one conversations and at shared snack and lunch.

Teachers, parents and other classroom visitors read or tell stories to children every day, keeping language and literacy at the core of our curriculum and making the written word a natural extension of oral language.

The classrooms are print-rich with literature, student “writing” and name labels. Children progress from scribbling to printing their names and then to developmental spelling. Every day children are given opportunities to experiment with materials to draw and write with at well-stocked print centers: dictating weekend news, creating journal entries, addressing envelopes, signing cards, labeling classroom objects and collaborating on classroom books.