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8 | January 25, 2018 | 22nd century media private school guide
22ndCenturyMedia.com
Experience emergent curriculum at Bright Horizons
For more than 30 years, Bright
Horizons® has been partnering
with Chicagoland families to
provide engaging, enriching early
education and preschool programs.
Bright Horizons prides
itself on providing high-quality
early childhood education, focusing
on school readiness by
using top of the line educational
resources. Implementing an approach
to educating the child as
a whole, Bright Horizons offers
an emergent curriculum tailored
to the individual child.
The term “emergent curriculum”
is rooted in the work of noted
early childhood theorists like
Dewey, Piaget, and Vygotsky,
and is defined as a process where
teachers plan activities and projects
based on the specific group
of children they are working
with, taking into account their
skills, needs, and interests. In
an emergent curriculum program,
what happens in side by
side classrooms will look different
because of the varying skills,
interests, and needs of the children
within those classrooms. A
teacher takes into account what
she knows about individuals and
the particular group of children
she teaches and plans accordingly.
A successful emergent curriculum
approach means that
teachers thoughtfully plan the
environment, offering visible
choices, based on the children’s
skills and needs. Teachers conduct
observations to help with
planning, Teachers practicing
emergent curriculum utilize reflective
practice, taking time to
reflect and act on their observations
of children.
Teachers still plan according to
age group objectives and appropriate
content including school
readiness skills such as letter and
number concepts. They also follow
state early childhood standards
where available and may
use a system for tracking children’s
progress such as Teaching
Strategies GOLD.
Project work is often another
component of programs that successfully
practice emergent curriculum.
Projects allow children
to study a topic in more depth
over a period of days or weeks
and can involve a small group or
the whole class. Projects in an
emergent curriculum classroom
often focus on answering children’s
questions such as “Where
does water go when you water
plants?” Teachers take note of
children’s questions and where
appropriate, build project work
to help answer those questions.
Emergent curriculum is a
developmentally appropriate
approach to planning for children’s
learning in early childhood
settings. Through this approach,
teachers gain greater
understanding of each child’s
individual needs, allowing for
thoughtful and individualized
programming.
To see emergent curriculum
in action, schedule a visit at
one of our convenient locations
throughout Chicagoland: visit
www.brighthorizons.com/sg18
or call (877)-624-4532.
Submitted by Bright Horizons,
(877) 624-4532, www.brighthorizons.com.
Countryside Montessori School
16 Months through 8th Grade Private School
Join us for a Parent Information Chat
February 21st 10:30am or 6pm
Beyond Private Education:
An Internship to Adulthood
All Day and All Year Option Available, 7:30am - 5:30pm
1985 Pfingsten Road, Northbrook, IL 847.498.1105 countrysidemontessori.org