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The environment in the ECE classroom is carefully orchestrated to create opportunities for exploratory, constructive and dramatic play with hands-on materials and a variety of activities. In the ECE classroom you will see children involved in explorations of Mathematics and Literacy concepts, and social skills in the following centres:
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The art centre provides an opportunity to explore the tools and materials of different media.
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The construction centre encourages children to create structures of different shapes and sizes with a variety of materials. |
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The drama centre gives children opportunities to participate in role play and to use their oral language to communicate and to listen to others. |
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The book centre offers a variety of books with which children may retell predictable texts, and develop their awareness of symbols, numbers and letters. |
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Sand and water centres provide hands-on exploration and tactile stimulation. |
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Centres related to topics of study offer children an experience to probe further in a Unit of Inquiry. |
Outside play exposes children to different activities to develop their gross motor skills, and to learn to take turns and to share equipment. Children in the Exploratory Years also use our garden spaces for explorations in a natural setting.
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Children gather often to sit down with their teacher for large group discussions. This circle time is an opportunity to focus on early understandings in Literacy and Numeracy and to discuss ideas related to the Units of Inquiry. As children join in songs, stories and class discussions, they are learning to listen and to participate in large group activities, to develop an awareness of personal space, and to follow daily routines.
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Language is central to a child's development. It is "fundamental to learning, thinking and communicating, and permeates the whole curriculum," (IBO 2007). Our CIS Language Arts Curriculum programme focuses on developing children's depth of understanding, fluency in communication and mastery of skills.
| The curriculum is organized around six key strands: |
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Oral Communication - Listening and Speaking |
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Written Communication - Reading and Writing |
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Visual Communication - Viewing and Representing |
Throughout the day and in all subject areas, language literacy skills in reading, writing, speaking, listening, representing and viewing are crucial tools for learning. Children learn to express their ideas, feelings and opinions, to support their thinking with sound arguments and research, and to use the language appropriate for formal and informal situations.
Children in the Exploratory Years are constructing their understandings about how oral and written language work. Our classrooms immerse children in language rich environments which offer opportunities to experience language in different ways and for different purposes. Children learn language as they listen to and use language with others in their everyday lives. They learn about language, as they try to understand how language works, and they learn through language, as they use language as a tool to think about, or reflect on a theme, concept or issue.
Please note that in keeping with the framework of the Primary Years Programme, the CIS Language Arts Curriculum is organized as a learning continuum. Expectations in Language Arts stretch across the two years of ECE and Junior Kindergarten. Children have two years to meet the combined expectations for the end of Junior Kindergarten.
| Oral communication: Listening and Speaking |
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Children will use oral language for social interaction and to obtain knowledge of people, places and things in their environment and in the wider community. |
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They will communicate needs, feelings and ideas in order to respond to a variety of experiences. |
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They will participate appropriately in conversations, tell stories and events in sequence, and will give and follow instructions. |
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In order to learn to communicate effectively, children will be given daily opportunities to listen and speak in authentic contexts, either independently, in small groups or with the whole class. | |
| Written communication: Reading & Writing |
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Children will be eager to read. |
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They will enjoy playing and experimenting with reading behaviours as they practise reconstructing text. |
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They will show an interest in books, stories, charts and songs as they "read" simple, familiar text using visual, contextual and memory cues to make sense of print. |
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Children will "read" daily with support and guidance; either independently, in small groups, or in whole-class situations. |
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Children will be read to daily, and will have opportunities to read with and to one another, and to discuss what they have read. |
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Through these experiences children will gain an understanding of concepts about print. |
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Children will be curious about print. |
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They will enjoy playing and experimenting with writing by making marks to emulate writing. |
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Drawing, sketching and diagramming are important parts of early writing development as children imitate, rehearse and think about the process. |
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Children will use representations of their name (and/or those of family members) in a variety of ways. |
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Regardless of their stage of written development, they will assign meaning to messages and will gradually produce recognizable (though not necessarily conventional) spellings of a range of words. |
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Children will be encouraged to write daily with or without support and guidance; either independently, in small groups or with the whole class. |
| Visual communication: Viewing and Representing |
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Children will play, experiment, talk about and relate to a variety of media. |
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They will enjoy using media and other forms of representation such as drama, movement and art to make sense of their world and will learn to respond both verbally and non-verbally. |
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They will show a natural curiosity and interest in many forms of familiar visual communication and, with guidance and support, will make connections between the real and the imaginary. |
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Children will view and react to media items or factual information in order to understand and describe what they see. |
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Children will use their developing skills in drama, movement and art as other media through which they may extend or share their understanding. |
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| Children are exploring numeracy through their centres activities, one-on-one conversations with teachers, and in circle time discussions. In Exploratory Years classrooms, children are garnering experience in hands-on exploration with manipulative materials such as blocks, beads or plastic counters, and in opportunities to sort and compare, and to begin to count aloud. They will consider aspects of pattern, measurement, data handling and shape and space as these concepts arise in investigations with their teacher. In ECE and Junior Kindergarten, children are building up a rich store of mathematics experiences which will be formalized in later study as they move on to Senior Kindergarten. |
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In order to support and promote mathematical understanding students will need a wide range of experiences including: classifying, patterning, seriating, measuring, playing with geometric shapes, and playing with and investigating numbers.
Learning by inquiry is very natural for young learners. They are keen to explore and make sense of the world around them, and they demonstrate an enthusiasm for acquiring knowledge and understanding of mathematical concepts. In our classrooms, children use equipment and resources to solve problems and to make connections to real life situations. They explore ideas and show that they have increasing capacity for language, inquiry, and for understanding other points of view.
Language is a critical link in developing conceptual awareness and understanding. Teachers model and engage children throughout the day in mathematical language in meaningful contexts. Children have opportunity to "talk mathematics" with their teachers and classmates, as they share ideas to clarify their own thinking.
| They are learning to think mathematically by: |
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Making sense and finding connections |
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Using and interacting with technologies |
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Seeking patterns and generalizing |
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Posing questions and solving problems |
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Reflecting and communicating |
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Conjecturing and verifying/proving |
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Visualizing and representing |
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Estimating and being precise |
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Modeling and predicting |
As the child develops across the years, we expect that he/she will develop his/her capacity in using mathematical processes.
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Students inquire into and learn about globally significant issues in the Units of Inquiry (UOI). Each unit of inquiry may incorporate topics of study in Science and Social Studies (or a blend of the two), and other disciplines.
At CIS, our curriculum leaders and teachers strive to make learning relevant for their students. In ECE, children explore Social Studies and Science concepts through four units of inquiry during the year. While a specific UOI will have the same transdisciplinary themes, on different campuses the central idea will change slightly.
WHO WE ARE - An inquiry into the nature of the self; beliefs and values; personal, physical, mental, social and spiritual health; human relationships including families, friends, communities and cultures; rights and responsibilities; what it means to be human.
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Central Idea: People play to learn, explore and have fun. |
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Lines of Inquiry: |
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What is play?
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The social elements and responsibilities of play |
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Different kinds of toys and games |
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The connection between play and learning | | |
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Key Concepts: Responsibility |
HOW WE EXPRESS OURSELVES - An inquiry into the ways in which we discover and express ideas, feelings, nature, culture, beliefs and values; the ways in which we reflect on, extend and enjoy our creativity; our appreciation of the aesthetic.
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Central Idea: Art comes in many forms. |
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Lines of Inquiry:
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Art forms |
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Art materials |
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How art makes us feel | | |
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Key Concepts: Form, Perspective |
HOW THE WORLD WORKS - An inquiry into the natural world and its laws; the interaction between the natural world (physical and biological) and human societies; how humans use their understanding of scientific principles; the impact of scientific and technological advances on society and on the environment.
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Central Idea: Light can create shadows and reflections. |
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Lines of Inquiry:
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Different sources and uses of light |
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Shadows and how they change |
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Reflections | | |
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Key Concepts: Form, Causation |
HOW WE ORGANIZE OURSELVES - An inquiry into the interconnectedness of human-made systems and communities; the structure and function of organizations; societal decision-making; economic activities and their impact on humankind and the environment.
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Central Idea: Schools help us to learn. |
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Lines of Inquiry:
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The school buildings and grounds |
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Who works at the school |
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Routines and systems to help us learn | | |
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Key Concepts: Function |
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Music, Drama and Art activities are daily features of learning in Exploratory Years classrooms. Songs, storytelling, role play, and visual arts with a variety of media are engaging experiences through which the children are constructing and representing their understanding.
Children participate in Music classes twice each week with our specialist teachers. During the course of the school year, children may also have opportunities to work on short-term projects with our Drama and Art specialists.
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Children focus on developing their fine motor skills, spatial awareness, strength, coordination, balance, agility and fitness as they participate twice a week in our PE programme. Classes in the Exploratory Years enjoy a circuit of activities with specialized equipment in our Gross Motor Room. Social behaviours are also key as children work to take turns, to share and to play safely together. Physical education for students in ECE will have the following focus:
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Adventure Challenge |
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Movement discovery and movement to music
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Cooperative games
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Circus |
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Students often arrive at school with a great deal of technology "know how" and our task, as teachers, is to help them understand that the computer is a tool for work and learning as well as a source of fun and exploration. Our programme is designed to help students acquire skills and to develop a greater understanding of how to apply those skills in meaningful and relevant ways in their learning.
Our teacher-librarians work closely with teachers in planning Units of Inquiry in the Primary Years Programme. Our focus is on integrating technology and curriculum to support student learning. Information technology is another way to open up the world to a child.
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