Full-Day Pre-K | Preschool for Four-Year-Olds

Early childhood education using the College Can Begin at 2 Curriculum helps equip kids for later success in life. Our Pre-K students learn in a fun, vibrant, and creative environment that still manages to keep the structure kids need to learn the best that they can.

A key goal of Florida Prekindergarten is to get kids ready for the kindergarten year. This program helps teach essential skills that children must have for kindergarten and beyond, including academic learning, social skills, and even non-denominational Bible Time. We’ll help get your child ready for school!

Unlike many VPK providers, we’re open all the hours you need us – even extended hours. Grace Community School preschool is open throughout the entire calendar year, and we have summer camp. We understand that families need reliable, affordable childcare that fits their schedules. Meals are included, free, too!

Health and Wellbeing
-Engages in physical activities with increasing balance, coordination, endurance and intensity
-Seeks to engage in physical activities or active play routinely with increased intensity and duration
-Shows awareness of safety and increasingly demonstrates knowledge of safe choices and risk assessment when participating in daily activities
-Consistently follows basic safety rules independently across different situations
-Identifies consequences of not following safety rules
-Responds to and initiates care routines that support personal hygiene
-Initiates and completes familiar hygiene routines independently
-Responds to feeding or feeds self with increasing efficiency and demonstrates increasing interest in eating habits and making food choices
-Assists adults in preparing simple foods to serve to self or others
-Recognizes nutritious food choices and healthy eating habits

Gross Motor Development
-Demonstrates use of large muscles for movement, position, strength and coordination
-Balances, such as on one leg or on a beam, for longer periods of time both when standing still and when moving from one position to another
-Demonstrates more coordinated movement when engaging in skills, such as jumping for height and distance, hopping and running
-Engages in more complex movements (e.g., riding a tricycle with ease)
-Engages in physical activities of increasing levels of intensity for sustained periods of time
-Demonstrates use of large muscles to move in the environment
-Combines and coordinates more than two motor movements (e.g., moves a wheelchair through an obstacle course)
-Uses perceptual information to guide motions and interactions with objects and other people
-Acts and moves with purpose and independently recognizes differences in direction, distance and location
-Demonstrates spatial awareness through play activities

Fine Motor Development
-Demonstrates increasing precision, strength, coordination and efficiency when using hand muscles for play and functional tasks
-Shows hand control using various drawing and art tools with increasing coordination
-Increasingly coordinates hand and eye movements to perform a variety of actions with increasing precision
-Easily coordinates hand and eye movements to carry out tasks (e.g., working on puzzles or stringing beads together)
-Uses developmentally appropriate grasp to hold and manipulate tools for writing, drawing and painting
-Uses coordinated movements to complete complex tasks (e.g., cuts along a line, pours or buttons, buckles/unbuckles, zips, snaps, laces shoes, fastens tabs)

Eagerness and Curiosity
-Shows increased curiosity and is eager to learn new things and have new experiences
Persistence
-Attends to tasks for a brief period of time
Creativity and Inventiveness
-Approaches daily activities with creativity and inventiveness
Planning and Reflection
-Demonstrates some planning and learning from experiences

Emotional Functioning
-Expresses, identifies and responds to a range of emotions
-Recognizes the emotions of peers and responds with empathy and compassion
-Demonstrates appropriate affect (emotional response) between behavior and facial expression
-Demonstrates cognitive empathy (recognizing or inferring other’s mental states) and the use of words, gestures and facial expressions to respond appropriately

Managing Emotions
-Demonstrates ability to self-regulate
-Recognizes and names own emotions and manages and exhibits behavioral control with or without adult support
-Attends to sights, sounds, objects, people and activities
-Increases attention to preferred activities and begins to attend to non-preferred activities

Building and Maintaining Relationships with Adults and Peers
-Develops positive relationships with adults
-Shows enjoyment in interactions with trusted adults while also demonstrating skill in separating from these adults
-Develops positive relationships with peers
-Plays with peers in a coordinated manner including assigning roles, materials and actions
-Maintains friendships and is able to engage in prosocial behavior such as cooperating, compromising and turn-taking
-Responds appropriately to bullying behavior
-Develops increasing ability to engage in social problem solving
-Able to independently engage in simple social problem solving including offering potential solutions and reflecting on the appropriateness of the solution
-Exhibits empathy by demonstrating care and concern for others
-Able to take the perspective of others and actively respond in a manner that is consistent and supportive

Sense of Identity and Belonging
-Develops sense of identity and belonging through play
-Engages in associative play and begins to play cooperatively with friends
-Develops sense of identity and belonging through exploration and persistence
-Persists at individual planned experiences, caregiver-directed experiences and planned group activities
-Develops sense of identity and belonging through routines, rituals and interactions
-Demonstrates willingness to be flexible if routines must change
-Develops sense of self-awareness and independence
-Uses words to communicate personal characteristics, preferences, thoughts and feelings
-Recognizes preferences of others
-Uses words to demonstrate knowledge of personal information (e.g., hair color, age, gender or size)
-Identifies self as a unique member of a group (e.g., class, school, family or larger community)

Listening and Understanding
-Demonstrates understanding when listening
-Engages in multiple back-and-forth communicative interactions with adults (e. g., teacher-shared information, read-aloud books) and peers -to set goals, follow rules, solve problems and share what is learned with others
-Shows understanding by asking and answering factual, predictive and inferential questions, adding comments relevant to the topic and reacting appropriately to what is said
-Increases knowledge through listening
-Identifies the main idea, some details of a conversation, story or informational text and can explicitly connect what is being learned to own existing knowledge
-Demonstrates increased ability to focus and sustain attention, set goals and solve dilemmas presented in conversation, story, informational text or creative play
-Follows directions
-Achieves mastery of two-step directions and usually follows three-step directions

Speaking
-Speaks and is understood when speaking
-Speaks and is understood by both a familiar and an unfamiliar adult but may make some pronunciation errors

Vocabulary
-Shows an understanding of words and their meanings (receptive)
-Demonstrates understanding of age-appropriate vocabulary across many topic areas and demonstrates a wide variety of words and their meanings within each area (e.g., world knowledge, names of body parts and feelings)
-Demonstrates understanding of functional and organizational language (e.g., same and different, in front of and behind, next to, opposite, below) in multiple environments
-Understands or knows the meaning of many thousands of words including subject area words (e.g., science, social studies, math and literacy), many more than he or she routinely uses (receptive language)
-Uses increased vocabulary to describe objects, actions and events (expressive)
-Uses large speaking vocabulary, adding new words weekly (e.g., repeats words and uses them appropriately in context) (typically has a vocabulary of more than 1,500 words)
-Uses a variety of word-meaning relationships (e.g., part-whole, object-function, object-location)
-Identifies unfamiliar words asking for clarification
-Uses words in multiple contexts, with the understanding that some words have multiple meanings

Sentences and Structure
-Uses age-appropriate grammar in conversations and increasingly complex phrases and sentences
-Typically uses complete sentences of five or more words, usually with subject, verb and object order
-Uses regular and irregular plurals, regular past tense, personal and possessive pronouns and subject-verb agreement
-Connects words, phrases and sentences to build ideas
-Uses sentences with more than one phrase
-Combines more than one idea using complex sentences (e.g., sequences and cause/effect relationships)
-Combines sentences that give lots of detail, stick to the topic and clearly communicate intended meaning

Conversation
-Uses verbal and nonverbal communication and language to express needs and feelings, share experiences and resolve problems
-Engages in conversations with two to three back-and-forth turns using language, gestures, and expressions (e.g., words related to social conventions like “please” and “thank you”)
-Asks questions, and responds to adults and peers in a variety of settings
-Asks and responds to more complex statements and questions, follows another’s conversational lead, maintains multi-turn conversations, appropriately introduces new content and appropriately initiates or ends conversations
-Demonstrates understanding of the social conventions of communication and language use
-Demonstrates increased awareness of nonverbal conversational rules
-Demonstrates knowledge of verbal conversational rules (e.g., appropriately takes turns, does not interrupt, uses appropriate verbal expressions and uses appropriate intonation)
-Matches language to social and academic contexts (e.g., uses volume appropriate to context)

Emergent Reading
-Shows motivation for and appreciation of reading
-Selects books for reading enjoyment and reading related activities including pretending to read to self or others
-Makes real-world connections between stories and real-life experiences
-Interacts appropriately with books and other materials in a print-rich environment
-Asks to be read to, asks the meaning of written text or compares books/stories
-Initiates and participates in conversations that demonstrate appreciation of printed materials
-Shows age-appropriate phonological awareness
-Distinguishes individual words within spoken phrases or sentences
-Combines words to make a compound word (e.g., “foot” + “ball” = “football”)
-Deletes a word from a compound word (e.g., “starfish” − “star” = “fish”)
-Combines syllables into words (e.g., “sis” + “ter” = “sister”)
-Deletes a syllable from a word (e.g., “trumpet” − “trum” = “pet” or “candy” − “dy” = “can”)
-Combines onset and rime to form a familiar one-syllable word with and without pictorial support (e.g., when shown several pictures and adult says “/c/” + “at,” child can select the picture of the cat)
-Shows alphabetic and print knowledge
-Recognizes that print conveys meaning
-Recognizes almost all letters when named (e.g., when shown a group of letters, can accurately identify, verbally or nonverbally, the letter that is named)
-Names most letters (e.g., when shown an uppercase or lowercase letter, can accurately say its name)
Recognizes some letter sounds (e.g., when shown a group of letters, can accurately identify, verbally or nonverbally, the letter of the sound given)
-Demonstrates comprehension of books read aloud
-Retells or reenacts story with increasing accuracy and complexity after it is read aloud
-Asks and answers appropriate questions about the story (e.g., “What just happened?” “What might happen next?” “What would happen if…?” “What was so silly about…?” “How would you feel if you…?”)

Emergent Writing
-Begins to show motivation to engage in written expression and appropriate knowledge of forms and functions of written composition
-Intentionally uses scribbles/writing to convey meaning (e.g., signing artwork, captioning, labeling, creating lists, making notes)
-Uses letter-like shapes or letters to write words or parts of words
-Writes own name (e.g., first name, last name, or nickname), not necessarily with full correct spelling or well-formed letters

Number Sense
-Subitizes (immediately recognizes without counting) up to five objects
-Counts and identifies the number sequence “1 to 31”
-Demonstrates one-to-one correspondence when counting objects placed in a row (one to 15 and beyond)
-Identifies the last number spoken tells “how many” up to 10 (cardinality)
-Constructs and counts sets of objects (one to 10 and beyond)
-Uses counting and matching strategies to find which is more, less than or equal to 10
-Reads and writes some numerals one to 10 using appropriate activities

Numbers and Operations
-Explores quantities up to eight using objects, fingers and dramatic play to solve real-world joining and separating problems
-Begins to demonstrate how to compose and decompose (build and take apart) sets up to eight using objects, fingers and acting out

Patterns
-Identifies and extends a simple AB repeating pattern
-Duplicates a simple AB pattern using different objects
-Recognizes the unit of repeat of a more complex pattern and extends the pattern (e.g., ABB or ABC)

Geometry
-Recognizes and names two-dimensional shapes (circle, square, triangle and rectangle) of different size and orientation
-Describes, sorts and classifies two- and three-dimensional shapes using some attributes such as size, sides and other properties (e.g., vertices)
-Creates two-dimensional shapes using other shapes (e.g., putting two squares together to make a rectangle)
-Constructs with three-dimensional shapes in the environment through play (e.g., building castles in the construction area)

Spatial Relations
-Describes relationships between objects and locations with words and gestures by constructing models to demonstrate an understanding of proximity (beside, next to, between, below, over and under)
-Uses directions to move through space and find places in space

Measurement and Data
-Measures object attributes using a variety of standard and nonstandard tools
-Identifies measurable attributes such as length and weight and solves problems by making direct comparisons of objects
-Seriates (places objects in sequence) up to six objects in order by height or length (e.g., cube towers or unit blocks)
-Represents, analyzes and discusses data (e.g., charts, graphs and tallies)
-Begins to predict the results of data collection

Scientific Inquiry Through Exploration and Discovery
-Uses senses to explore and understand their social and physical environment
-Identifies each of the five senses and their relationship to each of the sense organs
-Begins to identify and make observations about what can be learned about the world using each of the five senses
-Begins to understand that individuals may experience sensory events differently from each other (e.g., may like sound of loud noises or feel of fuzzy fabric)
-Uses tools in scientific inquiry
-Uses tools and various technologies to support exploration and inquiry (e.g., digital cameras, scales)
-Uses understanding of causal relationships to act on social and physical environments
-Makes predictions and tests their predictions through experimentation and investigation
-Collects and records data through drawing, writing, dictation and taking photographs (e.g., using tables, charts, drawings, tallies and graphs)
-Begins to form conclusions and construct explanations (e.g., What do the results mean?)
-Shares findings and outcomes of experiments

Life Science
-Demonstrates knowledge related to living things and their environments
-Identifies characteristics of a variety of plants and animals including physical attributes and behaviors (e.g., camouflage, body covering, eye color, other adaptations, types of trees and where they grow)
-Notices the similarities and differences among various living things
-Understands that all living things grow, change and go through life cycles
-Begins to distinguish between living and non-living things
-Observes that living things differ with regard to their needs and habitats

Physical Science
-Demonstrates knowledge related to physical science
-Discusses what makes objects move the way they do and how the movement can be controlled
-Makes predictions about how to change the speed of an object, tests predictions through experiments and describes what happens
-Distinguishes between the properties of an object and the properties of which the material is made (e.g., water and ice)
-Investigates and describes changing states of matter —liquid, solid and gas
-Explores the relationship of objects to light (e.g., light and shadows)

Earth and Space Science
-Demonstrates knowledge related to the dynamic properties of earth and sky
-Describes properties of water including changes in the states of water — liquid, solid and gas (e.g., buoyancy, movement, displacement and flow)
-Discovers, explores, sorts, compares, and contrasts objects that are naturally found in the environment, including rocks, soil, sand and mud, and recognizes relationships among the objects (e.g., nature walks with hand lenses, collection bag) (e.g., rocks, twigs, leaves and sea shells)
-Begins to explore and discuss simple observations of characteristics and movements of the clouds, sun, moon and stars
-Compares the daytime and nighttime cycle
-Uses appropriate vocabulary to discuss climate and changes in the weather and the impact it has on their daily lives (e.g., types of clothing for different environments)

Environment
-Demonstrates awareness of relationship to people, objects and living/non-living things in their environment
-Demonstrates how people use objects and natural resources in the environment
-Participates in daily routines demonstrating basic conservation strategies (e.g., conserving water when washing hands or brushing teeth)
-Identifies examples of organized efforts to protect the environment (e.g., recycling materials in the classroom)

Engineering and Technology
-Shows interest and understanding of how simple tools and machines assist with solving problems or creating objects and structures
-Identifies problems and tries to solve them by designing or using tools (e.g., makes a simple tent with a chair and cloth for protection from the sun)
-Explains why a simple machine is appropriate for a particular task (e.g., moving something heavy, moving water from one location to another)
-Uses appropriate tools and materials with greater flexibility to create or solve problems
-Invents and constructs simple objects or more complex structures and investigates concepts of motion and stability of structures (e.g., ramps, pathways, structure, Legos, block building and play)

Culture
-Identifies self as a member of a culture
-Understands everyone belongs to a culture
-Explores culture of peers and families in the classroom and community
-Explores cultural attributes by comparing and contrasting different characteristics (e.g., language, literature, music, arts, artifacts, foods, architecture and celebrations)

Individual Development and Identity
-Identifies characteristics of self as an individual
-Identifies the ways self is similar to and different from peers and others
-Recognizes individual responsibility as a member of a group (e.g., classroom or family)

Individuals and Groups
-Identifies differences and similarities of self and others as part of a group
-Explains the role of groups within a community
-Demonstrates awareness of group rules (e.g., family, classroom, school or community)
-Exhibits leadership skills and roles (e.g., line leader and door holder)

Spaces, Places and Environments
-Identifies the relationship of personal space to surroundings
-Identifies differences and similarities between own environment and other locations
-Identifies differences and similarities of basic physical characteristics (e.g., landmarks or land features)
-Uses spatial words (e.g., far/close, over/under and up/down)
-Recognizes some geographic tools and resources (e.g., maps, globes or GPS)
-Begins to identify the relationship between human decisions and the impact on the environment (e.g., recycling and water conservation)

Time, Continuity and Change
-Identifies changes within a sequence of events to establish a sense of order and time
-Observes and recognizes changes that take place over time in the immediate environment

Governance, Civic Ideals and Practices
-Recognizes and follows rules and expectations in varying settings
-Participates in problem solving and decision making
-Begins to explore basic principles of democracy (e.g., deciding rules in a classroom, respecting opinions of others, voting on classroom activities or civic responsibilities)

Economics and Resources
-Recognizes the difference between wants and needs
-Begins to recognize that people work to earn money to buy things they need or want

Technology and Our World
-Uses and shows awareness of technology and its impact on how people live (e.g., computers, tablets, mobile devices, cameras or music players)

Sensory Art Experience
-Combines with intention a variety of open-ended, process-oriented and diverse art materials

Music
-Actively participates in a variety of individual and group musical activities
-Expresses and represents thought, observations, imagination, feelings, experiences and knowledge in individual and group music activities

Creative Movement
-Continues to engage in individual and group movement activities to express and represent thoughts, observations, imagination, feelings, experiences and knowledge

Imaginative and Creative Play
-Expresses and represents thoughts, observations, imagination, feelings, experiences and knowledge, verbally or nonverbally, with others using a variety of objects in own environment

Appreciation of the Arts
-Uses appropriate art vocabulary to describe own art creations and those of others
-Compares own art to similar art forms
-Begins to recognize that instruments and art forms represent cultural perspectives of the home and the community, now and in the past

Adapted from http://www.floel.org/standardsresource/standards.html

The instructional hours for Grace Community School Pre-K are Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM.

We celebrate our graduates at the end of each school year with a musical graduation show for our parents. These shows are among our most anticipated events of the entire year. These programs are a fantastic way for the students to show their families and friends what they have learned, and kids love singing. Each show has new songs the children have learned, and everyone is welcome to come.

When your child is four years old or will be turning four by September 1 of current school year, you can enroll your child for fall Pre-K. We recommend signing up early to reserve a spot.

Pre-kindergarten (Pre-K) or preschool is the school year immediately preceding kindergarten. Unlike kindergarten, preschool is voluntary and focuses on getting kids ready for school. Pre-K students learn how to interact in school, listen to their teachers, and get used to staying for longer periods of time. Pre-K is not mandatory, but it does build the foundation for a student’s later learning. Children who graduate from a high-quality preschool program have a head start on their peers, including better language skills, early reading ability, and better school habits.

Don’t worry, we have kindergarten, too! Read about Grace Community School’s private kindergarten classes.

Yes, breakfast, lunch, snacks, and drinks are provided free of charge for Grace Community School Pre-K students. Read about Grace Community School’s free food program here.

You will need your child’s health records (immunization record and physical form), a copy of the child’s birth certificate, and our enrollment form. Bring these items into the Grace Community School location of your choice. Or you can enroll digitally online.

Short answer: at Grace Community School, a whole lot! A Grace Community School education is an incredible opportunity for your child. Pre-K is designed to help children gain the skills and knowledge that will allow them to succeed in kindergarten and beyond. See our preschool learning objectives above. At Grace Community School, we use the College Can Begin at 2 Curriculum which helps with:

-Literacy and vocabulary development (Our Preschoolers Can Read!)
-Writing skills
-Mathematics
-Social studies
-Science
-Art
-Music
-Bible and spiritual/moral development
-And more

Your child is eligible for this year’s Pre-K if he or she has turned or will be turning four years old by September 1 of the current school year. If your child is four or turning four, we can help you!

There is no registration fee for Grace Community School Pre-K.

Wrap around or wrap-around care is child care covering more than the 3-4 daily hours of VPK instruction. Grace Community School includes wrap around care free of charge – you are able to drop off and pick up anytime we are open, 6:30 AM to 6:00 PM.

VPK stands for “Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program.”

Yes, you can transfer from any VPK program to Grace Community School, provided we have space.

Kindergarten comes after preschool. Pre-K is a preparatory Prekindergarten program or Prekindergarten education. In other words, Pre-K prepares your child to go into kindergarten, which occurs in the school year immediately following Pre-K (the one just before 1st grade).

While VPK only covers a certain number of instructional hours (usually 300-540), Pre-K at Grace Community School covers the entire school year, Monday through Friday, 6:30 AM to 6:00 PM.

No, you do not need a VPK voucher to attend Grace Community School Pre-K.

“Universal Preschool” is an international movement attempting to provide high-quality early childhood education free to all students no matter their socio-economic background. Advocates for universal preschool point to the benefits that come with quality Pre-K programs, such as higher graduation rates and lower crime rates.

Grace Community School’s pre kindergarten program is available to all families of eligible four-year-olds, regardless of family income. We don’t need the voucher. Get current tuition costs on our pricing page.

To attend Pre-K, a child needs to be four or be turning four by September 1 of the school year. A recent State of Florida School Entry Health Exam (physical), current Florida Certification of Immunization (shot record), and the child’s birth certificate are also required.

Florida Pre-K (Prekindergarten Education Program) is for kids who are four years old or will be turning four years old by September 1 of the current school year. This is the school year immediately before kindergarten (sometimes called K5).

Pre-K stands for pre-kindergarten. In other words, the school year just before kindergarten. Pre-K is a voluntary preschool program.