Bing Nursery School Curriculum Statement
From its founding in 1966, the curriculum approach at Bing Nursery School reflected particular beliefs and assumptions about the nature of children, the processes of development, and the influence of the environment.
Children are viewed as whole beings, in whom the cognitive, social, emotional, and physical aspects of the self are inextricably intertwined. They are naturally active learners who “are curious and exploratory and they strive toward competence” (Dowley & Bromwich, 1972).
The early years of a child's life are a time of discovery and rediscovery. (Dowley & Bromwich, 1972)
The process of developing competencies, skills, and understandings occurs unevenly, with each child following a unique pathway of development. Children’s reciprocal interactions with significant persons in their lives significantly impacts their development. In order to invest themselves in exploring the world around them, children must experience physical and psychological safety.
Play provides an optimal, meaningful context for children to practice, explore, and expand developing competencies and understandings. Children’s physical and social environments play a crucial role in shaping their growth.
Grounded in these beliefs and assumptions, Bing Nursery School takes an emergent approach to building curriculum. Teachers collaboratively plan with the intention of fostering engagement, curiosity, exploration, and challenge through activities and experiences that respond to a particular classroom community's interests and needs.
Goals
During their time in Bing’s play-based program children will develop as individuals and members of a social group.
This growth occurs within the social, emotional, language and literacy, cognitive, physical, and creative domains. While following an emergent curriculum approach, teachers provide opportunities to help children strive toward the following goals:
- To develop a positive sense of self as a capable person with both strengths and areas for growth.
- To be able to make independent choices, decisions, and judgements.
- To gain a sense of responsibility and self-awareness, balanced with interdependence within the community.
- To develop greater emotional awareness, regulation, and language for identifying and expressing their feelings and those of others.
- To develop a sense of confidence in expressing their thoughts and feelings.
- To view themselves as a capable and valued learners and community members.
- To develop awareness and appreciation of human diversity and comfort with individual differences.
- To develop a sense empathy and perspective-taking when engaging with others.
- To develop strength, awareness, and coordination in both fine and large motor activities.
- To expand their abilities communicate and understand meaning through language and other forms of expression.
- To connect with peers and sustain interactive play.
- To make self-directed choices in which they can pursue interests, plan how to proceed, solve problems, and carry out their intentions.
The Play Imperative
At Bing Nursery School we view the extended experiences in play as essential for children’s journey toward these goals.
Children need opportunities to engage in a range of types of play, which are all valuable for their development, including sensory, constructive, rough and tumble, dramatic, sociodramatic. Through these experiences, children have opportunities to…
- Express: emotions, ideas, questions, experiences
- Observe: cause-effect, social behavior, physical world, others’ ideas
- Formulate: plans, scenarios, theories
- Build: strength, coordination, schemas, relationships
- Construct concepts: related to literacy, numeracy, physical world
- Mold mindsets: intrinsic motivation, resilience, curiosity, confidence
- Shape identity: one’s competencies, strengths, challenges, preferences, and similarities and differences from others
“The joy and delight of discovery in experimentation and exploration in an environment full of challenging, concrete, natural, childlike experiences have served childhood well for over half a century in nursery school. It seems wise to preserve and cherish them for children yet to come.”
The Environment and Materials to Support Curricular Goals
The environment shapes children’s play experiences. Bing offers children a spacious environment with varied terrain, a wide assortment of materials, and supportive, responsive adults. Throughout their play experiences, children can use a variety of open-ended materials.
Five open-ended materials, referred to at Bing as “basic materials,” have provided the backbone to the school’s curriculum: blocks, clay, paint, sand, and water.
These materials have a number of qualities that make them highly beneficial for supporting children’s growth and development:
- As “open-ended” materials, they do not have a prescribed purpose or identity.
- They can be manipulated and used in multiple ways by children of varying ages and skill levels. These materials can all be used individually and in collaboration.
- They are immediately accessible for a range of ages without the need of particular knowledge or skills to start using them.
- They allow for development of greater knowledge and skills, leading to a sense of mastery.
- They all support development of the whole child, involving integrated engagement of their cognitive, social, emotional, and physical selves.
Children’s use of the materials often follows a sequence, beginning with seeking sensory input, then using them with greater intentionality, and eventually, using open-ended materials to represent ideas and for creative expression. Repeated experiences using these materials for self-expression foster a sense of creative confidence and competence.
In the social world of the classroom, children see peers using the same materials in many different ways. Through this exposure to multiple possibilities, children learn to appreciate different perspectives, approaches and interests.