ERIC/EECE Report: The project approach in early childhood education

Childhood Education, Spring 1997 by Cesarone, Bernard

Recent ERIC documents and journal articles that discuss the use of the Project Approach are summarized in this column. For details about ERIC and ordering ERIC documents, please see the information following these abstracts.

ED 393608

THE CONTRIBUTION OF DOCUMENTATION TO THE QUALITY OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION. ERIC Digest. Lilian G. Katz & Sylvia C. Chard. 1996. 2 pp. (Available from ERIC/EECE, see address below.) Many early childhood programs have long practiced documentation, in the forms of observation of children and record keeping. Documentation typically includes samples of children's work, teacher and parent comments, and transcriptions of children's discussions. This digest examines six ways in which high quality documentation of children's work contributes to the quality of early childhood programs.

ED 392513

WILL A PROJECT APPROACH TO LEARNING PROVIDE CHILDREN OPPORTUNITIES TO DO PURPOSEFUL READING AND WRITING, AS WELL AS PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR AUTHENTIC LEARNING IN OTHER CURRICULUM AREAS? Eileen Bryson. 1994. 21 pp. The project approach to learning focuses on in-depth study of a topic, along with teaching style, learning style and theme. In contrast to a thematic approach, the project approach encourages children to be actively engaged in their own studies, with teachers acting as guides and facilitators. In this case study, lst-grade students were involved in a thematic unit about dinosaurs and a projectbased unit about frogs. The authors drew comparisons between the two experiences. The results showed that children exhibited greater enthusiasm for collaborative work in the project approach than in the thematic unit. Children were also more involved in reading and research in the frog project than in the dinosaur unit, and they made many more decisions about their own learning.

ED 389684

INTEGRATED APPROACHES TO LEARNING. Merilee Rosberg. 1995. 15 pp. This paper explores ways to provide developmentally appropriate curriculum and opportunities for children to learn in a more natural setting. Three approaches are examined: whole language, literaturebased curriculum and the project approach. The project approach is described in detail, and several specific examples are provided. All three approaches help teachers examine how children learn.

ED 385730

TEACHING THROUGH PROJECTS. Open and Distance Learning Series. Jane Henry. 1994. 160 pp. (Not available from EDRS; write Kogan Page Ltd., 120 Pentonville Road, London N1 9JN, England, United Kingdom.) This book, divided into three sections, shows how project work can be used in open and flexible learning. Section A provides background on the use of project work in education and training. Section B examines the difficulties typically encountered at each stage of project work. Section C offers guidelines on developing and assessing projects.

ED 382402

AN INTEGRATED CURRICULUM FOR KINDERGARTEN/ FIRST GRADE CHILDREN UTILIZING THE PROJECT APPROACH. Yuehkuei Hsu. 1995.13 pp.

This paper presents a curriculum web on celebrating Chinese festivals, and then presents the thematic web for the subtopic of the Chinese New Year. Next, the paper lists the curriculum subject areas and learning activities for the New Year subtopic, as well as key events for the unit. The paper includes a student evaluation checklist for each of the subject areas. Two appendices contain a story map and a description of the origins of the Chinese New Year and its customs.

ED 368509

THE PROJECT APPROACH.

ERIC Digest. Lilian G. Katz. 1994. 2 pp. (Available from ERIC/EECE, see address below. This digest is also available in Spanish as El Metodo Llamado Proyecto.) This digest explains what a project is and what its goals are, and notes that project work complements a curriculum's systematic parts. The digest outlines the differences between projects and themes and explains the three phases of a project: Phase 1, "Getting Started"; Phase 2, "Field Work"; and Phase 3, "Culminating and Debriefing Events."

ED 368459

HISTORICAL ROOTS OF THE PROJECT APPROACH IN THE UNITED STATES: 1850-1930. Catherine C. DuCharme. 1993. 38 pp. This paper contends that the historical roots of the project approach in the United States can give strength to early childhood educators today, offering insight and models for the implementation of child-oriented curriculum. The author states that the project approach evolved from the education ideas of Froebel, James, Hall, Parker, Dewey and Kilpatrick in the l9th and early 20th centuries. Their ideas are discussed in detail, especially in relation to the kindergarten movement, the nature study movement and the laboratory schools movement. ED 355040

PROBLEM SOLVING IN EARLY CHILDHOOD CLASSROOMS. ERIC Digest. Joan Britz. 1993. 2 pp. (Available from ERIC/EECE, see address below.) Problem solving is the foundation of young children's learning. Curricula that foster children's problem solving are those that encourage children's decision-making, provide a framework for integrated learning, use a project approach to facilitate cooperative learning and organize work through themes and units. A model of problem solving in an early childhood classroom involves four steps: 1) identifying the problem, 2) brainstorming solutions, 3) choosing and implementing one solution and 4) evaluating the solution used. In order to determine whether a particular problem is appropriate for children, teachers can ask whether the problem is interesting, can be solved at a variety of levels, requires new decisions to be made and requires a solution that can be evaluated.