The High Scope Curriculum

The philosophy behind our High/Scope curriculum is that children should be actively involved in their own learning. They "learn by doing", often working with hands on materials and carrying out projects of their own choosing. The teachers working with the children see themselves more as facilitators or partners than managers or supervisors.

High/Scope's approach encompasses all aspects of child development and involves teachers and parents in supporting and extending children's emotional, intellectual, social, and physical skills and abilities. In a High/Scope school, different areas of the classroom are designated for different activities, for example water play, reading, sand play, art, writing, dramatic play, etc. Children are intended to be able to access all facilities independently and be able to take some responsibility for use of these areas.

An important part of the High/Scope approach is the plan-do-review sequence. Children first plan what materials they want to work with and what they want to do (this can be done formally or informally in small groups). Only once they have made a plan, however vague, of what they want to do can they go and do it. Then, after this choice work time, the children discuss what they have been doing and whether it was successful. Basing their tasks on this orientation, teachers initiate developmentally appropriate experiences in the classroom that reflect the basic long-range goals of the project. These goals are to:

• Develop children's ability to use a variety of skills in the areas of arts and physical movement.
  
• Develop their knowledge of objects as a base of educational concept development.
  
• Develop their ability to speak, dramatize, and graphically represent their experiences and communicate these experiences to other children and adults.
  
• Develop their ability to work with others, make decisions about what to do and how to do it, and plan their use of time and energy.
  
• Develop their ability to apply their newly acquired reasoning capacity in a wide range of naturally occurring situations and with a variety of materials.

The plan-do-review sequence encourages children to achieve these goals by involving them in decision-making and problem-solving situations throughout the day. The teacher's role is to support the children's decisions and encourage them to extend learning beyond the original plan. Similarly, teachers rely on a basic room arrangement and daily routine designed to stimulate and support active learning. This approach emphasizes the identification of the child's status on a developmental continuum by examining his/her strengths and accomplishments.