172 South Ridge Avenue | Troy, Ohio 45373 | Phone: 937-339-5111 | info@oecptroy.com
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Daily Life
Overfield, Where Learning is a Lifestyle
- Children are seen as strong, capable individuals, full of potential and curiosity. Children are honored as young learners, and school is seen as a place that encourages discovery, problem solving, social interaction, and collaboration among children, parents, and teachers.
- The environment of the school is recognized for its important role in the process of learning. Spaces are inviting, attractive and arranged to support both small and large group experiences.
- Learning is facilitated through project-oriented curriculum, heavily influenced by the Reggio Approach to early childhood education. Projects can be short- or long-term. Ideas for projects originate in the context of the lives of the children and may start from a chance event, an idea or problem posed by a child, or a provocation issued by the teachers.
- Projects are conducted using an emerging curriculum. Teachers document each child’s learning process and interests. Through the analysis and discussion of the documentation, choices are made as to what direction the project will move. Documentation can include transcriptions of children’s discussions, photographs of their activities, and representations made by children using a variety of media. Classrooms reflect the presence of the children who inhabit them.
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Documentation is a way to organize and interpret the process of learning in order to:
- Help inform parents of the children’s experiences and encourage parental involvement.
- Provide an opportunity for teachers to know the children at greater depth and to analyze the children’s work and the teachers’ choices.
- Encourage children to revisit their experiences, thus making learning cumulative and placing children in a position to guide their own learning experiences.
- A studio teacher, who is trained in the visual arts, works closely with the classroom teachers and children. The studio is dedicated to the exploration of symbolic languages, such as clay, painting, drawing and construction. Symbolic languages give children opportunities to express and develop their thoughts, ideas and theories.
- The natural environment that surrounds Overfield's campus is a source of hands-on learning and inspires many projects. A naturalist works with children and teachers to facilitate exploration of the areas around the school, including the 84-acre Hobart Urban Nature Preserve, which is adjacent to the school, and Overfield's organic vegetable garden, bird blind, and surrounding woods, ponds, and meadows.
Please Click to Enlarge Map
All drawings used on this site were done by the Overfield children.
