3-K and Pre-K Programs

PS 84 offers the 3-K for All and Pre-K for All programs from the NYC Department of Education. Our school currently has two 3-K classes and three Pre-K classes. There are 2 teachers per class.

Curriculum

Play is children’s work, and therefore embedded into our curriculum. Following the Pre-K Foundation for the Common Core (PKFCC), our themes are designed to incorporate Math, Science and Social Studies into the every day activities through play.

Social studies activities encourage children to work towards knowing themselves and their world. Through Social Studies children learn about the cultural experiences of their community.

Math activities include hands-on and real life experiences. They also help children develop awareness of numbers, geometry, patterns, measurements and graphs.

Science activities offer students many hands-on opportunities for observation, exploration, investigation, making predictions, and experimentation.

Flow of the Day

Arrival/Morning

Upon arrival, children are encouraged to

  • Find their own cubby and hang their own clothing

  • Take a book to look at with friends, eat breakfast and/or work with table toys

  • Have meaningful conversations with peers

The group will then join the meeting area and participate in the welcome and attendance routine as well as an introduction of the activities of the day by the teacher.

Small/Whole Group Activities

These are designed to stimulate thinking, enrich their social skills, enhance literacy development and expand their attention skills. They often include one or more of the following:

  • Learning activity (from one of the content areas)

  • Storybook and/or Poetry

  • Music and Movement

  • Finger Plays

  • Rhyming

Choice time

During this time children get to choose an activity they want to participate in (these may vary during the year)

Library • Legos • Block Play • Table Toys • Writing/Art table • Painting • Dramatic Play • Sand/water table • Listening Center • Computers • Discovery

Outdoor Play

Weather permitting, children go outside every day. There is a combined lunch/recess 50-minute period. 3-K and Pre-K classrooms have direct access to a private courtyard and playground that they share with Kindergarten students, and where they spend their recess. Two-three times per week our support teacher will lead outdoor activities and play using toys and props.

Read Aloud Stories

Teachers read books that tie into the themes of study and spark predictions and discussions among the children.

Meals

Breakfast and lunch are provided for all students. Parents are welcome to send lunch and/or a healthy snack for their child.

Rest Time

After lunch, children are encouraged to rest, either by napping or engaging in a quiet activity.

Afternoon Meeting Time

At the end of the day and before saying goodbye, the group may

  • Review the activities of the day

  • Share discoveries or stories from home

  • Share tomorrow’s events

  • Have music and/or a movement activity

  • Have story time

  • Engage in a rhyming song or game

Q&A

What is the school schedule?

Drop off is at 8:20 am, and pick up at 2:40 pm through the early childhood courtyard.

For our youngest students, all instruction, meals and rest happens in the classroom, which has a bathroom and a sink.

Our specialized teachers will come to the classroom for weekly music class and other instruction. 

The children go out during recess to their own courtyard which is only for grades 3-K, Pre-K and K.

Are parents allowed in the classroom?

On the first day of school, 3-K and Pre-K parents are welcome to come in to get to know the classroom and teachers, and to get important information from them. Because it is a short day some parents stay until the end.

Parents are an integral part of the PS 84 family and are invited to the classroom every month for Marvelous Monday, a morning period in which they get to see and interact with the children. 

In addition, parents are welcome to come celebrate their child’s birthday, or to do a reading or activity with the class that has been agreed on with the teacher.

What are the class sizes?

The DOE allows up to 15 3-K children and 18 Pre-K children per class.