Spring 2015
The curriculum and delivery for the Comienza en Casa|It Starts at Home program constantly evolves, based on feedback from families and the circumstances for each group of participants.
This spring, the focus on early science concepts, inquiry, experiments and explorations included two field trips. As part of the Physical Science study, families met with Steuben architect Tom Hitchens, who discussed his work and answered children’s questions about building. Each child received a set of wooden blocks to practice their own building techniques at home, exploring how the physical qualities of the various blocks impacts their structures. (Thanks to a generous donation of lumber from a local hardware store, and a community volunteer who created the block sets.)
During our unit on Earth and the Environment, a field trip to the Downeast Salmon Federation and visit with Kyle Winslow provided the opportunity to learn about the fascinating life cycle of Atlantic Salmon. We were able to see salmon eggs and newly hatched fry and children did experiments that helped them understand the differences in environmental conditions in streams where salmon lay their eggs.
Instead of evening meetings, there were field trips and home visits. There was an added emphasis on digital literacy, as most families managed their own iPads. Support was provided to help families get email addresses, iTunes accounts, download apps from those recommended each unit, and learn other aspects related to use of the iPad to support early learning, such as how to look up topics of interest to their child, where to get free Internet access in the community, and the like.
Unit 1 Activity Sheets: English or Spanish