As a mother, business owner and teacher, I realize that many of you have mixed feelings ... or let’s just be real here and say negative feelings ... about the “Core”. As you probably already know, the Common Core is a government mandated curriculum for K-12 schools in 45 states. This Curriculum details the concepts and skills that children should strive towards and reach throughout their education to prepare them for their future careers. Most of the controversy surrounds that of requiring children of many different backgrounds, upbringings and educational environments to adhere to the same standards. This is not an easy, or advisable, feat.
There is something that I have been wanting to express to both Learning Cottage families and to those considering our school-I AM THAT parent. The Core had always been a foe of mine, that is, until I became a believer in Fusion Early Learning. While we agree that removing creativity and standardizing everything is not in anyway beneficial to the inquisitive and curious minds of our young learners, we don’t necessarily believe that the Common Core is bad. It is a set of standards, yes, however - it is not state-required that teachers remove their personality, remove creativity from the classroom or force their students to learn in only one manner. However, it does take some fine-tuning, organization and creativity of the teacher(s).
The truth is; Fusion Early Learning, the curriculum utilized at The Learning Cottage, is centered upon four things: 1. Educational Neuroscience 2. Social/ Emotional Awareness, 3. Four Year Old Standards (That can be found through the Early Learning Coalition) and 4. THE CORE- That's right! I said the Core. We actually incorporate the Common Core into our learning environments and believe that part of the key to overcoming this hurdle is helping young learners to better understand what lies ahead. As with all things in life, preparation and planning is everything. We believe in the amazing minds of all of our young learners. We also believe that we can help them get to where they need to be while encouraging them to be creative and outside-of-the-box thinkers and incorporate life skills and character building while doing so through Waldorf and Montessori inspired teachings and settings.
One of the big challenges with Common Core curriculum lies on the educator side. There lies a disconnect between what is developmentally appropriate and what the public school systems requires of students. This is one of the major reasons Meghan Hamilton, COO of FEL, developed the Fusion Early Learning Curriculum...to bridge this gap by teaching through developmentally appropriate practices, through play, through problem solving and through life skills vs. teaching through memorization- most commonly seen with the Common Core in the public school systems.
When you have a moment, take a look at the Common Core Standards as well as the Pros and the Cons. Here at the Learning Cottage, we prepare students for the Common Core while giving them individual attention and a personalized approach that always encourages creative thinking, getting outside, feeling the sunshine, and communicating feelings! The Common Core can be taught in a way that does not minimize the creative talents born within our young ones.
We would love to hear your thoughts on this topic. Please leave a comment below!
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