When we look at the Early Achievers Quality Standards, the
Environment Rating Scale and the CLASS assessments, there is a simple equation
for Early Achievers:
Free Play + Open Ended
Questions and Conversations
= Learning About the Child
= Learning About the Child
Free play is
highly valued in Early Achievers. With
free play, the child is able to make choices (thinking for themselves) about
what and who they play with. In free
play, you have the opportunity to have 1:1 time with children to get to know
their needs.
Open ended questions
and conversations are the window into the child’s needs. When you ask meaningful questions and have
ongoing conversations, you can learn what the child knows already, what skills
they are building, how they think. This
is really a form of informal assessment.
You are gathering data on the child.
Learning about the
child is how you move to individualization and intentional planning. Once you get to know each child, you are able
to plan experiences that nurture emerging skills, match the child’s interests
and best advance their learning and development.
Free Play + Open Ended
Questions and Conversations
= Learning About the Child
= Learning About the Child
