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A Preschool Program

Photo 1842'Roots to Wings’ is a preschool learning system, whose philosophy is grounded on the belief that children deserve nothing but the best. Because preschool and kindergarten are the first educational level for a child, it is important that these crucial learning centers ensure that the roots of the child are nurtured and nourished and from them emerge the wings of freedom, confidence, creativity and dreams, which further shape the future of the child.

To ensure that the roots are nurtured and the wings do emerge, the ‘Roots to Wings’ learning system helps educators meet the challenge of providing such an environment in all pre/kindergarten schools in India. The learning system for two-to five-year-old children provides research-based strategies that ensure high-quality learning standards and outcomes at all times.

Photo 1845This learning system has been designed with the expertise and experience of a research team of Early Childhood professionals from Educomp Solutions Ltd. The learning system has been derived at after intensive research and is  found to be scientifically appropriate to the child’s developmental ability and
knowledge and provides challenging and yet achievable activities that engage children in higher level thinking and exploration through guided play and real conversations with peers and adults. The Roots to Wings learning system focuses on developing all the skills of the child and recognizes the variant needs and sequential development of children from age group 2 to 5 years. Each of these activities do no take place in isolation but has been diffused with a wide array of themes, which children celebrate everyday. The joy of learning and the sequential manner in which various activities are carried out ensure that there is a balance between the body, mind and soul of a child.
Photo 1843The Roots to Wings curriculum is broken down into day-to-day activities for the educator to implement in the class. Innovative and creative lessons plans along with worksheets, flash cards, story cards, teaching aids and formative evaluation sheets are made for each and every period and to cover all skill areas. Each lesson is a comprehensive guide for the educator and makes classroom interaction between the educator and the learner lively, fun and easy. Roots to Wings not only empowers the educator to know the means of how to conduct the class in a developmental and sequential manner but at the same time ensures that the progress of the child is constantly monitored through formative evaluation. This assures that the child is the focus and is developing in the best possible manner and achieving its highest potential level.

      
 
Development Milestones

Developmental Milestones is a set of functional skills or age-specific tasks that most children can complete at a certain age range.  
 
(However, it is important to note that although each milestone has an age level, the actual age when a developing child reaches that milestone can vary.   Each child is unique; hence, his/her learning and growth rates may differ somewhat from other children of the same age.)

Eclectic Approach

The traditional definition of “eclectic” means, “Made up of or combination of elements from a variety of sources”. Therefore it is only fitting to say that the Roots to Wings curriculum follows an eclectic approach. The Curriculum is based on certain principles; we have borrowed the principles from various schools of thought on early childhood. 
 
Photo 1847The diagram below represents the prominent schools of thought from which the ‘Roots to Wings’ curriculum has been borne.

  • Project Method
  • Multiple Intelligence
  • Play Way
  • Montessori Method
  • Theme Based Model


Sequential Learning

Sequential learning means learning in a consecutive manner without any gaps. The “Roots to Wings” learning system recognizes the variant needs and sequential development of children from age group 2 to 5 years. Our foundation is based on the knowledge of sequential level of different subjects and skills. The joy of learning and the sequential manner in which various activities are carried out ensure that there is a balance between the body, mind and soul of the child.

Roots to Wings Curriculum Approach

Our curriculum approach includes several components, the most crucial of the course being the CHILD. Our curriculum approach focuses on developing the skills of the child. In turn, the “Roots to Wings” approach recognizes the variant needs and sequential development of children of different ages. Therefore, it is important to delineate for WHOM our curriculum has been designed. To elaborate, the following are the age groups for which the pre/kindergarten curriculum has been formulated:

  • Developing Roots for children between 2 to 3 years of age
  • Emerging Wings for children between 3 to 4 years of age
  • Ready to Fly for children between 4 to 5 years of age

The diagrammatic representation below depicts out curriculum approach:



Our aim is to promote the holistic development of each child. In order to achieve this, we need to ensure that our curriculum caters to all the skill areas described later: (It is important to note that rather than incorporating technical terms such as “Language Development”, we have designed innovative titles for these skill areas)

Seven Skill Areas of "Roots to Wings"

  • I Listen, I Know, I Speak (Language): Though little ones understand bodily expressions of elders within weeks of being born, it is important to enhance this ability of understanding communication through speech by using body language and gestures and by understanding what others say.
  • I Am Ready (Cognitive): The children at this stage have an active mind and it is crucial that their thinking skills including learning, understanding, problem-solving, reasoning and remembering need are enhanced through various activities and positive learning experiences.
  • I Can Do Wonders (Fine motor): This skill is important yet often taken for granted by most parents. The child from a very early age should be able to use his/her hands not only to be able to eat and dress but also to draw, play, write, be creative and inventive and in the process, develop aesthetic skills.
  • I Can & I Do (Gross motor):  A child needs to be physically strong. At this stage, it is important that we develop his/her muscles based on the developmental need of the child. Gross motor skill varies from developing simple skills like sitting, standing and walking to more complex ones like running, maintaining balance and changing positions. 
  • I Help Myself (Personal awareness): Habits are formed at this stage and it is imperative that children learn not only about themselves but also develop independence, safety, hygiene and self-help skills.
  • I, Me, Myself & My Friends (Socio-emotional): Children at this stage are egocentric and find solace in company of their near and dear ones. The need to express, share and get acceptance for whatever they do is crucial for their emotional growth. It is important at this stage to build positive relationships with family, friends, teachers and their inner circle of people and learn social rules while cooperating and responding to the feelings of others. Besides emotional and social skills, the child also builds up a value system that is integral to his/her being.
  • I Am Best At...(Hobby classes): Apart from these skills, the curriculum has also reserved space for nurturing the talent latent in each child through hobby classes.

Photo 1851The curriculum stresses on the total balance between the body and the mind and an important component of the
program is Yoga that is to be done daily by the children in a fun and innovative manner.

The curriculum in turn, more specifically includes oral language and literature, music, art, mathematics, social studies, science, dramatic play and physical activities as well as activities to develop social/emotional competencies and self-help skills. In enhancing the development of the various skill areas, one may note that the promotion of values is a crucial cornerstone of our curriculum. Through all these skill developments, the underlying message to our young minds is to fortify ethical development and consciousness.
 
Having elucidated WHAT is the focus of our curriculum, it important to take stock of HOW we aim to achieve development in various skill areas. In effect, the skill enhancement of the children is integrated through a unit/thematic format. 
To elaborate, the curriculum encompasses a wide spectrum of themes whereby a structure is provided to our content. Examples of the themes include:

  • Myself
  • Seasons
  • Colors
  • My Neighborhood
  • Shapes
  • Animals
  • Transport
  • Plants
  • Food
  • People Who Help Us
  • Reinforcement
Each of these themes is sequentially laid down in the curriculum and follows a progressive stance. Each theme is celebrated every month inter-linked with all skills and creates a conducive and fun-learning environment.

Roots to Wings Tangible Products

The Roots to Wings curriculum is broken down into day-to- day activities for the teacher to implement in the class.
Lessons plans along with worksheets, teaching aids and formative evaluation sheets are made for every period and cover all the skill areas. Story books have been designed primarily for the tiny tots to encourage pre-reading skills. For the older age group i.e. 3–4 and 4–5 years, we provide workbooks to reinforce their learning. A lesson manual on the commonly celebrated festivals is also incorporated in the curriculum.
Lesson plans cater to 215 working days in a year for each level and are in the form of 11 manuals for the teacher. A total number of 2460 lesson plans are given for the teacher to implement in the class. Each lesson is a comprehensive guide for the teacher and makes classroom interaction between the teacher and the student lively, fun and easy. Not only does the teacher know how to conduct the class in a developmental and sequential manner but is also able to evaluate the progress made by the child based on the formative evaluation scale given at the end of each class.

What Roots to Wings Offers?

Teachers are given a curriculum for the entire year. The curriculum is further divided into eleven months, and each month has a new theme. Each theme is documented in the monthly lesson plan book, which is a guide for the teachers.

The monthly curriculum contains the entire month’s curriculum in detail. The curriculum begins with the ‘Guiding
Principles’. This explains to the teachers why a particular theme has been taken up in that month. The ‘Guiding Principles’ also explains the sequential development of the curriculum of each age group. This section also elaborates upon giving teachers hints on how to arrange their classroom with the appropriate teaching aids and how to create an environment where each class celebrates a particular theme.

The monthly curriculum is further broken down into a weekly timetable. The timetable has the name of the session, which is mapped according to the developmental level of the learner and the sequential level of the skill to be taught.
 
After the teacher has understood her/his schedule, each session is elaborated upon. This includes details on how to do the yoga/warming up exercises and how each lesson must be carried forward. This is followed by a detailed formative assessment sheet given at the end of each week for the teachers to fill. This helps parents to know the level at which their child is.
 
Our endeavor is to nurture and guide children to enable them to take the path of values and educate themselves to become a good and successful human being.

© 2008, Educomp Research Initiative, Version 1.0

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