Curriculum

Westhampton Day School provides a year-round curriculum for students in all of its classes. The traditional academic calendar is followed, and the summer program is built on schoolwide thematic explorations.

Daily, students begin with a morning drop-off time for free play, and then move to the cafeteria for morning snack. The morning is full of both large group and small group instruction, where learning is embraced with hands-on activities, creative opportunities, and student-guided play. Students also attend resources (Art, Music, Creative Movement) throughout the morning hours.

After lunch, students enjoy recess before an afternoon rest, and then awaken to enjoy afternoon enrichments which change each semester – Yoga, Picture Book Odyssey, Soccer Shots, Project Wild, Dance, Fun Bus, and more! For the remainder of the day, students enjoy an afternoon snack, inside and outside free play, and independent center explorations.

Our very youngest learners use different themes to process alphabetically through the year, in addition to learning colors, shapes, and numbers. Students learn the importance of friendship and sharing, and the all-important bathroom independence. Our three-year-olds move through the day with the HighScope learning process! Critical thinking skills emerge as they plan their work time, participate in chosen activities, and then recall their experiences.

Our Pre-Kindergarten students use the Houghton Mifflin Curriculum, which consists of ten three-week thematic units that are designed for small group learning and opportunities for student interest to take place. Math is taught conceptually and students move through Science and Social Studies themes/concepts with the calendar year.

Our Kindergarten utilizes Wilson Language as a multisensory approach to phonics, words creation, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Author study allows students to dig deeper into literature, and inventive spelling emerges in journal experiences. Go Math builds on conceptual understanding with the intent to utilize numbers in our everyday environment and daily routines. The Life Cycle of an Oyster is explored, a variety of field trips explore our community, and Science comes alive through natural explorations

The resources and enrichments at WDS embrace the whole child. Our Art, Music, and Creative Movement teachers focus on cross-curricular extensions to classroom learning that embrace the diverse society we live in. Enrichments incorporate outside extensions in the arts, movement, and the natural world. Guest speakers, visitors, and field trips are incorporated to provide needed life encounters on which to build understanding.

Progress reports are completed for two-year-olds through Pre-Kindergarten students twice a year, and every nine weeks for Kindergarten students. Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten students participate in PALS (Phonological Assessment Literacy Screening) in the fall and spring. Parent-teacher conferences are held in both fall and spring.