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Age Group:4-5-Year-Olds
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Class Size:12 Children
We are going to have a fun and exciting year in room 3. Children range from ages 3-5 in our room. The children will make new friends and learn new skills. Throughout the year we will be fostering social development through small-group and whole-group activities. We will be using Touch Math and Learning Without Tears as our curriculums to teach literacy and math skills. We will also focus on developing each child’s play, self-help, and overall academic skills.
Recently in Room 3.....
7/21/26 – July Reading Challenge
This month Crossroads is doing a reading challenge to promote summer learning. Room 3 took on the challenge! This student found an animal alphabet book in the library. He flipped through each page and pointed at his favorite pictures. The alligator was a top contender! This reading activity not only helped with his reading skills but made reading a fun activity to look forward to the next time Room 3 has a book activity. We definitely have a future book worm on our hands! Great job, Room 3, for taking on the July reading challenge!
6.16.26 So Much Growth This Year!
This class has worked incredibly hard on important foundational skills throughout the year. Students have been learning to attend to activities for longer periods of time, complete increasingly complex block and toy sequences, remain engaged with peers at tables and centers, and use toys in meaningful, functional ways. These “small steps” are building blocks for communication, learning, independence, and social success.
Here they are enjoying play centers—activities that are carefully designed to address each student’s individual goals while still being fun and engaging. Looking around the room, it’s easy to see how far they’ve come. Students are staying with activities longer, interacting more with peers, and demonstrating skills that have taken months of practice to develop. We couldn’t be prouder of their progress and all they have accomplished this year!
5/20/26 – Butterflies in the Making!
Every year since 2020, Crossroads has been blessed to have the amazing support of the Bender Scientific Fund of the Community Foundation for the Greater Capital Region. Their grant funds our beloved Butterfly Unit, something that each classroom enjoys and benefits from. We receive the cups of caterpillars, and observe as they wind up into their J form, then form their chrysalis and finally emerge as beautiful creatures to be released into our Bender’s Butterfly Science Garden.
4.13.26 Learning to Walk in Line
Our class is practicing how to walk in line using a walking rope—and they’re doing great! While it may seem simple, this is an important preschool skill that builds safety, structure, and independence. Learning to stay together as a group helps children navigate hallways and transitions calmly and securely.
Walking in line also supports listening skills, self-control, and following directions, all of which carry over into the classroom and beyond. Plus, it encourages a sense of teamwork—everyone moving together with a shared goal. We’re so proud of how well our students are learning this big skill!
3.31.26 Individual Work
Here’s a wonderful glimpse of individualized learning in action. Students were engaged in 1:1 and 2:1 instruction with teachers, each working toward their own unique goals. Students in our room are building skills in communication, increasing their ability to attend to a task and to another person, and developing early literacy, and working in this close and direct manner lets each moment be tailored to meet the needs of each child.
2/12/26 Group Work
In Room 3, students are beginning to build an important new skill: working together in a small group. During today’s group activity, students practiced matching by color using hands-on materials in a shared learning space.
Teachers presented one item at a time and asked students to match it to the correct color in an array. To meet each child where they are, the size of the arrays was carefully adjusted—ranging from two choices to as many as five—so that every student could be successful while still being appropriately challenged. This individualized approach within a group setting reflects our ABA-based teaching model, where instruction is systematic, intentional, and data-informed.
Because many of these students are just beginning to transition from 1:1 instruction to group learning, some “growing pains” are expected. Waiting, sharing attention, and staying engaged alongside peers can be difficult at first, and those moments were gently supported by teachers through prompts, encouragement, and positive reinforcement. Each small success—waiting a turn, making a correct match, staying at the table—is an important step forward.
Group activities like this one help students build important academic skills and also important social ones. They are learning how to learn with others, how to tolerate small frustrations, and how to participate in a classroom community. With consistent practice and support, these skills will continue to grow and strengthen students’ independence and readiness for more complex group learning experiences later on!
12.16.25 A Special Visit Filled with Music, Language, and Smiles!
Yesterday, we were delighted to welcome Monica, a high school Spanish teacher from a nearby district, who brought the joy of language and music into four of our classrooms, including ours. Monica loves teaching learners of all ages, and it truly showed as she engaged our students with stories and familiar songs in both Spanish and English.
Through music like Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes, children were introduced to colors, animals, and body parts in a fun, accessible way that encouraged participation and movement. The use of familiar melodies helped our students feel comfortable while exploring a new language.
We were also happy to meet Mikayla, Monica’s daughter and a Siena College student, who assisted with group management and helped make the experience smooth and successful for everyone.
Our students and staff loved this enriching visit, and we are so grateful for the time, energy, and enthusiasm Monica and Mikayla shared with us. We can’t wait to welcome them back again soon!
