Early Childhood Program & Philosophy

 The Early Childhood Department at the Universal American School promotes a dynamic learning experience through our Discovery Learning Program. Our child-centered program encourages children to engage in and take responsibility for their individual learning decisions. The classroom teacher is a facilitator during a child’s decision-making process and encourages the child to make appropriate choices.

Our Early Childhood program focuses on instilling curiosity and a love of learning. Concepts are taught within the context of a theme. Literature is an essential component of instruction. Valuable learning is achieved through a child’s natural desire to play. Many materials and resources are available for a child’s exploration and discovery. Interaction with adults encourages critical thinking and language development.

The Discovery Learning Program is made up of 38 objectives, and these are divided into the Four Major Areas of Development, which include: social-emotional, physical, language, and cognitive; the rest of the objectives fall under Content Learning, such as literacy, mathematics, science-technology, social science, the arts, and ESL. Each quarter the students embark on a study which is an in-depth investigative unit. It is a research effort focused on finding answers to questions that can be posed by either the student or the teacher.

Students receive daily Arabic instruction and our Muslim students from KG1 onward also have one Religion class per week.

The goal of our KG program is language development and the acquisition of positive social skills by interacting with their teachers and children. Beginning math skills, counting small groups, and recognizing numbers, shapes, and colors are introduced. Fine motor skills are developed through drawing, painting, cutting, and playing with modeling dough. KG classes are limited to 20 students per section, students who are admitted to the program must be toilet trained.

Children in KG1 continue to develop their understanding of English while acquiring an expanding vocabulary. Additional language skills are strongly emphasized, such as taking turns while listening attentively and contributing positively to group discussions. Intentional play, both teacher-supported and self-selected, continues to be a significant component of the day during whole and small-group activities. Math skills introduced in KG are extended in KG1. Some of the concepts covered are patterning, color, shape and number recognition, and counting larger groups. Fine motor skills such as coloring, cutting, and tracing are further developed.

 Students in KG2 refine their language skills and are expected to be capable and attentive listeners who can express themselves verbally in complete sentences. Children participate in small group learning centers that reinforce introduced concepts in language, math, science, and social studies. A primary focus in KG2 is emergent reading, which includes concepts of print, phonological awareness, sight word recognition, and decoding. In addition, previous math concepts are revisited, while new concepts, such as graphing, measurement, time, addition, and subtraction, are introduced in preparation for first grade.

 At UAS, we choose safety, kindness, and responsibility.