Education Philosophy - The Learning Tree

Education should no longer be only about imparting knowledge, but must take a new path, seeking the release of human potentials.

EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY

The Learning Tree is dedicated to honouring that which is unique in each child and providing them with a nurturing environment rooted in Torah values and committed to academic excellence. To that end we are driven by a three pronged approach to early childhood education:

Torah Wisdom:

Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe in his book, Planting & Building; Raising A Jewish Child outlines two processes through which growth occurs. On the one hand, growth occurs in a very "organic" way, by planting the seeds of Torah in the context of a warm, secure and stable environment with role models exemplifying good character and a true sense of joy in their observance. Children minds and souls are incredibly absorbent and the environment plays a critical role in laying the foundation on which all other education is to be built. On the other hand, building in the context of education, refers to actively implementing a developmentally appropriate strategy to teach a child how to learn and live a life of Torah and mitzvos and become a person of solid character and good habits.

Rabbi Wolbe emphasizes at least three conditions of note in order to be successful in what he terms as a "mission of the highest priority". These points are synergistic with the other two approaches that drive our philosophy and begin to weave the common thread which unites them all:

Education is a science that requires study and preparation.
Beginnings are consequential, and represent opportunities to "plant, and such moments, if missed are difficult to replace." As such, educators need to be attuned to what stage of development a child has entered in order to provide opportunities that will facilitate growth and development according to the child's changing abilities.
Each child is unique and needs to be educated according to his nature, his talents, strengths and affinities. To do otherwise is to sabotage his education and damage him in the process.

Dr. Maria Montessori:

Through scientific observation, Dr. Montessori who was both a doctor and educator analyzed how children learn. She granted to each child a tremendous amount of respect, seeing him as world unto himself. She devoted her life's work to understanding children and held education to be a mission of the highest priority. She then developed an approach to education as a means of providing children with the kind of environment from which they would draw what is necessary for their development of their fullest potentials. She identified three elements that current research supports that play a significant role in the learning process:

The Absorbant Mind: In the first six years of life, a child's mind has a special ability to absorb impressions from the environment so closely that it becomes a part of him (this is the "planting") He appears to absorb vast amounts of information effortlessly, like a sponge and accumulates the material (the foundation) from which he will later build the rest of his life.
Sensitive Periods: As a child develops they transition through certain periods of time that appear to be most favorable for creating and refining human characteristics and skills. Today, the latest research refers to this phenomena as developmental "windows of opportunity." As mentioned above by Rabbi Wolbe, "such moments, if missed are difficult to replace."
Prepared Environment: This area perhaps more than any other is what differentiates a Montessori classroom from any other. Montessori held that in order for learning to take root and be meaningful for the learner, he needs to construct his knowledge through active participation and discovery. As such, the classroom is set up with careful intent, providing levelled activities which cover all areas of development, and are accessible to the children at all times to work independently at their own pace. The teacher is seen as the guide who based on observing the child, prepares a "responsive" environment" addressing his needs and acts as a facilitator between the child and the material.

Neurodevelopmental Research:

It is only within recent years that a wealth of research into learning and brain function has led to an increased understanding of children's minds.

Often when teachers talk about mastering certain areas of curriculum, they tend to talk about "skills." However, in order for schools and parents to share the job of ensuring the healthy growth of vital skills, it is important to understand and appreciate what goes on in the brain in order for that skill to be mastered.

While one set of neurodevelopmental functions enables a student to master writing, another set of functions are called into play to begin reading and still another set or rather combination of functions are required to retell a story.

The benefit of relating to skills according to the neurodevelopmental functions required to achieve them at a preschool level, is that we can begin to prepare a child indirectly and long before a skill is actually presented or expected. In the case of writing above, we can provide opportunities to develop small muscle strength and coordination. We can train the hand to develop a pincer grip long before we hand the child a pencil and we can train the ear to discriminate sounds and the eye to be sensitive to fine details.

An example of this occurring at The Learning Tree is in the areas of learning how to write a letter. Long before a child is presented with this skill expectation, much time is spent on strengthening fine motor dexterity and movement, left to right and top to bottom orientation. This occurs primarily in

the Practical Life area of the classroom where children have opportunities to open locks, spoon, use tongs and tweezers, sew, and pour with increasing precision. Many activities require the child to adopt a pincer grip from piercing shapes and letters out of paper, using small pieces of chalk and crayon that only allow for one kind of grip. Sensorially we use various strengths of palydough, plastercine, therapyputty, etc. In addition all the puzzels are equipped with small knobs to encourage this grip as well. In language, as letter sounds are introduced, children are taught to trace their shape with two fingers on a tactile board, giving them the kinstetic impression and feedback of writing without putting a pencil in their hand. The children are given the freedom to build the letters out of wooden sticks, magnetic pieces, and playdough. Much time is spent as a group on phonological awareness activities and games. Finally many of the puzzels in our geometric cabinet involve tracing with the fingers that train the eye and provide physical feedback to observe the subtleties in size and shape. All of these are really, just a sample of opportunities that exist to actively engage the child unbeknownst to him in preparation for the actual skill of writing.

In addition to beginning to breakdown the functions behind a skill and set up opportunities for development indirectly throughout the classroom, we can begin to observe the unfolding of a learning profile – the nature, strengths and affinities specific to a particular child. We can begin to note, monitor and build on a child's strengths and affinities on the one hand and intervene, accommodate or compensate in areas of weakness on the other(though this is typically done much further down the learning line).

The Learning Tree is committed to providing a nurturing environment with high standards of excellence through investing much time in research and professional development. We ultimately draw our direction for teaching from the above principles and approaches to early childhood education.