New Early Learning Program Curriculum Highlights Learning Through Discovery

“What did my child do at school today?” is a question often pondered among parents of young children. With newly emerging communication skills, one and two-year-olds may not recap their days to mom and dad. If they could, ESJ students might tell you about all the ways they learned through active participatory learning, a concept ELP children know well, even if they can’t name or tell you about it.

Using a new HighScope curriculum, ELP students on the St. Mark’s Campus learn through discovery. While keeping current research on brain development in mind, teachers create experiences within the learning environment that engage, motivate, and inspire young learners to problem-solve, explore, and make connections. “It may seem like a simple activity to the outside eye, but there is considerable thought and purpose behind what teachers plan for their students,” said Carley Baggs, Director of Pre-Primary. 

For example, this week, ELP 1 students are learning about the season of fall. They painted with apples, explored sensory bins filled with fall leaves, and used fine motor skills to glue fall-colored tissue paper onto paper leaves. To enhance phonological awareness about the letter E sound, ELP 2 children recently went on a school-wide scavenger hunt looking for Episcopal Eagle stickers. 

“While this may not answer the age-old question, ‘what did you do at school today,’ parents can rest assured their children are learning about the world around them through purposeful play in a nurturing environment,” said Mrs. Baggs. “Our ELP instructors do so much more than taking care of children. They plan a curriculum with intentional lesson plans, experiences, and transitions, all aimed at helping young children grow and develop a love of learning that will follow them for a lifetime.”