PreK Curriculum

Prekindergarten at St. Patrick's

Classroom: Mrs. Carson Surgalski
Instructional Assistant: Mrs. Elisa Hall

Prekindergarten Highlights:

In Prekindergarten we use visible thinking skills to encourage and support students’ thinking by using phrases such as: What do you see? What do you think is going on?  What does it make you wonder? By doing this, we open up the child’s imagination, let the child be a part of the learning process, so that the child’s curiosity, understanding, and creativity are triggered and the Joy of learning can take place.

The following are examples of some of the goals or standards for students in Prekindergarten. Teaching is differentiated based on the needs and the skills of each student. If a student is able to achieve more, activities and work is structured to enable this to occur.

  • Show an understanding that God created them and loves them
  • Identify the Bible as a Holy Book
  • Identify the church as a special community of Faith that come together to pray
  • Participate in outreach projects including collecting items for children in Haiti in order to strive to be like Jesus.
  • Identify letter names and sounds and simple rhymes
  • Copy lines, shapes letters and words correctly
  • Demonstrate the ability to string letters together from left to right
  • Expand phonemic and print awareness
  • Demonstrate an understanding of stories by retelling, acting out and making drawing
  • Identify and demonstrate a basic understanding of one-to –one correspondence when counting
  • Recognize whole numbers and match them to symbols from 1-20
  • Demonstrate a basic understanding of Math terms (e.g. first, last, half, some, more and less)
  • Demonstrate correct pencil grip
  • Demonstrate gross motor skills (e.g. running, hopping, skipping and swinging)
  • Follow one, two, and three step directions
  • Manage materials and personal belongings

Faith and Service in Our Classroom:

In Prekindergarten there is a great emphasis on treating everyone kindly and fairly. Frequent discussions and role-playing activities take place so that children can better understand the behaviors that Jesus would want and why.

Expectations of Excellence


Students will strive to:

  • Demonstrate self-control
  • Demonstrate a love of learning
  • Play and work cooperatively with others
  • Learn about our Catholic faith through what we say and do

“Every encounter Joe and I, and our children, have had at St. Pat’s has been positive, informative and child-focused. Thank you for your commitment to our children and to sharing your considerable gifts and knowledge.”

-Brigid (mother of Ray ’25 and Ellie ’26)