Imagine's Educational Method & Philosophy
Mission:
To grow individuality, independence, and optimism.Educational Goals:
- Individual initiative (Independent thinking, Optimism, Social skills, Respect of others)
- Intellect (Intellectual stimulation, Learning method, Enjoyment of intellectual challenges)
- Internationality (Internationality, Understanding of foreign cultures as well as one's own, Languages)
What can my child learn in Imagine's Preschool?
By using the Project Approach the children are learning many useful skills like mathematics, reading, writing, scientific method, and presentation by studying something in which they already have interest. Learning is a natural process that is very enjoyable for both teachers and students. Plus, they are gaining a lot of real world experience and exposure to give them the confidence to pursue all of their curiosities and interests.
We have a very special program at Imagine International Preschool. We offer a unique opportunity for your child to grow as an independent thinking individual who is just beginning their adventure in life-long learning.
Project Approach
-Project Approach helps children reach their full capacity by letting them focus on what interests them. We help them transform their questions and curiosity into creativity and a preparedness to independently find answers to their questions.
At Imagine, we provide children with an inspiring, nurturing, positive environment, and through recognizing that all children learn in different ways and come from many different backgrounds of experience we offer children the best start in life.
"The Project Approach refers to a set of teaching strategies which enable teachers to guide children through in-depth studies of real world topics. The Project Approach is not unstructured. There is a complex but flexible framework with features that characterize the teaching-learning interaction. When teachers implement the Project Approach successfully, children can be highly motivated, feel actively involved in their own learning, and produce work of a high quality."
In conjunction with Project Approach, we use emergent curriculum.
A typical classroom consists of children with different backgrounds, interests, skill-sets, and talents in addition to age, sex and first language. There are children who learn best through visual aids, children who learn through listening and children who learn through hands on activities. There are children who need more challenges and children who need more help in certain areas. It is quite impossible to meet all these different needs if children are expected to learn and reach the same goals as their classmates in the same time-frame and progression.
Instead, the best way to meet all these individual needs is to listen to the children and to integrate all different areas of learning.
For example at Imagine, we have a project topic as well as a theme for the term and thus whether we are learning reading, counting or science, we are also learning about something else that binds all these different disciplines together. Emergent curriculum effectively means that teachers listen to children and their interests and weave in their interests in the more systematic instruction provided.
In practice this means that we have a curriculum as well as term goals for the children, but by using emergent curriculum in conjuncture with our project theme we ensure that the children are always interested in what they are learning and get the most out of their Imagine experience.
What is a project and how does it work in practice?
A project is defined here as an in-depth investigation of a real world topic worthy of children's attention and effort. The study may be carried out by a class or by small groups of children. Projects can be undertaken with children of any age. They do not usually constitute the whole educational program. Younger children will play and explore as well as engage in projects. Older children's project work will complement the systematic instruction in their program.
During the preliminary planning stage, the teacher selects the topic of study (based on the children's interests, the curriculum, the availability of local resources, etc.). The teacher also brainstorms her own experience, knowledge, and ideas and represents them in a topic web. This web will be added to throughout the project and used for recording the progress of the project.
There are three stages to a project, they are:
Phase 1: Beginning the Project
The teacher discusses the topic with the children to find out the experiences they have had and what they already know about it. The children represent their experiences and show their understanding of the concepts involved in explaining them. The teacher helps the children develop questions their investigation will answer. A letter about the study is sent home to parents. The teacher encourages the parents to talk with their children about the topic and to share any relevant special expertise.
Phase 2: Developing the Project
Opportunities for the children to do field work and speak to experts are arranged. The teacher provides resources to help the children with their investigations; real objects, books, and other research materials are gathered. The teacher suggests ways for children to carry out a variety of investigations. Each child is involved in representing what he or she is learning, and each child can work at his or her own level in terms of basic skills, constructions, drawing, music, and dramatic play. The teacher enables the children to be aware of all the different work being done through class or group discussion and display. The topic web designed earlier provides a shorthand means of documenting the progress of the project.
Phase 3: Concluding the Project
The teacher arranges a culminating event through which the children share with others what they have learned. The children can be helped to tell the story of their project to others by featuring its highlights for other classes, the principal, and the parents. The teacher helps the children to select material to share and, in so doing, involves them purposefully in reviewing and evaluating the whole project. The teacher also offers the children imaginative ways of personalizing their new knowledge through art, stories, and drama. Finally, the teacher uses children's ideas and interests to make a meaningful transition between the project being concluded and the topic of study in the next project.
Sources and suggested reading on the Internet:
http://projectapproach.org/
"Implementing the Project Approach"
A summary on Emergent Curriculum
TPR overview and inJapanese
An article about implementing Emergent Curriculum in the classroom
