Weekly Programming & Curriculum
Early Childhood Philosophy & Approach
As part of Jumpstart’s mission to ensure children enter kindergarten prepared to succeed, members work to provide high-quality services to children through Jumpstart classroom service and planning. Jumpstart provides members with training, coaching, and support to ensure that all of Jumpstart’s activities provide children with high-quality, developmentally appropriate experiences and supportive interactions with well-trained adults.
Curriculum Focus: Oral Language & Social-Emotional Learning
Jumpstart’s curriculum provides deep focus on key areas of oral language development, including specific attention to social emotional language skills. Select skills were identified based on recent literature demonstrating their importance to the population of preschool children Jumpstart serves. Together, these key oral language skills are predictors and leading indicators of later school success and can be implemented well within the Jumpstart program, given our low adult-to-child ratios and individualized interactions.
Units & Core Storybooks
Unit 1: Family
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The Twins' Blanket by Hyewon Yum
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Peter's Chair by Ezra Jack Keats
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A Birthday Basket for Tia by Pat Mora
Unit 3: Wind and Water
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Gilberto and the Wind by Marie Hall Ets
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Dario and the Whale by Cheryl Lawton Malone
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Rabbits and Raindrops by Jim Arnosky
Unit 5: Shadows and Reflections
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Racoon on His Own by Jim Arnosky
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The Puddle Pail by Elisa Kleven
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Dreams by Ezra Jack Keats
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Whistle for WIllie by Ezra Jack Keats
Unit 2: Friends
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The Little Red Hen (Makes a Pizza) by Philemon Sturges
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A Letter to Amy by Ezra Jack Keats
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Mathew and Tilly by Rebecca C. Jones
Unit 4: The World of Color
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Max’s Dragon Shirt by Rosemary Wells
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Chameleon’s Colors by Chisato Tashiro
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The Lion and the Little Red Bird by Elisa Kleven
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Dear Juno by Soyung Pak
Unit 6: Things that Grow
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The Ugly Vegetables by Grace Lin
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Farfallina and Marcel by Holly Keller
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An Extraordinary Egg by Leo Lionni
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Two 1.5 hour sessions including:
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Welcome – Team will welcome children to Jumpstart by introducing the story for the week.
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Reading – Corps Members will read the core storybook in small groups and explore comprehension, vocabulary, and social-emotional learning through conversation and play.
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Group Meeting – Team Leader will lead classroom in short, large-group activity centered to topics of the unit theme and core storybook.
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Center Time – Team will facilitate routine centers of Art, Dramatic Play, Puzzles, Books, and Writing to support learning of core storybook topics through play.
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Sharing & Goodbye – Team will conclude by allowing children to share their experiences and/or items created in Jumpstart that day.
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Individual Classroom Service – Each Corps Member will join the classroom for four hours a week to support the children and teachers in their regularly scheduled routine.