The official curriculum of Saint Andrew’s Children’s Center is High Scope. A key element of High Scope is Active Participatory Learning. Children and adults learn best through hands-on experiences with people, materials, events, and ideas. That principle — validated by decades of research — is the basis of High Scope's approach to teaching and learning.
This curriculum emphasizes child-initiated more than teacher directed choices. It also emphasizes decision-making, adult-child interaction, a carefully designed learning environment, and a plan-do-review process which strengthens children’s initiative and self-reliance.
Teachers and students become active partners in shaping the educational experience.The High Scope curriculum also encourages children to make decisions by offering many choices. Research has shown that children who are allowed opportunities to make decisions actually score higher on standardized tests.