S12 Plan and provide activities to meet additional needs, working in partnership with parents and/or carers and other professionals, where appropriate. (criteria 3.5) 

 

S27 Encourage parents and/or carers to take an active role in the child’s play, learning and development. (criteria 3.5)

HighScope refers to the independent organization created by the late David P. Weikart, designed to continue a research project he began in Ypsilanti, Michigan public schools. That project, referred to as the Perry Preschool Study, was the birth of the HighScope curriculum.

This Perry Preschool Study began in 1962 and included 123 high-risk African-American 3- and 4-year-old children. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, all participants belonged to a low socioeconomic status, with low IQ scores, no mental disabilities, and high risk for school failure. Participants were split into two groups. Fifty-eight children participated in the program and the other 65 children did not. The two groups were matched to control age, socio-economic status, and gender differences.

Data was collected on participants’ academic performance through the age of 27. The results show that those in the HighScope program performed better academically, achieving better grades, higher test scores, and higher graduation rates. The rate of juvenile delinquency was also lower for the HighScope program participants, and upwards mobility in socioeconomic status was more likely as many participants were employed and not dependent on public assistance.

The program used in the Perry Preschool Study, known as active participatory learning, is the cornerstone of the HighScope curriculum. The goal is to not only help children excel in school but to encourage “independence, curiosity, decision-making, cooperation, persistence, creativity, and problem solving—the fundamental skills that help determine success in adult life,” 

From here, there are five strands of child development which form developmental, cultural, and learning goals.

The content is age appropriate for three different age groups: infants (birth to eighteen months), toddlers (one to three years) and young children (three years to school-entry age).

Steiner teachers aim to create an environment that facilitates children's self-directed free play. In Steiner philosophy, free play supports the proper development of the will, and children are trusted to work out identities, relationships, fantasy and reality for themselves through play. 

 

 

What is the Steiner method of teaching? 

The Steiner approach focuses on experiential learning; making, doing, creating and producing, with learning based on what is relevant and appropriate to the student's stage of development. 

Curriculum may be too loose for some

Independence isn’t everything

https://www.montessorisociety.org.uk/Articles/4441929#:~:text=A%20central%20idea%20of%20Montessori,they%20need%20to%20develop%20themselves.&text=The%20EYFS%20theme%20of%20'A,confident%20and%20self%2Dassured'.

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