While every year in a pre-k classroom the curriculum will look, and feel completely different, there are a few principles that are consistent with developmentally appropriate practices in the field of early childhood education. These principles are based upon high-quality educational practices and influenced by the latest theories and research in the field of early childhood education. Fayerweather Street School has a strong relationship with local and regional research centers; we both contribute to and benefit from ongoing research studies.

How Children Learn
Children learn best from self initiated activities with concrete objects. They build on previous knowledge through repeated experiences. Through social interactions with peers, children learn to collaborate, cooperate and to understand another point of view. Children who are active in their own learning process make sense of the world for themselves and construct their own ideas. By having choices and making decisions, children learn to be in control of their own learning and to be independent thinkers. Children need to have a variety of materials, strategies and approaches because not every child learns the same way.

How Curriculum Develops
Curriculum in the pre-k develops through an interactive process between the child, teacher and the environment. In each group there is a balance between teacher-planned activities and those activities that emerge from the children's interests, abilities and needs. There is a balance between individual, small group and large group experiences. Curriculum is based on inquiry, problem solving and discovery, and application of key issues and concepts. Curriculum points to connections within and across disciplines characterized by project-based learning, which allows for more in-depth study of topics.

We are facilitators of learning. We act as mentor-companions. Observing, reflecting, collaborating, adapting, intervening, scaffolding and building upon each child's questions or ideas, as well as assessing the level and interest of each child in order to make informed decisions. Assessment of learning is both a process and a tool to improve instruction and document children's growth.

Creation Of Partnerships With Families
Each child's family is an essential part of our pre-k community and crucial to our understanding and appreciation of each individual in the classroom. We strive to build home-school partnerships that are collaborative, trusting, and respectful. Parents and staff regularly communicate through frequent interactions, phone conversations, open houses, parent conferences, parent workshops, written reports, school gatherings, home visits, and parent participation. Getting to know the values and cultures within families helps nurture the home-school relationship and constributes to the child's self-esteem. Having parents participate in the goal-setting process is an important part of developing curriculum for the individual child.

Importance Of The Individual And The Community
Each child is unique. The curriculum focuses on supporting the growth of the whole child, including social-emotional, language, cognitive, and physical development. We believe that children go through stages of development that are marked by general characteristics, but we also recognize the range of individual and cultural variation. Nonetheless, each child is part of a community that includes the family, the classroom, the school and the world at large. Building this sense of community takes conscious planning and ongoing effort.

Respect And Appreciation Of Differences
Our perspective involves creating a classroom and school environment that respects and supports all dimensions of human differences, including cultural, linguistic, ability, learning style, ethnicity, family culture, gender, age and socio-economic differences. We try to reach this goal by using materials that support diversity and integrate similarities and differences into the daily life of the classroom. We also adapt the curriculum to meet the needs of all learners, differentiating approaches for the children in the group. All activities have multiple entry points where children can be working on the same activity but with different materials, goals and objectives.