What is Experience Preschool?
Experience Preschool is a research-based curriculum designed for children 3 through 5 years. Each month, a complete curriculum kit arrives at your program — including lesson plans, hands-on materials, teacher guides, and family engagement tools — everything you need to build kindergarten-ready learners.
Experience Preschool’s monthly kits are organized around developmentally rich themes that build language, literacy, mathematics, science, and social-emotional skills in an integrated, play-based framework. Each theme connects to all eight developmental domains, supporting whole-child development without fragmented subject-area instruction.
Experience Preschool balances structured learning with play-based exploration. Lesson plans are designed for 15–30 minute whole-group and small-group experiences, with clear teacher language, differentiation tips, and embedded assessment opportunities.
What’s in each kit
- 4 weeks of daily lesson plans
- Hands-on learning materials
- Teacher’s guide with differentiation tips
- Family engagement take-home materials
- Assessment and observation prompts
- Literacy-rich read-aloud connections
- Brightwheel digital activity companion
Kindergarten-readiness focus
- Phonological awareness and early literacy
- Number sense, counting, and early math
- Scientific inquiry and observation skills
- Social-emotional skills and self-regulation
- Oral language development and vocabulary
- Fine motor: writing readiness, cutting, drawing
- Approaches to learning: persistence, curiosity
Why Experience Preschool is a strong fit for DC programs
DC’s universal Pre-K program (Pre-K Enhancement and Expansion Program) requires curriculum aligned to DC ELS. Experience Preschool’s domain structure maps directly to Washington DC’s preschool standards.
DC’s Quality Improvement and Rating System (1–5 stars) ties ratings to enhanced Child Care Subsidy reimbursement and priority access to DC’s Birth-to-Three and Pre-K programs.
DC preschool licensing context
DC’s 1:8 preschool ratio supports small-group instruction and individualized learning. Experience Preschool’s lesson plans include both whole-group and small-group activity formats, with clear teacher guidance for differentiation across developmental levels — making it practical for mixed-ability preschool classrooms.
Developmental domains covered in Experience Preschool
Experience Preschool integrates all eight developmental domains from Experience Curriculum’s 35-skill framework, with activities calibrated specifically for the 3–5 year age range. Every monthly kit builds skills across domains simultaneously — supporting kindergarten readiness in a coherent, integrated way.
Experience Preschool activities map to specific DC ELS preschool standards across all domains. An alignment document maps every activity-to-standard match, supporting documentation requirements for DC’s DC QRIS system and Pre-K programs.
What arrives each month
Each Experience Preschool kit is organized around a developmentally rich monthly theme. Here’s a sample of what a program year looks like.
Community Helpers
Social studies theme exploring community roles, helpers, and civic responsibility. Builds vocabulary, early writing, and social awareness skills.
Exploring Nature
Science-focused theme with hands-on nature exploration, observation journals, and early data collection. Builds scientific inquiry, math, and literacy skills.
Friends and Feelings
Social-emotional theme building empathy, conflict resolution, and friendship skills. Supports self-regulation and the social skills needed for kindergarten success.
Growing and Changing
Life science theme with planting, observation, and life cycle exploration. Builds early literacy (informational text), math (measurement, data), and scientific thinking.
Experience Preschool and brightwheel: a complete solution
Experience Curriculum is now fully integrated with brightwheel, the #1 childcare management platform. For DC programs already using brightwheel for billing, attendance, and family communication, adding Experience Preschool creates a seamless curriculum-to-portfolio workflow.
Document as you teach
Educators can log observations directly in brightwheel during or immediately after activities. Notes link to developmental milestones and build each child’s portfolio automatically.
Keep families connected
Parents receive real-time photos, videos, and activity updates through brightwheel. Experience Preschool family take-home content can be shared digitally, keeping caregivers at home aligned with the classroom.
For programs documenting DC DC ELS preschool observations, brightwheel’s milestone tagging and portfolio features significantly reduce paperwork. Documentation can be exported for DC QRIS reporting or family conferences.
Questions about Experience Preschool in DC
Is Experience Preschool aligned to DC’s DC ELS preschool standards?
Yes. Experience Preschool is formally aligned to DC’s District of Columbia Early Learning Standards (ages 3–5). An alignment document maps each Experience Preschool activity and skill to specific DC ELS preschool domains and standards.
Can Experience Preschool help my DC program achieve a higher DC QRIS rating?
Many DC programs find that using a structured, research-based, DC ELS-aligned curriculum supports their DC QRIS rating. Experience Preschool’s built-in observation tools and kindergarten-readiness focus also support rating requirements. We recommend confirming specific requirements with your local childcare resource agency.
Is Experience Preschool appropriate for DC Pre-K programs?
Yes. Experience Preschool is designed for 3–5 year olds and aligns to DC’s District of Columbia Early Learning Standards (ages 3–5). Programs participating in DC’s Pre-K initiatives will find that Experience Preschool’s structured, standards-aligned approach meets curriculum requirements.
What is the cost of Experience Preschool for DC childcare programs?
Experience Preschool pricing is based on program size and the number of children served. DC programs may also qualify for subsidized pricing if serving children through state-funded Pre-K programs. Pricing details and a free tour are available through the brightwheel website.
How does Experience Preschool support kindergarten readiness for DC children?
Experience Preschool is designed with kindergarten readiness as a core outcome. Activities build skills across all eight developmental domains, with particular emphasis on language and literacy, mathematics, and social-emotional skills that DC kindergarten teachers identify as most important for school success.