The Play is Real at St. Margaret’s Early Childhood School
Text by Ryan Wood; Graphics by Sarah Kustera
St. Margaret’s Early Childhood School is a play- and research-based academic program with roots in constructivist teaching and the renowned Reggio Emilia approach to early-childhood education. Under the direction of Early Childhood School Director Cris Lozon and a dedicated faculty, early-childhood students are introduced to concepts in math, science, literacy and art while respecting the integrity of the curriculum’s play-based structure.
Students are engaged in a negotiated emergent curriculum, an academic program that is centered around a child’s own interests and development. The program is experiential and engaging to allow agency for students in their learning.
The task of extending their learning falls to a team of expert teachers, who guide and further student interests through provocation, the introduction of crosscutting concepts and an understanding of developmental continuums which enhance literacy skills.
Observing students in the context of their play, faculty extend play through long-term projects. Connecting play and projects provides foundational work in cognitive development as math, science, and literacy are introduced.
In recent years, students have built a tricycle ramp in the Outdoor Classroom that included learning processes such as measuring space, presenting to school leadership for approval, budgeting prices and conducting surveys gauging student interest in the ramp’s details. Another group of students turned an interest in kites into a yearlong study that experimented with different kites and how they respond to factors such as wind, gravity and speed.
“Using play as a primary vehicle for learning and growth is backed by more than a century of research,” Dr. Lozon said. “It is the best and most proven method of increasing engagement, interest, attention and ultimately retention of what they’re learning under the watchful eye of our expert faculty.”
In an ongoing quest to give students an optimal learning environment to support their academic, social and emotional growth, the Early Childhood School recently completed a full campus renovation to its learning environment, matching and supporting the ongoing advancements of the school’s leading academic program.
The campus is a rich learning environment designed to be customizable to adjust to student interest and student projects, consistent with St. Margaret’s negotiated emergent curriculum. Classrooms are equipped with modern, age-appropriate, flexible furnishings to accommodate classroom projects and student learning needs and interests. The Early Childhood School has movable large-screen monitors that teachers use to help students reflect on their own learning as they project larger versions of observations like insects, plants and more.
All classrooms open to the Ingrid S. Andrews Outdoor Classroom, a centerpiece of the Early Childhood School where students spend much of their day learning by doing in an outdoor environment.
The Outdoor Classroom has different areas that address certain skills crucial to early-childhood development. They include:
• BLOCK-BUILDING AREA where students can learn about concepts like stability, structure and function through building and stacking.
• STAGE AREA for dramatic play.
• GROSS MOTOR DEVELOPMENT areas including a tricycle path and balance beam.
• SAND AND WATER AREAS to explore conservation, quantitative relationships and physical change.
• A GARDEN where students spend regular learning time investigating, discovering, interacting and expressing their findings while in nature.
Demonstration Lab
Also connected to the Outdoor Classroom are new specialty areas, which advance learning and child development to new, innovative places. Those specialty areas include:
DEMONSTRATION LAB: An original creation inspired by the school’s innovative curriculum, the Demonstration Lab includes a full kitchen, which brings endless learning possibilities to young students centered around the food they eat. The Demonstration Lab is designed with a room-length bar workstation for young learners.
LIBRARY: With a collection of hundreds of books, the library gives students a place to read and ultimately enhance their literacy and writing development.
MULTIPURPOSE ROOM: A spacious multipurpose room is set up for large-scale, all-school or classroom projects and exhibits.
ATELIER: The updated Atelier (art studio) provides rich and artist-quality materials for children to further engage in their own creative works. Conversations between students and the atelierista (art studio teacher) create sparks of continued interest through vocabulary and action, deepening student learning through art.
TINKER LAB: An area for construction, de-construction and creation of new products from natural and found materials.
The updated Atelier.