High Scope Curriculum is a method of early childhood education that is based in part on the work of Jean Piaget. Jean Piaget was a Swiss developmental psychologist who lived from 1896 to 1980. He was interested in learning how how and why mental abilities of a person change over time. He originally believed that people develop through four stages of cognitive development. These four stages are the sensorimotor stage (birth to age 2), preoperative stage (ages 2-7), concrete operational stage (ages 7-10) and the formal operational state (11 to adulthood). We will cover these stages at length in future blogs.
As with all developmental psychology, theories change, are augmented or discarded with time and new theories. Piaget’s theories have held up well, though the age limits on the stages have been seen to be more flexible, in age limits than starting and stopping at a particular birthday.
The results of Piaget’s thinking are what are really important as far as High Scope Curriculum is concerned. It sees children as active participants in their own learning, not merely as empty vessels to be filled with facts and figures. A focus on how children think instead of what they think can also be credited to Piaget.
At Rainbow Chimes we embrace the concept that children are active participants in their own learning and we are proud to be facilitators in the development of amazing children who grow up to be confident successful adults.