Frog Street Pre-K - Criterion 2.6

Frog Street Pre-K materials partially meet expectations for promoting the core ideas of history, geography, economics, and civics (2.6a). 

The materials include understanding people in the past and present, as well as developing skills related to citizenship, economics, and geography. Traditions and cultural diversity are addressed primarily through story time, songs, storytelling, and group activities. The first two themes provide exposure to diverse perspectives and experiences. Social studies learning most often occurs during read-alouds,  greeting circle, and sometimes practice centers. 

Examples from each core idea:

• Civics

  • Identifying the U.S. and state flags and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance are embedded daily across all themes.

  • Opportunities for voting and group decision-making (Themes 1, 2, 3, and 5) (p. 71)

  • Exploration of community roles (pp. 16-17)

  • In Theme 2 (pp. 16–17), children discuss jobs and responsibilities at home during a read-aloud of Families

  • Civics is also reinforced daily through classroom rules, routines, and helping behaviors aligned with “Conscious Discipline”.

  • Children draw community workers in the Writer’s Corner and discuss their roles (Theme 3, p. 8)

• Economics

  • Instruction emphasizes family and school roles and the identification of community workers, with limited attention to broader economic concepts, such as needs (food, clothing, shelter), or to consumer awareness.

  • In Theme 2, Teacher Guide (p. 62), children engage in dramatic play by pretending to run a dog grooming business. Other dramatic play scenarios include a grocery store, restaurant, and post office.

• Geography

  • Children explore geography tools & resources using the photo card of the Statue of Liberty after reading the story Abuela.  (TG 2 p.43).

  • Instruction primarily focuses on identifying features of the natural environment, with some opportunities to explore geographic tools or understand that maps represent real places (Theme 2, p.17)

  • Children practice map-related skills during Practice Centers by constructing bridges, roads, and mountains using colored paper (Theme 6, p. 61).

• History 

  • Concepts such as comparing families, identifying community workers, and discussing past and present experiences (Theme 2, pp.17, 42-45)

  • Children discuss all the things they have learned over the school year (Theme 9, p.17)

Overall, Frog Street Pre-K includes some structured opportunities to support social studies learning, with greater emphasis on citizenship routines and community roles. Social studies is embedded across themes through read-alouds, songs, classroom routines, and practice centers, which provide exposure to key concepts. The materials would be strengthened by promoting a more inquiry-based approach and by providing more structured and robust activities to develop the core ideas of social studies. 

Frog Street Pre-K materials partially meet expectations for supporting social studies through integrated and interdisciplinary learning experiences (2.6b). 

The materials include some age-appropriate integrated connections between social studies and other domains, most notably literacy, social-emotional learning (SEL), and occasional STEAM activities. Social studies content is incorporated across themes through read-alouds, discussions, practice centers, and selected activities that connect to children’s understanding of families, community roles, and everyday experiences.

In literacy, read-alouds introduce topics such as community roles, family structures, cultural traditions, and concepts of past and present (e.g., Pets Are Families, Same, Same but Different, Changes). For example, in Theme 3 (p. 69), during The ABCs of Food, the teacher identifies countries of origin on a globe, connecting literacy and geography. 

In STEAM, a connection with social studies can be seen in Theme 2 (Teacher Guide, pp. 68–71), which includes a discussion of veterinarians as community helpers, and on p. 76, children design a shelter for a pet, connecting community roles and problem-solving. 

Additionally, in SEL, classroom voting, group decision-making, and School Family Agreements (Themes 1, 2, 3, and 5) support early citizenship concepts. There are also some opportunities for children to engage with social studies concepts during exploration and center-based activities. 

Overall, Frog Street Pre-K includes some developmentally-appropriate integrated experiences that connect social studies concepts to literacy, SEL, and occasional STEAM activities. Children engage with ideas related to families, community roles, geography tools, and civic routines in ways that are accessible and relevant. While these experiences provide a foundation for social studies learning, the materials would be strengthened with more explicit teacher guidance to help educators support integrated learning and connections to other disciplines.