The Project Approach

The Univeral Pre-K (UPK) curriculum in Rockland County shifted to "The Project Approach" six years ago. This hands-on and child-directed curriculum requires extensive training and education on the part of the teachers. I was asked by PAEYC (the local affiliate of NAEYC - The National Association for the Education of Young Children), Head Start of Rockland and Early Head Start of Rockland to provide training workshops for their UPK teachers. I also helped to guide the Campus Fun and Learn teachers in the implementation of the approach. 

I have also provided Professional Development for private preschools in Rockland County who are interested in implementing The Project Approach. For example, I worked with Riverview Nursery School to train their infant/toddler and preschool teachers in the planning and implementation of the approach. 

In an effort to make my resources easily available to the teachers and students I train, I created a Google Site for my Project Approach workshop. Click the link below to visit the site and below the link is a screenshot of the homepage. Along with resources and training materials, this site has examples from my undergraduate students and the UPK teachers at Campus Fun and Learn. By providing actual examples from teachers that I have trained in the approach, attendees of my workshop can easily connect the training to the product. 

Early Literacy and Math Workshops

I have also trained teachers in Rockland County (public and private schools) in early literacy and math strategies and skills. Head/Early Start, for example, evaluates their teachers each year for strengths and weaknesses. They then conduct annual professional development sessions to address the weaknesses. Major weaknesses found in recent surveys is the ability to effectively implement large group reading and writing experiences, and the ability to ask effective questions to enhance children's math explorations. These weaknesses were found with both Early Head Start (toddler) and Head Start (preschool) teachers. Therefore, I conducted numerous training sessions for the teachers that utilized video analysis from teachers I have worked with in the past and hands-on/interactive work with children's literature and math manipulatives. The feedback from these training sessions was overwhelmingly positive, and teachers shared that they felt more comfortable implementing these key early literacy and math experiences after I gave them real and workable examples. Below are explanations of the workshops and two PowerPoints that I used to synthesize the literacy content for the teachers. 

Workshop Explanations from the Conference Program:

The 5th Annual Transitions Conference: The Power of Literacy

@The Stony Point Conference Center

Thursday March 21, 2013 

Shared and Interactive Writing Experiences: ALL Kids Can Draw and Write!

"This workshop will focus on Shared and Interactive Drawing and Writing Experiences with young children. Teachers will participate in the experiences and will be shown how to involve children of all reading and writing levels. Differences between shared and interactive experiences will be discussed and modeled. Each experience focus on the four key components of literacy: Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking and represent a complete Balanced Literacy lesson."

Head Start of Rockland Annual Conference

@The Stony Point Conference Center

Friday March 15, 2013

Literacy, Social Studies and Interactive Writing with Preschoolers

"This workshop will focus on Shared and Interactive Writing Experiences with young children, centered around the Social/Emotional Development New York State Prekindergarten standard. Teachers will participate in the experiences and will be shown how to involve children of all reading and writing levels. Differences between shared and interactive experiences as well as appropriate Shared Reading skills will be discussed and modeled. "

Head Start of Rockland Annual Conference

@The Stony Point Conference Center

Friday March 21st, 2014

Math/Open-Ended Questions

"This workshop will focus on developmentally appropriate math experiences for preschool children. Caregivers will learn work with math manipulatives to practice mathematical strategies and skills, and practice asking open-ended questions to extend learning. Ways to encourage higher-order math skills and manipulation with be explained and practiced."

Head Start of Rockland Annual Conference

@The Stony Point Conference Center

Friday March 13th, 2015

Workshop #1 – Early Head Start (Infants and Toddlers)

"This workshop will focus on developmentally appropriate literacy experiences (reading, writing, listening and speaking) with infants and toddlers, with a specific focus on Shared Reading experiences. Caregivers will learn strategies for engaging young children in reading experiences through open-ended questions and responses to children’s participation. Ways to encourage receptive and expressive language in engaging and developmentally appropriate ways will also be explained and practiced."

Workshop #2 – Head Start (Preschool)

"This workshop will focus on developmentally appropriate literacy experiences with preschool children. Teachers will learn strategies for encouraging and enhancing children’s receptive and expressive language, particularly during Shared Reading experiences. Plans for extended literacy experiences (reading, writing, listening and speaking) after reading will be discussed and practiced."

The 7th Annual Transitions Conference: The Power of Literacy

@The Stony Point Conference Center

Thursday March 19th, 2015

“Literacy Experiences in your Science Curriculum”

"This workshop will focus on the identification and integration of Literacy experiences (reading, writing, listening and speaking) in your Science curriculum. Specific focus will be placed on Shared Reading experiences with non-fiction texts. Teachers will learn strategies for engaging students in reading experiences and the science content through open-ended questions and discussion. Ways to encourage receptive and expressive language in engaging and developmentally appropriate ways will also be explained and practiced."

The 10th Annual Transitions Conference: The Power of Literacy

@The Palisades Conference Center

Tuesday April 24th, 2018

Pre-K Workshop: “Implementing Project-Based Learning in the Preschool and PreK Classroom"

This workshop will review and practice the implementation of Project-Based Learning in preschool and PreK classrooms. Participants will learn how to cultivate a project and develop authentic learning experiences for children focused on the project’s theme. Connections to the PreK Common Core Standards will be made. 

 K Workshop: “Implementing ELA Authentic Learning Unit Experiences in the Kindergarten Classroom”

This workshop will review and practice the implementation of ELA learning experiences into Authentic Learning Units in Kindergarten classrooms. Participants will learn how to cultivate children’s ideas into authentic learning experiences that connect to the ELA Kindergarten Common Core Standards. Ideas about how to help children present and document their work will be discussed.

Padlet Examples from Workshops: