The beauty of offering open-ended materials and activities is that the
teachers can not only provide opportunities for creativity and exploration, but
they can also adjust their questions to meet the individual development and
interests of our students. Whether 3, 4, 5 or 6-years old, the following
experiences have been amazingly successful and enjoyable...

Stories In Motion
When visiting the Cheshire Nursery School you will certainly notice the
brightly-colored taped rectangle on our floor. Every Wednesday this simple
rectangle becomes anything but simple, transforming into a bakery, a forest,
and so many other imaginative settings through our Stories In Motion program.
The process comes from the work of Vivian Gussin Paley, a prominent early
childhood educator and theorist. When students have an idea for a story,
they are encouraged to dictate the story to a teacher who will write down their
words in a special story portfolio. These stories range from a single phrase to
quite complex narratives, depending on the childrens' developmental level
and fluency. On Wednesdays, the children's stories are first read aloud, then
as a group we identify the characters and determine which students will play
them.
Turn-taking, team-building and self-expression, as well as literacy skills, are
inherent in the process. The students have really embraced this activity; they
are equally excited to act out their friends' stories as they are to have their
own ideas heard. Stories In Motion allows the students to become authors just
like the published authors we celebrate in our classroom!

Exploring the Scientific Method
Students at CNS enthusiastically embrace the study of our world through a
series of daily science experiments modeling the "Inquiry Approach" to
learning. Students develop understanding of many concepts by making
predictions, testing their ideas with hands-on experiments, then discussing
and recording their results.
Studies usually begin with a daily estimation exercise, then expand on our
students' keen interest in further exploration. Each experiment starts with a
specific question, followed by some brainstorming. Then ideas are tested and
the results come directly from our observations. Our "We Are Scientists"
curriculum has included Sink or Float, What Can A Helium Balloon Hold?,
What Objects Roll Furthest?, and Weight Supported by Different Shaped
Paper Columns, just to name a few!

EXAMPLE: ROLEY POLEY EXPERIMENT
FOR YOUNGER CHILDREN:
  • Will a box roll down the ramp?
  • Will cars? Why?
  • Which one of these tin cans is the largest? Sit along the track where you think it will
    roll to.
  • Can you find something in the classroom that will roll?
FOR OLDER CHILDREN:
  • Use a prediction sheet to circle your prediction about which one will roll the farthest
  • Measure the distance using a tape measure
  • Do heavy or light things roll father?
  • Does shape help things roll?
  • If we used a steeper ramp, would they roll farther?
  • Where are other places that you see ramps?

Our teachers have many new experiments ready and waiting to continue this
fun way to learn about the world around us!

Dramatic Play: Post Office:
Our Dramatic Play area is a versatile space. It has been used for many
different scenarios, including a veterinarian's office, farm stand, and camping
supply store. With each new incarnation, teachers and children join together
to determine what the space should contain, and what kinds of activities the
space can support. One popular arrangement is a post office, complete with
mailbox, mailbag, stamp collection, stationery and envelopes, zip code
directory, mail sorting bins, etc.

EXAMPLE FOR YOUNGER CHILDREN:
  • What does a postal worker wear?
  • We write to communicate
  • A letter goes inside an envelope, and the envelope gets a stamp
  • What size box will that object fit in?
  • Can you find someone's cubby and put this letter in it?
  • Walk to our mailbox, count and track mail
  • Do you have a mailbox at home? Where is it?
EXAMPLE FOR OLDER CHILDREN:
  • What happens in a post office?
  • Why do people send mail?
  • Emergent Literacy: beginnings of letters and forming words
  • Who is the letter to? From?
  • What are the parts of the address? Why addresses?
  • What is your address?
  • Do you think a postal worker has an easy job or a hard job? Why?

Construction Site Visit:
An important part of our day at CNS includes exploring our neighborhood. We
take walks, observing our community first-hand and noting changes as they
occur. We have taken photos of what interests us, and created a map of our
surroundings incorporating our photos. One of the most exciting stops on our
walk has been at the site of a house under construction very nearby our
school. This is a perfect example of a "learning opportunity" that can be used
to open doors to discovery.

EXAMPLE FOR YOUNGER CHILDREN:
  • How many trucks do you see? What color are they?
  • Which trucks are the biggest?
  • What shapes are the building materials?
  • Would you like to be a construction worker?
  • What tools do they use?
  • Have you ever pretended to be a construction worker? (beach sand, blocks)
  • Are those trucks bigger or smaller than your family car?
EXAMPLE FOR OLDER CHILDREN:
  • Reading words we see: "Caution, Men Working", "Hitachi"
  • What materials are they using to build?
  • Do you think being a construction worker is an easy or hard job? Why?
  • Why do they use big machines and not pails and shovels?
  • Do you see a pattern in the pile of bricks?

Conferences and Portfolios
The end of January marks individual parent-teacher conference time. We use
a narrative style report developed by Creative Curriculum, as well as a
portfolio for each child. Portfolios are continually compiled by teachers
throughout the year, and include photographs, and recorded observations of
each child's daily experience at CNS, as well as samples of their work.
Curriculum