ACCESS Curriculum

What does A.C.C.E.S.S. stand for?

Assessment supported

Child

Centered

Emergent

Science emphasis

Standards Integrated

What is it?

A research-based curriculum that implements integrated & inquiry learning throughout the classroom. It uses assessment data to support instruction, encourages high-quality teacher-child based interactions and is child-centered/play-based, and provides opportunities for children to obtain child development skills that will follow them throughout their lives.

The 7 Areas of Development:

ACCESS understands that children are their own unique individuals who are capable of constructing their own knowledge. Through that, this curriculum outlines the 7 main areas of development to ensure that all children are growing in their world through experience and investigations. The 7 areas are; social, emotional, cognitive, language, physical, motor, and aesthetic. The teachers of ACCESS implement those areas of development into their lessons daily, taking into account the importance of both structure and unstructured learning in the classroom.

Daily Routines & Investigations:

ACCESS curriculum highlights the importance of a daily routine in every child’s life in order to provide a comfortable predictability in the classroom. This means that the children will generally know what to expect of each day in school, giving them a range of expectations and responsibilities that they must uphold as well. Responsibilities in the classroom involve activities like; cleaning up after yourself, a daily/weekly job, signing in your name each morning, etc. These daily routines allow children to be comfortable in their environment, while also learning different developmental skills through each activity. 

Predictable experiences that occur most days including such events as:

Sign in

Morning Meeting/Circle Time

Set Up

Clean Up

Lunch

Toileting and Hand Washing

Nap Time

Communication with Parents

Dressing and Undressing

Outdoor Play

Snack Time

Investigations are how the teachers plan lessons for each week within the classroom. Typically, most investigations are assessment-supported, ensuring that teachers are making the right decisions for their students’ needs. Investigations are done so that teachers are able to aim their lessons in the directions of interest for the students. When children are more interested in a topic, they are more likely to be engaged in their learning providing more success in the classroom. With these “investigations”, information is presented for the children to be able to experience and investigate each topic on their own, encouraging them to seek their own answers and guide their learning. Teachers are there to present the information and to guide the students through each step, but by experiencing things hands-on it helps them make the connections and understand how and why they received their results.