IELDS Standard: 11.A.ECf
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Doing Projects at Home
This list of resources provides helpful information for parents and caregivers about how to introduce activities which promote skill development at home.
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Tools People Use
Karen McFadin and Kim HackPershing Early Learning CenterDecatur, Illinois Our project on tools took place in a half-day prekindergarten classroom at Pershing Early Learning Center in Decatur, Illinois. Children attend for 2.5 hours in the morning or afternoon, 5 days a week. Thirty-three children participated in this project. The morning class included 5 children with…
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Up Up and Away: The Airplane Project
Kimberly CurialeIrving SchoolMaywood, Illinois Irving School is located 13 miles west of Chicago in Maywood, Illinois. We are part of School District 89, which includes Maywood, Melrose Park, and Broadview. The 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children of Irving’s prekindergarten classes reside throughout the district. The district has four preschool classes, both with a morning class…
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Things to Sit On
Projects are the part of the curriculum that involves children in investigating objects and events around them that are worth knowing more about. Project work is a way of uncovering a subject rather than just covering it. A project focusing on “Things to Sit On” has the potential to involve the entire class from the…
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All About Gardens
Projects are the part of the curriculum that involves children in investigating objects and events around them that are worth knowing more about. Project work is a way of uncovering a subject rather than just covering it. A project focusing on gardens has the potential to involve the entire class, the children’s families, and community…
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From Door to Door: A Project about Doors and Gates
Projects are the part of the curriculum that involves children in investigating objects and events around them that are worth knowing more about. Project work is a way of uncovering a subject rather than just covering it. Doors are so much a part of our daily lives that we tend to take them for granted.…
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Investigating Wheels
A project is a part of the curriculum that involves children in investigating objects and events around them that are worth knowing more about. Project work is a way of uncovering a subject rather than just covering it. A project on wheels has the potential to involve the entire class, the children’s families, and community…
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Shaving Cream
The science fair seen in this video took place on the playground of a child care center. In one experiment, the teacher squirted a layer of shaving cream on top of a bowl of water.
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Learning about a Stethoscope
This video clip depicts interaction between some preschool-age children and a guest expert. The class has been investigating measurement. One small group of children has focused on measurement at the doctor’s office.
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Explaining Cradle Construction
Children in Judy Cagle’s mixed-age prekindergarten class decided to make a crib as part of a project on babies.
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Investigate Together
Encouraging your child’s exploration and wonder helps build a strong foundation for early learning.
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Project Approach for Preschoolers
Preschoolers like to investigate! They enjoy learning about the world around them. The Project Approach involves children in studies of things nearby that interest them and are worth knowing more about.
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Things to Do While You’re Waiting: Curious Young Scientists
Keep children engaged when you have to wait.
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Get Growing: Planters and Preschoolers
Here are some tips for gardening with children—from teachers who have tried it.
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Get Growing: From Seeds to Sprouts
Here are some suggestions for seed-sprouting activities.
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Encouraging Scientific Thinking: Rain or Shine
Everyone talks about the weather—including curious preschool children.
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Things Change
The preschool years are a good time to introduce the idea that all things change—both nonliving and living.
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Project Approach: Helping Preschoolers Represent What They Learn
During each phase of a class project, preschool children can represent their ideas about and understanding of a topic in many ways.
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Predicting: Helping Preschoolers Look Ahead
Prediction skills are important in literacy, math, science, and social development.
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Out and About with Preschoolers: Science in the “Built Environment”
Is there any way to help children meet science benchmarks while outdoors? Yes, there is!
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Natural Illinois: Birds
Illinois is home to a wide variety of birds that are as close as your backyard, local park, or schoolyard.
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Physical Development and Health Lesson Addressing Benchmark 19.B.ECb
The children noticed the trees on the playground blowing wildly in the wind during a spring thunderstorm. Many children stood by the window and talked about how the tree branches moved in different directions. The teachers decided to plan a “tree dancing” activity during music and movement time build on the children’s observations of the…
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Science Lesson Addressing Benchmark 11.A.ECf
Over the course of the year, Ms. Jones and her teaching assistant, Ms. Hernández, have engaged the children in their classroom in an investigation of trees in the park next to their school. When school began in the fall, the children were excited to see the leaves change color. The children noticed snow on the…
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Outdoor Field Trips with Preschoolers: Follow Up!
After the class returns from an outdoor field trip, the teacher might offer a variety of follow-up activities to help the children build upon the experience.
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Project Approach: Phase 3—Concluding the Project
Here are some tips to use during the last phase of a project to help enrich what the children have learned.