Preschool Program

The CFSL offers a private preschool program for children who are 4 years old by September 1st. Our focus is to prepare children to enter kindergarten the following year.

The BYU Preschool serves as a teacher training facility for BYU students majoring in Early Childhood Education and Family and Consumer Science Education. This allows us to have 4-5 teachers per 20 children, making the teacher-child ratio 1:4-5. Thus, we can provide quality educational experiences as we identify and meet specific goals for each child.

Due to the University course schedules, our student teachers are assigned to the lab school twice a week for 14 weeks. New teachers are placed in preschool every semester, with the assigned head teacher remaining throughout the entire year.

The daily schedule in each laboratory may vary depending on the topic of study, activities planned (field trips, guest speakers, etc.) and preference of the laboratory headteacher. However, each day will generally have the following components: discovery experiences/centers, small and large group work, snack, and outdoor time.

Depending upon the well-prepared objectives of the learning plan, daily schedules are flexible, so that truly the teachers and children run the schedule rather than the schedule running the teachers and children. Sometimes unplanned opportunities present themselves during the teaching day that cannot be passed up (an exhibit at the Wilkinson Center, large excavation machines, or a hail storm, etc.). In these cases, previously-planned schedules will change to accommodate the spontaneous learning opportunity. Daily schedules and learning plans with specific curriculum goals and assessment strategies are posted weekly in each observation booth.

Click here to view the Current Schedule.

Activities are considered to be developmentally appropriate when they are planned with the children's interests, needs and developmental capacities in mind.

To achieve our goals, we design our curriculum using the Utah state pre-kindergarten core as we implement project work and discovery experience/centers. Through these two methods, we integrate our curriculum to address the whole child, thus focusing daily on the academic, social, emotional, and physical needs of each student.

The laboratory's curriculum is implemented through project work. Topics of study are planned to relate to and build on previously gained skills and concepts. Project topics are planned to be age-appropriate, specific, and based on ideas relevant to the children's world. The duration of the study of a topic is flexible. Some projects may last a week, while others continue throughout the semester.

Large group sessions introduce the project and stimulate the children's interest in the topic. Large and small group work provides an opportunity for investigation, discovery, and developing skills. Small group work is intended to be hands-on experiences that are largely teacher-planned, but child-directed and based on the topic of study. Group work increases cooperative and collaborative skills and provides opportunities for language acquisition. These group sessions involve child participation and allow the children an opportunity to express their ideas.

Discovery experiences allow children the free choice between multiple centers - science, music, blocks, manipulatives, computers, reading, dramatic play, and art centers. Each center allows for the integration of multiple curriculum areas to assess the academic, social, and physical abilities of each child. It is a time for children to learn social skills, make choices, be responsible for the materials they play with, and develop new concepts and skills.

Assessment is the process of observing, recording and documenting what children do to serve as a guide for curriculum development and to communicate with parents about their child's progress. The Utah State Pre-K curriculum serves as the guide to all assessments. Work samples are collected and reviewed daily. Daily observational notes and pictures are taken to be reviewed to help pre-service teachers become more aware of each child's needs. Pictures are uploaded each week to a digital portfolio to document growth for parents throughout the year.

Each year begins with academic, social, and physical goals established by the parents that serve as a guide for the school year. These curriculum goals are valuable in the development of the curriculum and the individualization of the lesson plans as we strive to meet each child’s needs.