It's All How You Look At It

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It's All How You Look At It!
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Why do so many children develop a negative
attitude toward learning and the school
experience?
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St. Christophers Philosophy

• Our view of the child
• A child centered curriculum
• The role of the teacher

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Our View of the Child
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• Children are strong, rich, and capable. All
  children have preparedness, potential, curiosity,
  and interest in constructing their learning,
  negotiating with everything their environment
  brings to them.
• -Louise Boyd Cadwell

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Children are smarter than we give them credit for!

• Young children are amazingly observant
• We should never dumb them down and lower our
  expectations of their capabilities
• They are naturally curious and therefore capable
  of controlling their own learning

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A Child Centered Curriculum
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Two types of learning

• Rote memorization
• Learn by hearing/drilling the same information
  over and over
• i.e. letters, numbers, states and capitals, math
  formulas, phonics
• Rote memorization helpful to teach some types of
  information
• Many subjects in schools taught by rote
  memorization
• Learning is static
• Representation of learning is shown by
  performance

• Discovery and personal understanding
• Learning by doing (talking, drawing,
  constructing, painting, touching, experimenting)
• Children understand concepts in their own way, at
  their own pace, and within their own
  developmental ability (schemas)
• Allows for deeper understanding and connections
  of bigger ideas
• Learning is a result of the experience and is
  dynamic

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Tomato
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Schema

• The way a child understands a concept
• Schemas constantly change as children learn and
  experience life
• Children are egocentric and use their own
  experiences to connect ideas and concepts i.e.
  the concept of family
• Each child understands things in his/her own time
  and way and in relation to his/her own life
  experiences

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Two types of questions

• Answer is either right or wrong
• Typically used with rote memorization information
• Intimidating/boring to some children

• Open ended with no exact right answer (I wonder)
• Promotes deeper understanding of concepts
• Young children respond well to this-but lose this
  ability during school years.

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Two types of activities

• Expected outcome (everyones looks the same)
• A right and wrong way to do the activity (i.e.
  worksheets, matching games)
• No personal attachment or pride in the result

• Creative and individual (each one is unique)
• No right or wrong way to do the activity
• Allows for experimentation with tools and
  materials
• Personal pride in the result

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Example March comes in like a lion and goes out
like a lamb.
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The teacher as partner, nurturer, and guide
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• Teachers facilitate childrens exploration of
  themes, work on short-and long-term projects, and
  guide experiences of joint, open-ended discovery
  and problem solving. Teachers listen and observe
  children closely. Teachers ask questions
  discover childrens ideas, hypothesis, and
  theories and provide occasions for discovery and
  learning.
• -Louise Boyd Cadwell

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Our Teachers

• Share the role of leader with the childrendont
  always have to be in total control of every
  situation
• Ask and encourage the children to ask
  questions-but do not always give answer
• Use words like I wonder and what do you
  think?
• Are excited and involved
• Find teachable moments throughout the day

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What are the advantages of the proposed Kindergart
en at St. Christopher's?
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Smaller Class Size

• Smaller child-to-teacher ratio allows time for
  the children to explore their interests with
  small groups as well as in a whole community
• Time and staff available to help support a
  childs individual needs- whether it be extra
  help or additional challanges

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Learning Begins on Day One

• Natural progression for our preschoolers- make a
  seamless transition to Kindergarten
• No need to spend the first few months learning
  the ropes because they are already experienced
  with our rules, routines, and expectations
• Less time spent on discipline issues
• Reduced number of transitions (25-35 of an
  average school day is wasted with transitions!)
• Less wasted timemore active learning time

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Child-Centered Curriculum

• The focus is on the process, not the product
• Through documentation (photos, childrens
  drawings, transcripts) the parents will feel like
  they are truly part of the experience and the
  children will feel like valuable members of our
  community
• The children will be given the freedom to be who
  they are- young children! Time allowed every day
  for active outdoor play and meaningful indoor
  play
• Its not all about worksheets and spelling tests!

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Child Centered Curriculum cont.

• The curriculum focuses on the whole child and
  integrates all of the subject areas
• The day isnt spent clock watching to ensure
  time for all subjects every day
• The integrated curriculum would cover all of the
  Michigan Kindergarten Standards and Benchmarks-
  using real life connections rather than
  textbooks
• www.michigan.gov/mde

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Child Centered Curriculum cont.The School
Community

• We would still go on the monthly field trips as a
  whole school
• As the oldest children in the school, we would
  occasionally work with the younger children-
  sharing our skills and talents (reading, plays,
  puppet shows, art projects, etc)

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Instilling Confidence, Independence, and Love of
Learning

• Our hope is that our students go into first grade
  with not only all of the academic skills
  necessary, but also a love of learning, the
  ability to ask questions and think for
  themselves, the ability to work confidently and
  independently, and overall to feel like a valued
  member of their learning community.
• You cant get that in the blue reading group!

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Parent Involvement

• Parents would be encouraged to be involved in
  their childs education
• Parents invited to help out, share talents and
  skills
• Smaller class size would allow for more daily
  face-to-face communication with teacher
• Daily News written and sent home as often as
  possible, eventually having the children
  participate in the process
• Documentation (digital photos, dialogue, quotes,
  childrens art and projects) designed to
  represent daily learning

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Schedule and Tuition Costs

• Kindergarten would run Monday thru Friday
  830-1200 (815 drop off)
• Extended care (before and after school) available
  at an hourly rate
• Vacations would follow the MAPS school year
  calendar for vacations (spring break, Christmas),
  but not for in-services, conference days, etc

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Schedule and Tuition Costs

• 62.50 weekly
• 250/month
• Tuition will be charged monthly and due before
  the first week of each month
• Before/After School rates will remain hourly and
  be billed weekly

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So whats next?

• We need no less than ten letters of commitment
  (Kindergarten eligible for 2008-2009) by May 16th
  with a cap of 16 total students enrolled
• We plan to form an advisory board, consisting of
  community members, parish members, educators, and
  parents for governance and accountability of the
  programs (pre-school and Kindergarten)

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Additional Questions or Concerns?
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Thank you for coming!