Our Curriculum
At Green Apple Garden, we believe that play is the fundamental work of childhood. We honor children’s needs and interests by using an emergent curriculum that has four major components:
- Environmental Education, Stewardship & Justice
- Social-Emotional Learning
- Process Art
- Anti-Bias Education
As a Reggio-inspired program, we also believe that the learning environment is a “third teacher”. Our spaces are intentionally designed to cultivate curiosity, creativity and compassion.
What is a playschool?
The term “playschool” aims to describe an environment in which teachers guide the children to learn through play. Playschools encourage a child to wonder, to think, to feel and to imagine, and place a greater emphasis on experiential and social-emotional learning, rather than academic skills.
What is play-based?
A play-based program, like Green Apple Garden, allows children to do their learning through play, which is the ultimate method of learning and work in a child's life. Lessons are learned through the process of play, rather than through formal academic learning. For example, instead of memorizing letters and numbers, children in the preschool are encouraged to develop a love for reading through drama, puppetry, reading stories, and forming letters with sand or clay. Instead of learning formal math, the children learn basic math concepts through baking projects or making a pretend market stand.
What is Social-Emotional Learning?
The Collaborative for Academic Social and Emotional Learning defines it as "the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions." At Green Apple help children learn these skills through positive guidance discipline techniques, modeling compassion and respect, and helping children learn the words they need to express their needs and desires. In addition, children are enrolled into "Family Groups", or cohorts, of six month age groups. This helps children to have the balance of large group, multi-age learning, as well as forming meaningful relationships with their closest peers, and teacher. As children move through the various age-groups they do so with the same group of children and typically the same teacher.
What is the Reggio Emilia Approach?
The Reggio Emilia philosophy is based upon the following set of principles:
What is Anti-Bias Education?
Teaching for Change defined Anti-Bias Education as "an approach to early childhood education that sets forth values-based principles and methodology in support of respecting and embracing differences and acting against bias and unfairness. Anti-bias teaching requires critical thinking and problem solving by both children and adults. The overarching goal is creating a climate of positive self and group identity development, through which every child will achieve her or his fullest potential." This is an integral part of the overall mission of Apple Playschools as an organization dedicated to helping children become both global citizens and environmental stewards.
What is Environmental Education?
Environmental education refers to organized efforts to teach about how natural environments function and, particularly, how human beings can manage their behavior and ecosystems in order to live sustainably.
What is Emergent Curriculum?
Emergent curriculum is a way of planning curriculum based on the student’s interest and passions as well as the teacher’s. To plan an emergent curriculum requires observation, documentation, creative brainstorming, flexibility and patience. Rather than starting with a lesson plan which requires a “hook” to get the children interested, emergent curriculum starts with the children’s interests.
What does child centered mean?
"Child-centered" is a term used in education that means the interests of the child guide the learning process.
The term “playschool” aims to describe an environment in which teachers guide the children to learn through play. Playschools encourage a child to wonder, to think, to feel and to imagine, and place a greater emphasis on experiential and social-emotional learning, rather than academic skills.
What is play-based?
A play-based program, like Green Apple Garden, allows children to do their learning through play, which is the ultimate method of learning and work in a child's life. Lessons are learned through the process of play, rather than through formal academic learning. For example, instead of memorizing letters and numbers, children in the preschool are encouraged to develop a love for reading through drama, puppetry, reading stories, and forming letters with sand or clay. Instead of learning formal math, the children learn basic math concepts through baking projects or making a pretend market stand.
What is Social-Emotional Learning?
The Collaborative for Academic Social and Emotional Learning defines it as "the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions." At Green Apple help children learn these skills through positive guidance discipline techniques, modeling compassion and respect, and helping children learn the words they need to express their needs and desires. In addition, children are enrolled into "Family Groups", or cohorts, of six month age groups. This helps children to have the balance of large group, multi-age learning, as well as forming meaningful relationships with their closest peers, and teacher. As children move through the various age-groups they do so with the same group of children and typically the same teacher.
What is the Reggio Emilia Approach?
The Reggio Emilia philosophy is based upon the following set of principles:
- Children must have some control over the direction of their learning;
- Children must be able to learn through experiences of touching, moving, listening, seeing, and hearing;
- Children have a relationship with other children and with material items in the world that children must be allowed to explore and
- Children must have endless ways and opportunities to express themselves.
What is Anti-Bias Education?
Teaching for Change defined Anti-Bias Education as "an approach to early childhood education that sets forth values-based principles and methodology in support of respecting and embracing differences and acting against bias and unfairness. Anti-bias teaching requires critical thinking and problem solving by both children and adults. The overarching goal is creating a climate of positive self and group identity development, through which every child will achieve her or his fullest potential." This is an integral part of the overall mission of Apple Playschools as an organization dedicated to helping children become both global citizens and environmental stewards.
What is Environmental Education?
Environmental education refers to organized efforts to teach about how natural environments function and, particularly, how human beings can manage their behavior and ecosystems in order to live sustainably.
What is Emergent Curriculum?
Emergent curriculum is a way of planning curriculum based on the student’s interest and passions as well as the teacher’s. To plan an emergent curriculum requires observation, documentation, creative brainstorming, flexibility and patience. Rather than starting with a lesson plan which requires a “hook” to get the children interested, emergent curriculum starts with the children’s interests.
What does child centered mean?
"Child-centered" is a term used in education that means the interests of the child guide the learning process.
