Early Childhood Educators Learn How to Create “Rich Studies” for Young Learners

Early Childhood Learning Coach Summer Knight, top left, reacts with laughter as she works with Napoleonville Primary School teachers Allie Ordoyne, Aimee Landry, and Katie Pipsair on a professional development exercise to make lessons more interactive for their students.

Patience Travasos, a creative curriculum consultant, (standing) explains the purpose of a learning exercise to Head Start and Early Childhood Learning Coach Cheri Williams, and Labadieville Primary Teachers Miranda Hebert and Sarah Daigle during a professional development workshop for pre-Kindergarten teachers.

Assumption Parish school teachers who work with the parish’s youngest learners became students themselves recently to develop new teaching strategies to make lessons more meaningful to those they are teaching.

“Our focus is to create ‘rich studies,’” said Early Childhood Instruction Coach Summer Knight. “Rich studies enable children to investigate a topic in ways that support their inborn dispositions to be curious, to explore the world, and to make sense of their experiences in a meaningful context. As children are given opportunities to learn in this way, we see a tremendous buy-in and self-empowerment that takes place.”

Patience Travasos, a creative curriculum consultant, recently led a one-day workshop as part of the district’s professional development support efforts.

“Learning should be a continuous task, no matter what age, or what profession; but that is even more true for our teachers who never stop seeking ways to more effectively impart knowledge to our children,” Superintendent Dr. John Barthelemy said.

Curriculum Supervisor Rachel Dugas said the focused workshops are part of the district’s strategic plan to improve academic performance.

“We know that the earlier students begin to learn, the more successful they are in later grades, and into adulthood. Improving learning at the earliest levels is very important,” Dugas said. “That’s why much of the early efforts in our strategic plan focuses on some of our youngest grade levels.”

Knight said the workshop helped teachers develop ways to create “discovery areas” for their students. In these “discovery areas,” students are prompted with hands-on activities, images and textural objects to ask questions and learn through their own discoveries.

“Every time children discover new concepts or attempt to solve problems in a creative or novel way, they are experiencing learning in a relatable context, giving it meaning,” Knight said. “Magic happens for all of us when we find meaning in what we do and learn.”