Project Based Curriculum ~ Fosters the Love of Learning
Students regularly engage in critical thinking
Emphasis is on mastery of skills and concepts, not rote memorization
After completing projects students gain a sense of accomplishment
We emphasize depth of learning not breadth
Public speaking skills are learned by doing regular presentations
Projects are in-depth studies of a single theme or topic lasting days or several weeks, and are the core of The Willow School’s curriculum. These projects are planned with the children and are designed to support and extend the more formal and teacher directed instructional elements. Students have the freedom to choose different strategies and approaches in designing projects which allows them to become more engaged in the learning process.
Project-based learning is a model for classroom activity that shifts away from the classroom practices of short, isolated, teacher-centered lessons and instead emphasizes learning activities that are long-term, interdisciplinary, student-centered, and integrated with real world issues and practices.
The Willow School’s project based curriculum invites students to be actively involved in their own education and to take responsibility for their own learning. This is done by identifying children’s individual learning styles and encouraging them to reflect on their learning processes. Projects provide opportunities for students to pursue personal interests and questions and make decisions about how they will find answers and solve problems. Students are frequently responsible for designing projects they work on, as well as the criteria and assessment used to judge these.
How do we implement experiential and project based learning at Willow?
Teachers are the coaches; we are here to assist the students, guide them and support their learning. Teachers are the “guides by the side, not the sage on the stage”.
We believe that self discovery is achieved best through active and experiential learning. “ Hands on, minds on”
We avoid long lectures or teacher centered activities - instead we provide “mini-lessons”; short fifteen minute teacher presentations to teach critical skills.
We structure our curriculum with culminating projects to reinforce what students have learned and to help build skills. Projects also act as assessments. Projects allow our students to “show what they know”. These demonstrations of learning are our primary method of evaluating student knowledge and skill attainment.
Students learn faster and retain more knowledge when they are given the opportunity to teach others what they have learned. Therefore students are given many opportunities to teach and share with their fellow students.
Projects provide incentive and motivation to excel. When students are asked to perform in front of others they naturally work harder to prepare themselves for their presentations.
Students enjoy their learning more if they are given choices in their studies. Therefore, within the structure of the curriculum, students are encouraged to work in the areas that are of most interest to them.
Much of the Willow program is based on the *Learning Pyramid study, which demonstrates that students retain information better when they are actively involved in their learning.
*Learning Pyramid: The Learning Pyramid Study and graphic displays best teaching methods for learning retention. At The Willow School we primarily use the four bottom tiers to enhance our students learning retention.
Click Here for a larger version of the pyramid
