Twin Oaks Child Development Center

Twin Oaks Child Development Center has adopted a High/Scope Curricular approach. High/Scope emphasizes active learning. Forty years of research indicates that High/Scope curriculum has a positive impact on children’s academic outcome.

The following overview is taken directly from the High/Scope Foundation’s website.

What is the High/Scope Curriculum?

High/Scope’s educational approach emphasizes “active participatory learning.” Active learning means students have direct, hands-on experiences with people, objects, events, and ideas. Children’s interests and choices are at the heart of High/Scope programs. They construct their own knowledge through interactions with the world and the people around them. Children take the first step in the learning process by making choices and following through on their plans and decisions. Teachers, caregivers, and parents offer physical, emotional, and intellectual support. In active learning settings, adults expand children’s thinking with diverse materials and nurturing interactions.

What do teachers and other adults do in a High/Scope program?

In High/Scope programs, adults are as active in the learning process as children. A mutual give-and-take relationship exists in which both groups participate as leaders and followers, speakers and listeners. Adults interact with children by sharing control with them, focusing on their strengths, forming genuine relationships with them, supporting their play ideas, and helping them resolve conflicts. Adults participate as partners in children’s activities rather than as supervisors or managers. They respect children and their choices, and encourage initiative, independence, and creativity. Because adults are well trained in child development, they provide materials and plan experiences that children need to grow and learn.

What does a High/Scope program setting look like?

The space and materials in a High/Scope setting are carefully chosen and arranged to promote active learning. The learning environment in High/Scope programs has the following characteristics:

• Is welcoming to children
• Provides enough materials for all the children
• Allows children to find, use, and return materials independently
• Encourages different types of play and learning
• Allows the children to see and easily move through all the areas of the classroom or center
• Is flexible so children can extend their play by bringing materials from one area to another
• Provides materials that reflect the diversity of children’s family lives

What happens each day in a High/Scope classroom?

High/Scope classrooms follow a predictable sequence of events known as the daily routine. This provides a structure within which children can make choices, follow their interests, and develop their abilities in each content area.

Plan-do-review time. This three-part sequence is unique to the High/Scope approach. It includes a 10–15-minute small-group time during which children plan what they want to do during work time (the area to visit, materials to use, and friends to play with); a 45–60-minute work time for carrying out their plans; and another 10–15-minute small-group time for reviewing and recalling with an adult and other children what they’ve done and learned. In between do and review children clean up by putting away their materials or storing unfinished projects. Children are very active and purposeful during do time because they are pursuing activities that interest them. They may follow their initial plans, but often, as they become engaged, their plans shift or may even change completely.

Small-group time. During this time a small group of ideally 6–8 children meet with an adult to experiment with materials and solve problems. Although adults choose a small-group activity to emphasize one or more particular content areas, children are free to use the materials in any way they want during this time. The length of small group varies with the age, interests, and attention span of the children. At the end of the period, children help with cleanup.

Large-group time. Large-group time builds a sense of community. Up to 20 children and 2 adults come together for movement and music activities, storytelling, and other shared experiences. Children have many opportunities to make choices and play the role of leader.

Transition times. Transitions are the minutes between other blocks of the day, as well as arrival and departure times. Our goal is to make transitions pass smoothly since they set the stage for the next segment in the day’s schedule. They also provide meaningful learning opportunities themselves. Whenever possible, we give children choices about how to make the transition. For example, they may choose how to move across the floor on their way to small-group time. With a consistent daily routine children know what is going to take place next, and it is not unusual for them to announce the next activity and initiate the transition.