The lower grades characterised with cycles in nature: from egg to chicken, from seed to flower… The child has become an independent person, walking, talking, and wondering about the world. During this period, the psychological growth is rapid. This rapid growth can be compared to the seasons in the year that also change rapidly. That is why DaVinci Education focuses on the year and its seasons.
The direct experience of children is essential and, therefore, the window will be open and the nature will be transported in. DaVinci chooses to emphasize the year and the seasons. Each season will be repeated and all seasons are discussed in pre-K as well as in K-grade with respect to the rapidly growing children.
The themes in Pre-K and K-grade are as following:
Pre-K: Summer I, Autumn I, Winter I, Spring I
K: Summer II, Autumn II, Winter II, Spring II
These themes are the starting point because seasons are rich learning environments. Within each theme at least one animal, one plant and one profession will be discussed. Additionally, experiments are carried out, for example, making two similar beaches with the same amount of sand, water, and seashells.
Children will be prepared for the middle and higher grades by learning the (sense of) time with Timeline of the year and Cycle of the seasons. The world is pictured on a flat surface and functions as a World carpet to play twister to gain a sense of the places on earth.
DaVinci supplies the following materials for the lower grades:
