A
t Lowell, we believe inquiry
begins with a provocation to know more. Teachers actively engage students in
the process of inquiry, providing children with rich, stimulating materials and
opportunities that are both thoughtfully planned and delightfully spontaneous.
Indoors
Each Pre-Primary classroom is well
equipped with manipulatives, books, and other materials for dramatic play, art,
block play, and writing; however, classrooms differ depending on the age and
interests of the children. Teachers observing and listening to the children
determine what additional equipment materials to bring into the classroom
throughout the year. When, in one classroom, several children go for their four-year
old check-ups and begin to talk about their visits with each other, the teacher
might set up a doctor’s office in the corner of the room for dramatic play.
Discussions of sleeping and dreaming might be the provocation for a
bed-building project in the classroom.
Throughout the week students have
the opportunity to engage in a variety of activities—some inside their
classrooms and some in other spaces—that help support their development. During
the course of a week, students will experience Morning Meeting, Choice Time,
Physical Education, Library Time, Dance, Music, and Creative Arts. Our Pre-Primary environment includes 12,000 square feet of
interior space with seven spacious rooms that include classrooms, a library, an
art studio, a block room, and a movement room. The Dance Studio is located on the first floor of the main building.
Outdoors
Kalmia Creek and over eight acres
of land provide a rich outdoor learning environment and a natural extension to
our classrooms. Our spacious, terraced playground, affectionately referred to
as The Yard, offers numerous and varied opportunities to move as well as to
explore and ponder. Basic equipment such as balls, tricycles, hoops, buckets,
and shovels are used to extend children's play ideas and work with peers. A
large wooden playscape and sand pits offer more opportunities for climbing,
sliding, upper body work, dramatic play, and excavation.
Whether indoors participating in
experiments or exploring cause and effect events, teachers capture the moment
to help students investigate and contemplate the "whys" and
"what-ifs." On the playground, children can be found climbing,
jumping, digging, running, hauling, raking, watering, and riding vehicles as
well as planning, gathering, collaborating, collecting bugs, investigating
nests and nooks, and watching the clouds go by.