Curriculum

Creating curriculum together, teacher and child, is cooperative learning at its best.  It allows children to experience the joy of working collectively to create a common goal or to investigate a group question.  It starts from where the children are, their interests and prior knowledge, and builds to what they want to learn.  Children often understand or are aware of much more than teachers suspect.  By hearing their ideas, it is possible to avoid making wrong assumptions in planning activities or topics.

The very best curriculum results from real-life experiences to which children can relate.  Meaningful learning experiences are those that spring from children’s instinctively inquisitive natures.  Wonderful things happen when children invent curriculum together as a group.  They become active participants in their own learning and gain a stronger sense of self-esteem.  The natural events of a classroom or in children’s lives are the richest sources of child-initiated curriculum themes:

• events in nature: storms, weather and seasonal changes,
• discoveries or observations: a bird’s nest, a feather, an anthill, rust on the railing, plants growing through the pavement,
• a favorite book,
• a field trip or a family trip,
• a mistake or a problem, something that didn’t work,
• an object a child brings to school,
• a child’s fantasy,
• a favorite animal,
• a group block building,
• something new that the children want in the classroom: a pet, a playhouse,
• a family event or activity,
• a community event: new construction, a fire, a parade,
• holidays and celebrations.

Our preschoolers also attend chapel every other week to enjoy music, bible study and prayer.