The following is an explanation of the High/Scope curriculum that we use here at Bridges CEC. This should help you to have a better understanding about the curriculum planned by the teachers, as well as how your child’s day is structured around the High/Scope approach to learning.
The High/Scope Educational Research Foundation bases its educational approach on four guiding principles:
- From birth through adulthood, the individual develops awareness and understanding through active involvement with people, materials, events, and ideas.
- Learning is most effective when the individual plans, carries out, and reflects on intentional activities.
- A variety of developmentally appropriate active learning experiences contributes to the individual’s intellectual, social, emotional, and physical development.
- Consistent support and respect for personal decision-making strengthen the individual’s confidence, self-control, and sense of personal effectiveness and responsibility.
The fundamental premise of the High/Scope Curriculum is that children are active learners who learn best from activities they plan and carry out themselves. Our daily routine is a plan-do-review sequence that incorporates clean-up and small/large-group activities. The plan-do-review cycle permits children to make choices about their activities and keeps the teacher intimately involved in the whole process. The curriculum is based around a set of developmental guidelines called “key experiences”. Each classroom will focus on one key experience a week and develop age-appropriate activities around this. If you have any questions regarding this, please feel free to talk with your child’s teacher.
Please click on the following link for additional information from the High/Scope website. http://www.highscope.org/Content.asp?ContentId=1