Kindergarten Readiness and SMPNS

Children develop core readiness skills through play, relationships, and meaningful routines. These include self-regulation (focus, managing big feelings, and following multi-step directions), language (listening, speaking, vocabulary, and storytelling), social skills (turn-taking, problem solving, and collaboration), and thinking skills (curiosity, persistence, and flexible thinking). 

Implementing Standards through Play

SMPNS aligns with the California Preschool/TK Learning Foundations (PTKLF). These describe what most children ages ~3 to 5½ can learn in high-quality programs across domains including Approaches to Learning–Self-Regulation, Social-Emotional Development, Language & Literacy, Mathematics, Physical Development, Health, Science, Arts, and History–Social Science. Play is the “engine” that makes these domains grow together. 

Our readiness targets are the same. Our method is different: child-centered learning with skilled teaching. 

How Play Maps to “School” Skills

Language and literacy grow through language-rich play. Children use print in meaningful ways (menus, writing books, signs, labels), build phonological awareness through songs and rhymes, and develop vocabulary through back-and-forth conversation and interactive read-alouds. 

Math is everywhere in play. Children build number sense, patterns, and spatial reasoning by counting, sorting, measuring, comparing, and solving real problems with real materials. 

Science and inquiry develop through exploration. Children predict, test ideas, observe outcomes, and build vocabulary as they engage in sensory play and discovery outdoors. 

Self-regulation is a “superpower” for kindergarten. 

Executive function (attention, working memory, flexibility) supports learning across subjects and is strengthened through planning, games with rules, persistence with challenging tasks, and recovering after conflict. 

Environmental Education

Outdoor Education is something that sets our school apart. Our Bay Trail Explorers—nature walks that spark questions, vocabulary, and real-world discovery—support curiosity and inquiry in authentic settings. 

For older preschoolers, our expanded 4–5 curriculum includes observation journals, small-group discussions, and connections to books and informational text, building language, reflection, and written expression alongside executive function skills like planning and flexible thinking. 

Small Groups and Strong Relationships

Lower ratios make it easier for adults to notice, scaffold, and extend children’s play, language, and self-regulation. SMPNS ratios are:

Morning: 1 adult : 3 children with an enrollment max of 38 children. We use co-op volunteers to support this ratio.

Afternoon: 1 adult : 5 children with an enrollment max of 27 children.

Because of the intimacy of our program, teachers are able to provide daily updates on children and address areas of concern in a supportive and affirming way. 

Learn More

For a deep-dive into all of this information, you may view a presentation here.