HighScope Preschool Curriculum course for caregivers in daycare centers on Sint Eustatius

The BES(t) 4 kids program provides a training in the HighScope Curriculum for employees working in daycare centers, to have the best quality care for young children on Sint Eustatius. The first week of training was from May 17-May 21. The total program is 4 weeks.

The HighScope Curriculum is a quality approach to early childhood care and education which has been shaped and developed by research and practice over a forty-year period. The method was founded in 1970 as part of the Perry Preschool Project in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The central belief of the Highscope approach is that children construct their own learning by doing and being involved in working with materials, people, and ideas. This program has proven to have very good results for children in their further development.

Play-based, child centered and grounded in research, the Highscope Curriculum features active learning at its core. Children are guided to explore, interact and exercise their creative imagination through purposeful play. Through a version of scaffolding, children are encouraged by their teacher to take the next step in learning. The program takes an intentional learning approach to education that makes teachers and children active partners. A daily routine is designed to help children understand what happens next and usually includes outside time, computer work and small and large group interaction time.

A number of 10 caregivers will be trained for 4 weeks to be able to guide the children in their development and to make a smooth transition into primary Education possible. The content of the first week training was about active learning, adult-child interaction, learning environment, daily routine and assessment.

We are proud to have a very experienced trainer from Michigan, Mrs Karalyn Huey, on Sint Eustatius to give the training.

On Statia we have already 4 persons finalizing the training to become a HighScope trainer. It is the intention to have the HighScope Curriculum available for all childcare centers and for group 1 and 2 in primary education.