• High/Scope students learn to plan many of their own activities, carry them out and talk with other children and their teachers about what they have done.
• High/Scope students learn through active involvement with people, materials, events and ideas.
• High/Scope students gain knowledge and skills in creative representation, language and literacy, initiative and social relations, movement, music, classification, seriation, number, space and time.

High/Scope's Educational Approach

• Active Learning:
  Children are involved in direct, hands-on experiences with people, objects, ideas and events. While teachers share control and initiative with children, they are guided by 58 key experiences that all children need to have as part of their intellectual, physical, social and emotional development.
• Child Interaction:
  Adults observe and interact with children at their level to discover how each child thinks and reasons. Adults interact with children in ways that empower children to take control of their own learning.
• Learning Environment:
  Classroom furniture and equipment are arranged in several clearly defined interest areas that enable children to find, use and return the materials they need in order to explore, invent and learn about their world.
• Daily Routine:
  Each day follows a similar schedule of events, providing consistency for both children and adults. A daily plan-to-review process is at the core of the High/Scope routine and gives children the opportunity to pursue their own interests, make plans, follow through on them and reflect on their experiences with peers and adults.
• Assessment:
  High/Scope teachers regularly record notes on children's behaviors, experiences and interests. They use these notes to assess each child's development and to plan activities that will facilitate their growth and development. They also use their notes in parent meetings to help parents better understand their children's development.

High/Scope's Open Framework Philosophy

High/Scope's educational approach is an open framework that organizes the children's and teacher's environment, daily routine and interactions. The framework gives the teaching team a systematic method for planning, organizing and carrying out their preschool responsibilities. For the children, the framework provides consistent and secure daily experience that promises interesting things to do, attention by their teachers to their interests and needs and a sense of control over themselves and their environment.

The framework is open because the experiences teachers plan for children foster independent thinking, initiative and creativity. Children's cognitive, social, emotional and physical capacities develop quickly when they can use materials and their imaginations freely in an environment that promotes investigation, decision-making, cooperation, persistence and problem-solving. The capacities that children develop in this open framework are broad abilities that children can and do use daily in the classroom as well as at home.

High/Scope at Home

Many of the activities that High/Scope teachers do in the classroom can be done at home. The High/Scope teacher can help parents learn to listen to, talk to and play with their children in ways that nurture their development.

For more information on the High/Scope Education Approach, please click here.