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Ages 4 – 5

Pre-K

where kindergarten readiness is built

This is the year that decides whether your child walks into kindergarten confident or behind. We don't believe in trade-offs — our Pre-K kids are both ready and still get to be five. Phonics in the morning. Mud kitchen in the afternoon.

Tour the Pre-K room
Pre-K classroom at Grace Learning Tree
4–5
Years old
1:12
Teacher : child ratio
100%
Kindergarten-ready by graduation
26
Sight words mastered
a day in our room

Real academics, real play

Pre-K is the most academically rigorous room at Grace — but it's still preschool, not first grade. Joyful, hands-on, developmentally right.

6:30–8:30

Drop-off & soft start

Breakfast, journal entry (a sentence and a drawing), book browsing, free play with friends.

8:30–9:15

Morning meeting

Calendar, weather, helper of the day, daily theme, sharing time. Frog Street Pre-K curriculum drives the structure.

9:15–10:00

Phonics & literacy

Letter sounds, sight word work, decoding practice, name-writing every day. Letterland phonics layered with Frog Street.

10:00–10:30

Handwriting Without Tears

Formal letter formation, lowercase work, beginning sentence-writing on dotted lines. The HWT magic at its full strength.

10:30–11:00

Math centers

Counting to 30+, patterns, simple addition, shape work, measuring. Hands-on manipulatives — never worksheets at this age.

11:00–11:45

Outdoor play

Preschool playground — bikes, climbing, gardening, dramatic outdoor play, organized games.

11:45–12:30

Family-style lunch

Hot meals, child-sized tables, real conversations. Pre-K kids set their own places now and clear them after.

12:30–2:00

Rest & quiet time

Some still nap, some have a quiet hour with books or quiet activities. We don't force naps at this age.

2:00–2:30

Snack & read-aloud

Chapter book reading begins here. We can stretch their attention span 15-20 minutes for a great story.

2:30–3:00

Weekly Science

Real experiments — predictions, observations, recording results. The foundation of scientific thinking.

3:00–4:30

Extras, art, outdoor play

Soccer Shots, Birdie Buddies golf, music, project-based art, more outdoor time. The afternoon is for choice and exploration.

4:30–6:00

Wind-down & pickup

Free play, daily Brightwheel reports, sometimes a quick share-out of what they learned today.

curriculum at this age

What kindergarten-ready actually looks like

Not just letters and numbers. Behaviors, habits, and dispositions kindergarten teachers wish every kid arrived with.

🔤

Reading foundations

The pre-reading work that makes first grade possible. By June, most kids are decoding 3-letter words.

  • All 26 letter sounds mastered
  • 26 sight words: a, the, I, see, like, can…
  • Decoding CVC words (cat, sun, big)
  • Reading their own name and friends' names
✏️

Writing

Real letter formation, sentence-writing, journal entries. They leave us writing.

  • HWT lowercase letters mastered
  • Writing their full name
  • Daily journal entry (sentence + drawing)
  • Beginning to write 2-3 word sentences
🔢

Math

Counting, comparing, simple addition. Kindergarten math is more advanced than parents expect — we get them ready.

  • Counting to 30+ accurately
  • Simple addition and subtraction
  • Shapes (2D and 3D)
  • Patterns and sorting
🔬

Science

Curiosity made systematic. They learn to predict, observe, and explain.

  • Weekly experiments
  • Seasonal observations
  • Plants, animals, weather, the body
  • Beginning to record observations in journals
🎯

Self-regulation

Sitting in a chair for 20 minutes. Listening to directions. Working independently. The unsexy kindergarten skills.

  • Following multi-step directions
  • Sustained attention 15-20 min
  • Managing transitions independently
  • Cleaning up their own space
❤️

Faith & character

Opt-in. Age-appropriate lessons in kindness, courage, gratitude, integrity. Aledo values, lived daily.

  • Weekly faith lesson
  • Service projects (food drives, etc.)
  • Modeling kindness and inclusion
  • Connection to Aledo community
growth markers

By the end of Pre-K, your child will…

A real list of real skills. Kindergarten teachers tell us our kids arrive prepared.

Write their full nameFirst and last, capital and lowercase
Know all letter soundsUpper and lowercase, in random order
Read 26+ sight wordsInstantly, in or out of context
Count to 30Accurately, with one-to-one correspondence
Simple addition and subtractionWithin 5 using manipulatives
Identify all 2D shapesPlus basic 3D: cube, sphere, cylinder
Tell a story with beginning, middle, endVerbally and in journal drawings
Sit through a 20-minute lessonWith focus and follow-through
Work independentlyAt their seat, on a task, without prompting
Love learningThe most important readiness skill there is
our pre-k ratio
1 : 12

Texas allows up to 1:18 for four-year-olds. We hold it at 1:12 because Pre-K is when individual attention pays off the most — coaching writing, hearing them read, catching them up when they need it.

what's next

Kinder Bridge — the extra year that pays off

Many families choose to keep their child a year longer in our Kinder Bridge program before kindergarten. It's not "behind." It's a strategic head start — full kindergarten academics, more time to mature, biggest social-emotional advantage.

Come see how Pre-K actually works

Tour during a morning session. Watch a phonics lesson. See journal time. You'll understand exactly why our families don't leave.

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