Raising NYC Pre-K Units of Study: 10 free units for 4-year-olds
The NYC Pre-K Units of Study are ten free units that New York City wrote for its Pre-K for All classrooms. They span a school year in three big themes. Each unit is one PDF with background for teachers, one sample weekly plan, and book lists, and Unit 1 also has lesson plans. The PDFs limit use to educational, nonprofit purposes.
NYC Pre-K Units of Study at a glance
| Made by | New York City Department of Education (U.S. public school system) |
|---|---|
| Ages | 4 |
| Type | Units and guidance |
| Length | 10 units over a school year (Unit 1 runs four weeks) |
| Format | One PDF per unit (Unit 1: 63 pages, 1.6 MB) and a 10-page scope and sequence |
| License | Educational, nonprofit use only |
| Sign-up | No |
| Faith | Secular |
| Edition | 2020 |
| Official page | infohub.nyced.org |
Checked October 28, 2026 on the owner's site.
What it is and who made it
When New York City launched free pre-K for every 4-year-old, its Department of Education wrote a shared set of units so that the many programs taking part had a common starting point. The year moves outward from the child: first school and self, then the neighborhood and the physical world, then growth and change.
Each unit is a single PDF, which makes this set easier to print and read than curricula spread across many online folders. The PDFs are long (the first one is 63 pages) because they include background for teachers, focus standards, and planning pages. They give guidance and one sample week per unit rather than a plan for every week.
Units and themes
My Community and Me · September–November
- Welcome to Pre-K — 4 weeks
- My Five Senses
- All About Us
The Environment and Me · December–March
- Where We Live
- Transportation
- Light
- Water
Change and Growth All Around Me · April–June
- Plants
- Babies
- Transformation
What's inside
10 units in 3 themes; each unit has one sample weekly plan, book lists, and center ideas; Unit 1 also has lesson plans.
Areas of learning covered:
- Approaches to learning
- Physical development and health
- Social and emotional development
- Communication, language, and literacy
- Cognition and knowledge of the world (math, science, social studies, the arts)
How a parent could use it at home
- Print the scope and sequence first. It shows the whole year on a few pages and helps you decide where to start.
- The scope and sequence places each theme in a span of months (September–November, December–March, April–June). At home, you can stretch or shorten units.
- Look for the sample weekly plan in each unit. It's the quickest way to see how the pieces fit together in a week.
- Swap classroom field trips for what's near you: a walk to the bus stop for Transportation, a garden center for Plants.
- Keep a simple record: a photo and one sentence about what your child said or made each week.
These tips are ours, not the program's.
The license in plain words
The units state that they "may be used for educational, nonprofit purposes only." If you are not a Pre-K for All provider, the department asks you to email [email protected] to request permission.
Download NYC Pre-K Units of Study from the source
Files open on New York City Department of Education's own site. We don't host copies.
FAQ
Can I use the NYC units if I'm not in New York?
Only with permission from NYC Public Schools, if you're not a Pre-K for All provider. The units state that they may be used for educational, nonprofit purposes only, and anyone outside Pre-K for All is asked to email [email protected] to request permission. You can always link to the official page, and Boston's Focus on Pre-K is an openly licensed alternative.
What are the ten NYC pre-K units?
The ten NYC pre-K units are Welcome to Pre-K, My Five Senses, All About Us, Where We Live, Transportation, Light, Water, Plants, Babies, and Transformation, in that order. They're grouped into three themes: My Community and Me in the fall, The Environment and Me in winter, and Change and Growth All Around Me in spring.
Similar free programs
- NYC 3-K for All Interdisciplinary Explorations · 3-year-olds · 3 Explorations over 10 months
- Focus on Pre-K: 4s · 4-year-olds · 4 units of 43–45 school days (about 175 days, 2026–27 calendar)
- NYC Pre-K Units of Study, Explore editions — official page · 3- and 4-year-olds · 10 units
Our own 36-week preschool plan
Alongside the programs above, we made a plan of our own for the part of the day most curricula give little room to: feelings, waiting, trying again, and getting along. Sign in with a code from your email and the PDF downloads right away.