Week one
The question arrives and gets narrowed. Children draw what they think they know, and the drawings disagree with each other — which is the useful part.
Programs·Pre-KAge 4 · VPK year
Pre-K for 4-year-olds in Winter ParkI can figure it out.
Pre-K children are ready to take their thinking further. Through project-based investigations they ask real questions, gather information, develop ideas, create and test solutions, collaborate and reflect. Academic preparation and independent thinking grow together — not in competition.
What a day holds
Everything children love about preschool—now with deeper projects, stronger academics, and intentional preparation for kindergarten.
Investigations that go deeper
Projects can stretch across multiple days or weeks. Children ask questions, research possibilities, test ideas, encounter problems, make changes, and discover that learning rarely ends with the first answer.
Children choose the approach
One challenge can produce many solutions. Children plan, select materials, test their ideas, compare approaches, and explain why they made their choices.
Literacy with a purpose
Letters, sounds, vocabulary, storytelling, early writing, and comprehension are intentionally developed—and then used in real work. Children write names, labels, signs, plans, stories, and explanations because their ideas need words.
Mathematical thinking every day
Counting grows into number sense, patterns, measurement, comparison, geometry, quantities, and early problem-solving. Math appears in projects, construction, cooking, games, experiments, and everyday classroom life.
Presenting & explaining ideas
Children regularly share what they created, explain their thinking, answer questions, and listen to the ideas of others. These early public-speaking experiences build communication skills and confidence.
STEAM becomes problem-solving
Children design, build, measure, observe, experiment, test, and redesign. Science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics come together around meaningful questions and challenges.
Independence for kindergarten
Children practice managing belongings, following multi-step directions, completing responsibilities, transitioning between activities, caring for materials, and working independently for increasingly longer periods.
Ready for kindergarten—and ready to learn
Kindergarten readiness includes letters, sounds, early reading and writing, number sense, fine-motor development, and classroom routines. It also means being able to ask questions, communicate ideas, collaborate, solve problems, and keep trying when something is difficult.
The enrichment stays
Spanish · Music & Movement · Art & Atelier · Physical Education · STEAM · Public Speaking · Life & Trade Skills · Community Experiences. Getting ready for kindergarten doesn’t mean the fun stops—it is still how children learn best.
The Winter Park School · Pre-K
Rhythm of the Day
7:00 AM–6:00 PM · Morning learning becomes afternoon making
let’s test it again.
7:00–8:00
Welcome and arrival
Arrival, classroom connection and independent choices, with a STEM exploration center open.
8:00–8:30
Thinking routines
Thinking routines and observation.
8:30–9:00
Handwashing and snack
Wash hands and enjoy the scheduled classroom snack.
9:00–9:30
Morning meeting
Mindfulness, calendar and community, starting with a 5-minute music and movement warm-up.
9:30–9:45
Innovation Stations / CAPE literacy and language
Literacy, language and early writing.
9:45–10:00
Innovation Stations / CAPE math
Counting, patterns, shapes, sorting and comparison.
10:00–10:30
Bathroom breaks
Bathroom breaks and handwashing.
10:30–11:00
Atelier explorations / center rotations
BIG ATELIERCreative arts and cognitive and scientific explorations.
11:00–11:30
Playground
Playground and gross-motor play.
11:30–12:00
Storytime / social-emotional
Storytime and social-emotional learning.
12:00–1:00
Lunch and rest
Wash hands, eat lunch with teachers seated alongside, then rest.
1:00–1:30
Yoga practice / mindfulness
Yoga and mindfulness practice.
1:30–2:00
Snack, life skills and SEL
Afternoon snack, life skills and social-emotional learning.
2:00–3:00
Project block
PROJECT BLOCKApply morning learning through design, building and problem-solving.
3:00–4:00
Atelier small-center rotations
BIG ATELIERCreate, test ideas and explore materials.
4:00–4:30
Playground
Outdoor movement and play.
4:30–5:00
Music and movement
Singing, rhythm, instruments and dance.
5:00–5:30
STEM explorations
Build, observe, predict and test ideas with hands-on materials.
5:30–6:00
Creative arts and goodbyes
Art and creative play until families arrive; teachers share a highlight of the day.
Food
No food from home after 8:00 a.m. Snacks and lunch stay at the times listed.
Handwashing
Wash hands before meals, after the playground and after toileting.
Connection
Teachers sit with children at meals and engage during transitions. Participation is encouraged, not required.
Inside the Pre-K room
Kindergarten readiness
Strong foundations. Confident learners. Ready for what comes next.
Our Pre-K program intentionally develops the academic, social, emotional, physical, and learning skills children need for a successful transition to kindergarten.
Early literacy
Letter recognition, letter-sound relationships, phonological awareness, vocabulary, comprehension, storytelling, name writing, and emerging writing.
Early mathematics
Number recognition, counting, quantities, number sense, patterns, shapes, measurement, comparison, spatial reasoning, and early problem-solving.
Writing & fine-motor skills
Drawing, writing, cutting, manipulating tools, building, and working with varied materials strengthen the coordination children need for kindergarten tasks.
Independence & executive function
Following multi-step directions, managing belongings, completing tasks, transitioning between activities, making choices, and developing sustained attention.
Social & emotional readiness
Communicating needs, managing emotions, collaborating, navigating disagreements, waiting, listening, and participating successfully in a classroom community.
Communication & confidence
Asking questions, speaking in a group, explaining ideas, listening to others, presenting work, and developing confidence in their own voice.
A three-week investigation
What a long project looks like.
By four, a challenge outlives the week it started in. Here is the shape of one, week by week.
Week two
Week three
A lesson from this room
The Bird Feeder Challenge: the birds in the courtyard would not come to the first feeders. Children redesigned three times over three weeks — height, seed, and finally the squirrel problem, which nobody had predicted and which took the longest.
a recent challenge · see the lesson in the Lesson Library →
The practical part.
This is the Florida VPK year — free for eligible four-year-olds, applied for through the Orange County Early Learning Family Portal. We can walk you through it.
Programs & ages
Every age, one method. Pick a room.
Come watch them think.
Twenty minutes in this room on an ordinary weekday morning will tell you more than this page can.