Our preschool students are zooming through their Creative Curriculum Studies! Over the last four weeks, students explored all about how "the world runs on wheels!"
The Creative Curriculum used in our Universal Preschool Classes encourages our students to learn through hands-on experiences and exploration. Wheels are everywhere and students pointed out throughout this study tires on strollers, ferris wheels, the different wheels on different types of vehicles, pinwheels, and so much more. Students also enjoy making the connections between what they are learning in school to what they see at home and in our community. The Wheels Study helps children expand their understanding of wheels through investigative opportunities and takes their learning beyond tires on cars. This study provides meaningful experiences to support the development of language, literacy, math, technology, science, and the arts to investigate, learn, and represent their understanding of the wheels in the world around them.
One way students have been exploring wheels has been through their Investigations. These investigations include asking students to answer questions such as: What different types of wheels are there? How do wheels move? How can we make our own wheels? How do we use wheels? How do they help us? and more!
Then our students get to have “WOW Experiences” about wheels by visiting the parking lot to closely examine the wheels, going outdoors to conduct races using a cart and blocks, hosting a classroom visitor who cooks or is a chef (because even tools in the kitchen have wheels), taking the children outdoors to conduct races using ride-on toy, hosting a classroom visitor who plays a sport that involves wheels and more.
As always, at the end of a Study, our staff work with the students to identify the ways that they would like to celebrate! Some of the Universal Preschool classrooms at Ridgeway School and Whiting School built cars to celebrate. Families from Ms. Capalbo's class even were able to join in on the car-making fun! Students in both Ms. Capalbo's class at Ridgeway School and Ms. Yunginger's class at Whiting School decorated their cars, put on the wheels, and raced their friends.
The Manchester Township Public School's Preschool Program uses Creative Curriculum to teach our young learners. This curriculum incorporates Studies that focus on different educational topics throughout the school year. Studies bring classroom lessons to life by encouraging critical thinking and working together as a class to explore as they learn. We look forward to seeing what the preschool students will be studying next!
