Science

The wonders of the world meet childhood’s spontaneity and eager curiosity in PreK, and we’re shaping explorations around the scientific process—asking questions, sensing and observing, making comparisons, using descriptive language, offering predictions, forming and testing theories, experimenting with variables, reaching conclusions, and documenting results.

The PreKindergarten friends are thinking and working like scientists to explore how living things share our Earth home and interact with each other, their habitats, and the four seasons. Meaningful science themes inspire our work across the curriculum and introduce the little ones to understandings from zoology, botany, marine ecology, meteorology, hydrology, astronomy, and paleontology.

The children enjoy real-world opportunities for serving as environmental stewards at school, and they are developing skills for working together to solve problems that require courage, creativity, and collaboration.

Social Studies

In our PreK Social Studies program, we nurture a sense of community and belonging, teaching children to value multiple perspectives and understand the importance of fairness and kindness in all relationships.

Through hands-on activities and collaborative problem-solving, students develop critical thinking skills. They are exploring cause-and-effect relationships, finding themes and big ideas, discovering layers of meaning, and engaging with depth and complexity. We encourage them to recognize connections between people and places, appreciate how things change over time, and understand their role in making the world a better place. Favorite themes include friendship, responsibility, community helpers, heroes like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., geography, time and chronology, and life in the past.

Math

$Pre-Kindergarten Math$

Pre-K students make meaningful connections across the curriculum while exploring the mathematical dimensions of their world. They are developing concrete, representational, and abstract understandings through real-world applications, and they enjoy demonstrating how a variety of strategies can be used to answer a question or solve a problem.

Children explore number sense and computation, finding and building patterns, navigating in space, collecting and organizing data, working with place value, measuring and comparing size and weight, exploring the passage of time and units of currency, and solving problems with stories, pictures, and symbols.

During STEM explorations, our young problem solvers are inspired to ponder possibilities, articulate ideas, identify objectives, strategize, experiment with multiple approaches, make connections between disciplines, and enter the zone of creative focus.

Language Arts

Our holistic approach incorporates music, movement and student interests to foster curiosity, creativity and a love of learning–ensuring that children develop the skills needed to communicate confidently and effectively as they continue their educational journey.

The components of our Language Arts approach include:

Listening and Speaking: We encourage students to actively listen and take turns in conversations, helping them build strong listening and speaking vocabularies. Children are guided to describe their feelings and ideas clearly, which fosters both self-expression and empathy.

Exploring Stories and Experiences: Through daily storytime, children not only develop print and book concepts but also learn to relate stories to their own experiences. We explore key story elements—like characters, settings, and plot—while encouraging students to ask questions and make predictions, engaging them in critical thinking.

Phonological Awareness and Early Literacy: We focus on developing phonological awareness by introducing decoding and encoding strategies, helping children recognize sounds and letters. Fun, hands-on activities strengthen their ability to break down words and prepare them for reading.

Writing and Drawing: PreK students also begin their writing journey by building strength and dexterity with writing tools. They convey their feelings and ideas through both writing and illustration, laying the foundation for written communication.

Cultural Exploration: In our language-rich environment, we explore world languages and cultures, broadening students’ understanding of the world and their place within it.

Social Emotional

Ninety percent of brain growth takes place before Kindergarten, and the neural connections that support the higher-level abilities of motivation, self-regulation, problem solving, and communication are formed during the preschool years.

Our Pre Kindergarten nurtures the whole child, helping them grow into kind, courageous, and empathetic individuals. Students learn to care for themselves and others, building self-confidence and practicing self-direction and personal responsibility. We foster a sense of enthusiasm and persistence as they face challenges, encouraging them to approach learning with joy and resilience. By developing meaningful relationships and practicing positive participation, children learn to work together, find mutual compromises, and contribute to a caring community.

Tech/Engineering (All grades)

The Technology program at Peabody School is designed to guide students from K through 8th grade to develop the thinking habits and skills of a problem solver equipped to engage the challenges of today and the future. Through in-depth hands-on projects approached with a spirit of joyful curiosity, we guide students to be makers, not just consumers. We foster a culture of “What if…?”, “I wonder how that works…?” and “I bet you I could make that.”

Students in grades K-8 attend technology classes in our ENIAC 6 Lab, inspired by the female programming pioneers who learned how to program the ENIAC, the first general-purpose programmable computer. Nobody had done this before, but they took on the daunting challenge with determination and joy. Our curriculum cultivates that same determined and joyful spirit of the ENIAC 6 programmers in the face of problems that have never been solved before.

Our technology curriculum is composed of three primary strands: Programming Concepts, Physical Computing, and Engineering & Design/Making. Programming Concepts begins with ScratchJr in Kindergarten and builds toward more sophisticated languages, culminating with Circuit Python in 7th and 8th grade. The Physical Computing strand explores the intersection of programming and our physical world through interacting with and programming robots and having hands-on experiences using microcontrollers. Engineering & Design/Making introduces students to a broad range of topics related to applied physics and design, such as simple machines, electrical circuits, computer-aided design, and prototyping. Starting in 3rd grade, students use Tinkercad, and by 8th grade they progress to OnShape (a professional 3D CAD program). They also have 3D design experiences with vector design, laser cutting, and hands-on construction practice using a variety of tools and materials.

Outside of technology class, productivity skills and digital citizenship are taught in authentic academic contexts, allowing students to develop these skills and understandings in a way that is more meaningful to them. Students in grades 4-8 are issued their own Chromebook, which allows them to have ready access to technology whenever the need arises. Our K-3 students each have a school-issued iPad to use in their core classes, including technology class and other specials classes.

Additionally, we offer a variety of topics in our middle school enrichment classes. Enrichment class offerings change yearly, but recent classes have included video game creation and Introduction to VR/AR. Peabody also has a First Lego League team, open to students in grades 5-8, which competes against other schools each fall.