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Our Approach

Our Approach

HighScope’s fundamental approach is an active model of learning with five key ingredients:

Materials

A child’s home, culture, and language are reflected in a variety of age-appropriate, open-ended materials for them to explore.

Manipulation

Children make discoveries when they are encouraged to handle, examine, combine, and transform materials and ideas.

Choice

Children choose materials and play partners, change and build on their play ideas, and plan activities according to their interests and needs.

Child Language & Thought

Children communicate verbally and nonverbally — thinking about their actions, expressing their thoughts about what they understand, and modifying their thinking as they learn and explore.

Adult Scaffolding

Children gain knowledge and develop creative problem-solving skills with the help of well-prepared adults who support a child’s current level of thinking and challenge them to advance to the next stage, also known as “scaffolding.”

Curriculum
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Assessment

Child, Classroom, & Program Assessment tools streamlined for success so you can stay focused on what matters most.

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Professional Learning
Because the effects of great teaching last a lifetime.

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our classrooms

What does this approach look like in the classroom?

Active Participatory Learning

Through active participatory learning — having direct experiences and deriving meaning from them through reflection — children construct knowledge that helps them make sense of their world. The power of learning comes from initiative. By encouraging children’s initiative, exploration, and independent problem-solving, HighScope teachers give children the support they need to become competent and confident learners.

Learning Environment

HighScope teachers set up successful indoor and outdoor learning environments stocked with a range of open-ended, stimulating materials designed for specific types of movement and play.

Materials are arranged in consistent places and shelves are tagged with child-friendly labels so children can put materials away themselves. This promotes independence by helping children understand where materials are, how to access and use those materials, and where to return materials when they are finished.

Adult-Child Interaction

Adult-child interaction is the process of working alongside children and communicating with them both verbally and nonverbally to encourage learning. Key strategies for adult-child interaction include sharing control with children, supporting children’s play, using encouragement instead of praise, and taking a problem-solving approach to conflict.

Daily Routine

In HighScope programs, there is a consistent framework for the day that provides a balanced variety of experiences and learning opportunities. Children engage in both individual and social play, participate in small- and large-group activities, assist with cleanup, socialize during meals, develop self-care skills, and exercise their small and large muscles.

The most important segment of the preschool daily routine is the Plan-Do-Review® sequence, in which children make choices about what they will do, carry out their ideas, and reflect upon their activities with adults and other children.

Assessment

Research tells us that the best early childhood programs consistently measure how well teachers teach and how much children learn. HighScope has developed child, classroom, and program assessment tools to support this evaluation process. HighScope’s assessment tools are designed to help teachers capture and analyze each day’s play-based learning and then translate it into targeted, individualized instruction and inform program improvements, guide teacher training, and improve student outcomes.

Family Engagement

The HighScope Curriculum is rooted in building trusting, authentic partnerships with parents and other family members to promote optimal learning and development for young children. One of our principal goals is to support parents as they help children learn. We offer a variety of resources to help educators partner with parents and involve them in children’s learning.

See Our Approach In Action – Visit A HighScope Near You!

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