15.A.ECa – Early Learning Project

IELDS Standard: 15.A.ECa

  • Tools People Use

    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…

  • The Cow Project

    The Cow Project

    Angie Herrington with Julie Morrison, Mandy Moses, and Mindy MosesSt. Ambrose University Children’s CampusDavenport, Iowa The project described here was undertaken in the Dragonfly classroom at the St. Ambrose University Children’s Campus in Davenport, Iowa. The Children’s Campus serves children ages 2 months to 5 years old. Children’s Campus teachers begin exposing children to inquiry-based…

  • Things to Sit On

    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…

  • From Door to Door: A Project about Doors and Gates

    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.…

  • Changes in the Trees around Us

    Changes in the Trees around Us

    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. Most young children growing up in Illinois have opportunities to observe and study the dramatic seasonal changes that…

  • Investigating Wheels

    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…

  • Mack Reads His Book

    Mack Reads His Book

    The teachers have encouraged Mack and his classmates to make their own books related to what they have learned during the project.

  • Learning about a Stethoscope

    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.

  • Exploring Windshield Wipers

    Exploring Windshield Wipers

    Children in a mixed-age early childhood classroom at a rural community college were engaged in a study of cars.

  • The Clock Repairman and His Tools

    The Clock Repairman and His Tools

    This video clip shows some of the interaction between a preschool class (ages 3–5) and a visiting clock repair specialist.

  • It Takes Money: Economics for Preschoolers

    It Takes Money: Economics for Preschoolers

    Here are some ways to help 4- and 5-year-olds begin learning how people trade money for things they need and want.

  • Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood?

    Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood?

    Teachers can help children understand more about their communities and think about what they might like to do when they grow up by helping children identify a variety of community workers and the many services they provide.

  • Language Arts Lesson Addressing Benchmark 3.B.ECa

    Language Arts Lesson Addressing Benchmark 3.B.ECa

    The children in Mrs. Silva’s class are working on a project about community helpers, guided by the question, “Who are the community helpers in our neighborhood?” At the beginning of the project, the children take a walk through their neighborhood and spot a fire station around the corner from their school building. After e-mailing the…

  • Project Topics in Neighborhoods Where Safety Is a Major Concern

    Project Topics in Neighborhoods Where Safety Is a Major Concern

    Over and over again, I have been impressed by the relationship between the quality of work accomplished by young children engaging in a project and the topic on which it is focused.

  • A Project on Trees: Suggestions for Teachers

    A Project on Trees: Suggestions for Teachers

    Here are some of our suggestions for ways to get young children started on what could become a lifelong interest in things that grow around them.