Perform to Learn Principles
The outcome we seek for all of the children – our students – that graduate from our program is that they leave us with both a foundation upon which they can thrive in their educational futures, and with lasting impressions and memories of the time they have spent in our care. Recognizing the global society we live, work and compete in today, the Perform to Learn curriculum is designed, and is constantly updating and responding, to meet the change and challenges that face the new generation.
Children learn best through firsthand experience – Engagement. The P2L program provides structured “play with purpose” activity as well as individualized student choice-based “play centers”, including time with indoor and outdoor, toys, equipment, materials, and our signature Performing Arts Curriculum.
Providing a variety of play-based Engagement is vital in assisting the student to discover his or her own learning style, with emphasis on fun and exploration. While there are differing schools of thought on the specific value of play in early-childhood learning, there is long-standing agreement that play is an essential component of personal, social, and emotional development.
Perform to Learn offers every student the opportunity to play, and Engage, in small age-specific groups and in the larger student body, allowing each child the opportunity to share in a variety of peer/mentor exchanges.
In the course of our assessments, your student will be observed in all areas of Engagement – academic, social, personal. If an assessment indicates that a specific area of play would serve to guide them further in a given developmental area, our teaching staff will create a schedule for the student, crafted to accommodate the assessed need.
Our program model is anchored in individualized student learning plans, assessment and independence. In offering a safe and nurturing environment in which preschoolers can see themselves as unique individuals functioning within a social collaborative setting, P2L’s classroom rotation system provides the opportunity to develop the student’s connection with change – in surroundings (classrooms), plan and associated activity (stimulus) – and most importantly, to navigate and successfully interact with others (social intelligence) within a guided environment of change.
As students will be interacting/engaging with several disciplines throughout each day, in individual instruction/play with several different teachers and in larger group activities, connection to the program as a whole is integral to the P2L student “independence” model.
Mastery is the earned accomplishment that comes from engagement, connection and practice…press repeat! Every time we give our children the opportunity to show and tell we are offering them access to the gift of Mastery.
But, in this case, the old adage “Practice Makes Perfect”, and the burden of perfection, is not something we seek to impose. Rather, P2L is based upon the recognition that Practice breeds Mastery, Mastery breeds Confidence, and Confidence breeds Leadership. So, we “Perform to Learn” and by that, “Learn to Lead”.
What Do We Mean By Learn To Lead?
As previously stated, when our students graduate, the P2L program will have provided a foundation upon which they can thrive in their educational futures, and most importantly, they will have developed skills they can use and build upon to become the leader of their own lives – the first one to raise their hand to share – the student that is willing to peer teach/share with others – the one who will initiate with the teacher if they need extra help – the student who will try a new opportunity without fear they might not excel – the young learner who will recognize their interests and pursue their own path to further discovery.