The High Scope Curriculum For The Children Who Become A...

Throughout the last 60 years or so, the High Scope curriculum has been proven to be successful through research studies and everyday successes for the children who become a part of the program. This curriculum incorporates developmentally appropriate activities, curriculum content, approaches, and environment to support a child focused atmosphere and active learning. Because of the daily routine, active participation, and learning centers; the child gains a sense of self direction and independence as they become comfortable with the routine and get the chance to make their own choices and find out their interests. Using key development indicators the teachers are able to make assessments about the child and figure out where they are†¦show more content†¦Weikart and his colleagues created the high scope model and began the High Scope Perry Preschool as a local district project. According to Dr. Lawrence Schweinhart who joined the evaluation team in 1975, â€Å"The purpose of the study was to evaluate the High Scope model, in which teachers help children plan, carry out, and review their own educational activities.† (Schweinhart, 2002) According to our text book, Early Childhood Education Today by George S. Morrison, the High Scope method is made up of five key elements and three basic goals that make up a curriculum aimed at the children’s different stages of development including intellectual and social skills along with encouraging constructive processes of learning. The first three principles include active participation, daily planning by teaching staff, and setting developmental goals for the children. In active participation, the children are encouraged to choose their activities and are observed by the teacher who acts as a guide. Regular daily planning requires a developmentally based curriculum with observation of the children, which are done by the teaching staff. High Scope uses â€Å"key developmental indicators† meaning that the activities support developmentally vital skills and abilities, so the teachers set developmentally sequenced goals based on those indicators. These key developmental indicators, or KDIs, make up