PLAYLAND
Connect *Play *Learn
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Curriculum
Our school is based on our knowledge and understanding of the ways in which young children learn best. We take time to get to know our children, their learning styles and the most effective ways to teach them. With this in mind, our integrated curriculum/projects are developed after we have introduced the theme to the children, recorded their interests and assessed their skills and development.
Projects are the curriculum. The project is the teaching strategy, the hook, if you will, that keep children highly motivated, help them feel actively involved in their own learning, and help them produce work of a high quality. Project-Based Curriculum provides an environment for students to build skills for successful real-world living and for the new workplace.
The Hundred Languages of Children
Our children are encourage to depict their understanding through many symbolic languages as they go through an investigation, generate and test their hypotheses:
* Dramatic play
* Drawing
* Painting
* Sculpture
* Skits
* Writing
Documentation/ Portfolio
Documentation of children's work in progress is viewed as an important tool in the learning process for children, teachers, and parents. This is a wonderful way of creating effective communication with parents. We want parents to know how much value we place on their children. We want them to know how their children think and express themselves. We want them to see what their children produce and invent with their hands and intelligence, how they play with classmates, discuss hypotheses and how their logic functions. So it is not uncommon for a parent to receive a text message during the day or an email at the end of the day, with a picture of their child in the middle of a discovery.
Documentation is used as assessment and advocacy. Pictures of children engaged in experiences, their words as they discuss what they are doing, feeling and thinking, and the children's interpretation of experience through the visual media are displayed as a graphic presentation of the dynamics of learning. Children’s work are displayed throughout our school and also kept in their portfolios.
Evidence of Effectiveness
Many early learning benchmarks can be met by using the Project Approach in the classroom. Some general objectives that can be met are:
* Students will engage in an in-depth study of a topic.
* Students will engage actively in class discussions, exchange ideas, and ask questions.
* Students will be introduced and encouraged to use new vocabulary.
* Students will think critically and reflectively.
* Students will revisit and continue to explore a variety of subjects.
* Students will learn and apply new modes of inquiry including questioning and
hypothesizing, reforming of hypotheses; interviewing, surveying, and observing.
* Students will participate actively in a variety of instructional strategies.
* Students will engage actively in data collection.
* Students will be able to organize data.
* Students will learn and use a variety of modes to represent data (i.e. Venn Diagrams, observational drawings, etc).
"Students will strengthen their dispositions to be interested in relevant and worthwhile phenomena" (by Katz & Chard, 2000 found in Hertzog, 2005).
Kindergarten Readiness:
We are a progressive school and strongly believe that young children learn best when they are engaged in hands-on activities based on their interests. We are also fully aware of the fact that there are specific skills, strategies and behaviors that young children have to learn and be able to do when entering any (traditional or progressive) kindergarten classroom. Therefore, we also believe that our children will benefit from direct, and explicit-strategy instruction (mini lesson). Each day we teach specific reading/writing skills, strategies and behaviors. For example, book handling, choosing books with a purpose in mind, early concept of print, expectations for reading time, talking about our reading, telling stories (which will be recorded), choosing topics for writing from our own lives, drawing stories, etc. Children have ongoing hand-on practice within our integrated curriculum to master the skills needed before entering kindergarten.
Teacher’s Role: Facilitate Investigations (Facilitators)
Teachers will utilize many teaching strategies to facilitate student investigations. Some of the strategies are:
* Modeling
* Questioning
* Conversing
* Scaffolding
* Planning
* Preparing
* Instructing
* Documenting
* Coaching/guiding
* Assessing
Teachers
* Co-explore the learning experience with the children
* Provoke ideas and problem solving
* Take ideas from the children and return them for further exploration
* Organize the classroom and materials to be aesthetically pleasing
* Organize materials to help children make thoughtful decisions about the media
* Document children's progress: visual, videotape, tape recording, portfolios
* Help children see the connections in learning and experiences
* Help children express their knowledge through representational work
* Form a "collective" among other teachers and parents
* Have a dialogue about the projects with parents and other teachers
* Foster the connection between home, school and community
Projects are the curriculum. The project is the teaching strategy, the hook, if you will, that keep children highly motivated, help them feel actively involved in their own learning, and help them produce work of a high quality. Project-Based Curriculum provides an environment for students to build skills for successful real-world living and for the new workplace.
The Hundred Languages of Children
Our children are encourage to depict their understanding through many symbolic languages as they go through an investigation, generate and test their hypotheses:
* Dramatic play
* Drawing
* Painting
* Sculpture
* Skits
* Writing
Documentation/ Portfolio
Documentation of children's work in progress is viewed as an important tool in the learning process for children, teachers, and parents. This is a wonderful way of creating effective communication with parents. We want parents to know how much value we place on their children. We want them to know how their children think and express themselves. We want them to see what their children produce and invent with their hands and intelligence, how they play with classmates, discuss hypotheses and how their logic functions. So it is not uncommon for a parent to receive a text message during the day or an email at the end of the day, with a picture of their child in the middle of a discovery.
Documentation is used as assessment and advocacy. Pictures of children engaged in experiences, their words as they discuss what they are doing, feeling and thinking, and the children's interpretation of experience through the visual media are displayed as a graphic presentation of the dynamics of learning. Children’s work are displayed throughout our school and also kept in their portfolios.
Evidence of Effectiveness
Many early learning benchmarks can be met by using the Project Approach in the classroom. Some general objectives that can be met are:
* Students will engage in an in-depth study of a topic.
* Students will engage actively in class discussions, exchange ideas, and ask questions.
* Students will be introduced and encouraged to use new vocabulary.
* Students will think critically and reflectively.
* Students will revisit and continue to explore a variety of subjects.
* Students will learn and apply new modes of inquiry including questioning and
hypothesizing, reforming of hypotheses; interviewing, surveying, and observing.
* Students will participate actively in a variety of instructional strategies.
* Students will engage actively in data collection.
* Students will be able to organize data.
* Students will learn and use a variety of modes to represent data (i.e. Venn Diagrams, observational drawings, etc).
"Students will strengthen their dispositions to be interested in relevant and worthwhile phenomena" (by Katz & Chard, 2000 found in Hertzog, 2005).
Kindergarten Readiness:
We are a progressive school and strongly believe that young children learn best when they are engaged in hands-on activities based on their interests. We are also fully aware of the fact that there are specific skills, strategies and behaviors that young children have to learn and be able to do when entering any (traditional or progressive) kindergarten classroom. Therefore, we also believe that our children will benefit from direct, and explicit-strategy instruction (mini lesson). Each day we teach specific reading/writing skills, strategies and behaviors. For example, book handling, choosing books with a purpose in mind, early concept of print, expectations for reading time, talking about our reading, telling stories (which will be recorded), choosing topics for writing from our own lives, drawing stories, etc. Children have ongoing hand-on practice within our integrated curriculum to master the skills needed before entering kindergarten.
Teacher’s Role: Facilitate Investigations (Facilitators)
Teachers will utilize many teaching strategies to facilitate student investigations. Some of the strategies are:
* Modeling
* Questioning
* Conversing
* Scaffolding
* Planning
* Preparing
* Instructing
* Documenting
* Coaching/guiding
* Assessing
Teachers
* Co-explore the learning experience with the children
* Provoke ideas and problem solving
* Take ideas from the children and return them for further exploration
* Organize the classroom and materials to be aesthetically pleasing
* Organize materials to help children make thoughtful decisions about the media
* Document children's progress: visual, videotape, tape recording, portfolios
* Help children see the connections in learning and experiences
* Help children express their knowledge through representational work
* Form a "collective" among other teachers and parents
* Have a dialogue about the projects with parents and other teachers
* Foster the connection between home, school and community
Buzzing Bees Playland * 13 Roosevelt Ave Florida, NY 10921 * 845-651-5551 * beesplayland@aol.com
(Temple Beth Shalom's building - Please park your car on the parking lot right after the stop sign.)
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Site design: Y. Ezrin
Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com
