The Success for All elementary model includes comprehensive programs for kindergarten and preschool children that promote, develop, and enhance language and literacy skills, mathematical, scientific, listening, and social skills, creative expression, and positive self-esteem. Each program provides young children with an experiential and child-centered curriculum that gives them the necessary foundation for success in elementary school. A balance between child-initiated activities and teacher-directed instruction helps to ensure the development of all areas of growth and development, particularly language and literacy.

Early childhood teachers can intentionally impact the level of oral-language development among their students. Research shows that we can most effectively facilitate the development of each of the components of oral language in the context of our teaching day by focusing on two basic areas. Focusing on vocabulary instruction and increasing the quality and quantity of conversations in the classroom helps preschoolers to develop oral language.

Curiosity Corner and KinderCorner emphasize language-related activities and the discussion of thematic concepts to promote the children’s phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, and oral-language development. These activities include interactive story reading and storytelling, action songs and rhymes, and verbal guessing games. Children choose among Learning Labs or Centers and engage in reflection activities to promote their problem-solving abilities. 

Maximizing opportunities for oral-language development in Curiosity Corner and KinderCorner classrooms is a key component of success. Our program resources allow teachers to consider each part of their instructional day to determine whether they are maximizing opportunities to provide vocabulary instruction and increase the number of adult-child and child-child conversations. Such supports include: