High Scope
The High/Scope curriculum is based on a shared control of the classroom between the students and teachers. We believe that when children are actively involved in their learning that the benefits are great. As the adults in the classroom our role is to provide the children with the developmentally appropriate materials and support needed to reap the benefits of active learning.
The principle elements of the High/Scope approach to learning are:
-A regular daily routine where the child’s choice time (work time) is the largest portion of the day
-Assessment of the child’s skills through the TSGOLD
-Adult-Child Interaction
-Learning Environment
-Active Learning through the Key Experiences
Our Daily Routine includes several elements such as: circle time, small group instruction, whole group instruction, mealtime, outside time, planning time, work time, and recall time.
We assess each child using the TSGOLD. The TSGOLD is an observation based tool that allows teachers to identify and recored growth that is taking place while children are at school. Learning takes place while children play, try out new ideas, solve problems, and make new friends, therefore, the assessment takes place at those times as well. TSGOLD allows teachers to gather authentic datat over time to give a well rounded picture of their development in each of the following areas: Social-Emotional, Physical, Language, Cognitive, Literacy, Mathematics, Science and Technology, Social Studies, The Arts, and English Language Acquistion. Each of the 38 objectives has 6 levels that show developmental progression. Data is collected and progress reports are sent home twice a year in November/January and again in May. Children’s records are stored on-line and parents may access their child’s records by receiving an invitation from their child’s teacher.
Adult-Child Interaction during the daily routine should be encouraging and supportive so that the children can be successful. Children are encouraged by the adults and each other to make "Wise" Choices as well as to use social problem solving steps to talk through our problems. On a rare occasion a child may need a cool down period but this is very rare.
Our learning environment consists of different interest areas for the children (Art, Block, Dramatic Play, Discovery, Library, and Computer). The materials in each of these interest areas may change throughout the year according to the children’s interest and needs of the classroom. An example of some materials you may find in the Art Area include various types of paint, paper, crayons, scissors, staplers, tape, glue, and other materials. Block area materials may include a variety of blocks, cars/trucks, woodworking table, trains, dollhouse, and other materials. Dramatic Play area materials include kitchen area with cookware and utensils, dress up clothing, dolls, and a variety of other materials. Discovery area materials include puzzles, pegs, games, and a large variety of math and science materials. Library area materials include a writing center, listening center, book center, quiet center, and puppets. Computer area includes three computers where the children work each day.
We have designed our learning environment to be a warm and welcoming place for your child each day and for you whenever possible.
Active learning through the Key Experiences is the final aspect of the High/Scope curriculum. Our Daily Lesson plans are based on these experiences and the children’s active involvement in them. We plan on your child having these experiences multiple times throughout the school year. We also allow them the opportunity to actively involve in these experiences.
Other Curriculum
Other curriculum we use includes STARS, LiPS, Handwriting Without Tears, Second Step, and Everyday Math.
Kentucky All STARS is Kentucky’s expanded five-star quality rating and improvement system for early care and education programs. Studies show that children who attend high quality early learning environments have better math, language and social skills. The unified system serves all early care and education programs that receive public funding including child care centers, Head Start and public preschool. Kentucky All STARS is based on Kentucky’s Early Childhood Standards and research-based indicators of quality. It recognizes programs that have made a commitment to continuous quality improvement. On the path toward higher quality, programs can benefit from supports including training, technical assistance and coaching.
The Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing® (LiPS®) Program successfully stimulates phonemic awareness. Our children become aware of the mouth actions which produce speech sounds. This awareness becomes the means of verifying sounds within words and enables the child to become self-correcting in reading and spelling, and speech.
Handwriting Without Tears is a handwriting fluency curriculum, fundamental to learning because children think and write at the same time. When we teach children to write, we also teach them how to express themselves. If they struggle to form their letters, their ability to express themselves will suffer. Children who don’t master handwriting may be slow, sloppy, or illegible writers. We focus on fun and achievement to optimize children’s curiosity and joy of learning throughout school. Our goal is to help students learn proper handwriting habits and then apply those habits naturally and automatically to all writing experiences that they’ll take throughout elementary school, high school, and beyond. The HWT curriculum starts when children enter preschool. By playing, singing and building letters, they develop important skills they need to print words, sentences, paragraphs, and eventually transition to cursive.
Second Step is a violence prevention program where we discuss the different types of feeling and how we react to others when we have those feelings.
Everyday Math is our school wide Math curriculum. In preschool, this curriculum is integrated into the daily routine. You may see these activities in various parts of the routine from circle time to small group to work time or even during transitions.