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Mountain View-Birch Tree R-3 School District  Early Childhood Programs 

Mountain View-Birch Tree R-3 School District offers a continuum of Early Childhood programs  designed to serve young children between the ages of birth to 5 years. All early learning  programs are housed within the Mountain View-Birch Tree R-3 School System. 

Mountain View-Birch Tree R-3 School District  Preschool Programs 

Preschool opportunities and experiences provide positive educational and social outcomes for  children and their families. Children who participate in early childhood care and education  (ECE) programming tend to experience educational, health, social, emotional and economic  benefits. All preschool programs in the Mountain View-Birch Tree School District utilize  Project Construct.  

Birch Tree Elementary Preschool  

Mountain View Elementary Preschool 

Mountain View-Birch Tree R-3 School District Early  Childhood Special Education (ECSE) 

The Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) program provides a unique learning experience  for those students ages 3-5 years with disabilities and special needs. Individualized education  plans are developed to meet the needs of each qualifying child, beginning as early as 3 years of  age. There are a variety of services and program options provided to students who qualify for an  Individualized Educational Program (IEP). ECSE services are provided at zero costs to parents. 

What is Project Construct? 

Project Construct is an approach to teaching based on what we know about learning. Project  Construct is designed to be used with children birth through age seven. Project Construct  incorporates curricular goals and assessment tools that are linked to standards and reflect current  knowledge about how children learn and develop. 

Project Construct is derived from constructivism--the theoretical view that learners construct  knowledge through interactions with the physical and social environments. Constructivist theory  assumes that learning is due more to the reorganization of ways of thinking, of building upon the  "known," than to development alone or the accumulation of facts alone.

Project Construct classrooms incorporate many of the activities found in traditional classrooms,  such as, pretend play and block building, but have a clear emphasis on cognitive objectives. A  feature of a Project Construct classroom is its emphasis on needs of individual children. A  Project Construct teacher takes into account and supports varying abilities of individual children,  using developmentally appropriate practices and child-initiated experiences. The result is a  supportive, collaborative, child-centered environment in which all children flourish. 

What is The Early Childhood Framework for Curriculum and  Assessment? 

The Early Childhood Framework for Curriculum and Assessment reflects the constructivist  theory of learning, which states that children actively construct their own knowledge and values  as a result of their interactions with the physical and social worlds. This process-oriented  framework not only supports young children’s ways of learning, but also provides teachers,  families, and administrators with the information they need to make appropriate decisions  regarding the education of young children. 

The Early Childhood Framework for Curriculum and Assessment is intended to serve as a  curriculum and assessment resource offering guidelines and suggestions. The framework  enables teachers to function as professional decision makers by providing them with theoretical  and practical information that they can use to plan and develop an early childhood curriculum  based on their individual goals, needs, and circumstances. It also provides ways in which  teachers can share information with families and increase family involvement. The framework  can inform administrators about ways in which they can support teachers who are implementing  constructivist principles and practices. 

Overview of the Curriculum Framework 

Because young children do not categorize learning according to various disciplines as adults do,  this framework is not organized according to traditional subject areas. Instead, it draws from the  constructivist theory of learning and is organized according to four domains or spheres of development: Sociomoral, Cognitive, Representational, and Physical. Although separated in this  document for the purpose of organization, these domains are interrelated, and children’s  development in any one domain influences and is influenced by their development in the others. Sociomoral development, the focus of the first Project Construct domain, refers to children’s  growing capacity to relate emotionally, ethically, and intellectually to the external world. This  capacity is critical to development in all other domains because, according to constructivist  theory, all aspects of development occur within a sociomoral environment. When children  construct—through interactions with others—an understanding of self and others, of social roles,  and of the values held by their society, and develop inquisitive, inventive, reflective, and  confident dispositions, they establish the foundation for lifelong learning and autonomy. The second developmental domain in this framework is the Cognitive domain. Project Construct  is based on the belief that children’s cognitive development always occurs within a social and  physical context. When children interact with people and objects in the environment, they form  certain expectations and theories about the way things are. As they attempt to make sense of their  experiences, children construct a framework of relationships (schema) by which they organize  information and make judgments. A key to cognitive development is the ability to reconcile new 

knowledge with what the learner already knows. When expectations are not met or when new  information is inconsistent with previous knowledge, children cannot simply add the new  information to previous ways of thinking; instead, they must construct new, often more elaborate  understandings. Cognitive development refers to the increasing ability of children to coordinate  thinking processes and theoretical frameworks with the demands of their environment. Constructivist theory includes conventional knowledge as an area of cognitive development.  Recent research by cognitive scientists has affirmed the important role of conventional  knowledge; after all, knowledge is the “raw material” used in cognition. In this framework,  however, developmental benchmarks related to conventional knowledge are not identified as a  distinct category within the Cognitive domain. Why? The answer lies in the very nature of  conventional knowledge itself. 

Conventional knowledge consists of a number of facts, rules, symbols, or customs agreed upon  by society. Gained through interaction with external sources, such as books, television programs,  and other people, conventional knowledge encompasses children’s development in all four  domains. For example, a child may learn about herself and her own family at first. Later, she may discover that other individuals and families do things differently. This information—or  conventional knowledge—provides the child with a way to think about and communicate with  other individuals about things that are important to her and others. As she builds on her  knowledge, the child expands her ability to put things into relationships as well as to consider the  perspective of others. In this way, conventional knowledge supports her development in all  domains. 

The third domain in this framework is the Representational domain. Representational  development refers to children’s growing capacity to form and communicate images or ideas of  something seen, known, or imagined. As they develop, children become increasingly able to  think about things that are not immediately present. These images or ideas are known as internal  representations. When children attempt to convey these ideas to others or record them for their  own use or pleasure, they employ some system of external representation. By one year of age,  most babies understand several words, gesture to communicate, and try to say a few words. By  age two, most toddlers can say about 50 words and can combine some. By three or four, most  children can express themselves quite well in their native language. They can also represent their  ideas and feelings through painting, drawing, and block building as well as through music,  movement, and pretend play. By means of these various systems of representation (literacy and  the expressive arts), children organize their experiences and expand their understanding of the  world, as well as their enjoyment. 

The ability to represent ideas and feelings, whether through language or some other form of  shared representation, provides children with the tools for creating and communicating with  others. It also enables children to reflect on imaginary and real-life situations and, as a result, to  develop critical thinking and decision-making skills. 

Physical Development, the last domain in this framework, refers to children’s abilities to use  their bodies with increasing purpose, skill, and control. During the years from birth through  seven, children develop the basic motor skills that enable them to respond to their social and  physical environments as well as acquire healthy living practices. These skills represent aspects  of a child’s motor development and are also closely related with the child’s construction of other  kinds of knowledge. 

Guiding Principles

Four principles that are integral to Project Construct guide the Early Childhood Framework for  Curriculum and Assessment. Following is a description of those principles, along with a list of  some teaching practices that support them: 

Principle 1. Children have an intrinsic desire to make sense of their world. 

They will learn what they genuinely need and want to know. When children have opportunities  to plan and select their own activities, they not only acquire knowledge and skills in the process,  but also the inclination to use them. Along with individual interests and needs, children also have  personal styles of learning. Like adults, they learn in different ways and at different rates. By  being flexible in expectations about when and how children will develop and by encouraging  children to identify and solve problems that interest them, adults can give young children a good  start on a course of lifelong learning. 

Principle 2. Children actively construct knowledge and values by interacting with the  physical and social worlds. 

Because their thoughts are still closely tied to action, young children require a learning  environment within which they can interact physically, intellectually, and socially. They need to  act on objects and observe reactions, to make predictions, and to attempt to produce desired  effects through their own actions. They also need to interact with their peers and exchange and  compare ideas. 

Principle 3. In their universal effort to understand the world, children’s thinking will  contain predictable errors. 

These errors are necessary to the learning process. Children who ask questions and who risk  making incorrect predictions are engaged in active thinking. Often, the errors also reflect  advances in reasoning. When adults correct or dismiss these errors, they not only discourage  children from thinking for themselves, they also neglect signs of advanced reasoning. Given  sufficient time and appropriate guidance to recognize and correct their own errors, children both  construct new knowledge and gain confidence in their own ability to figure things out. Teachers  who are knowledgeable about child development use children’s errors in thinking as useful  guideposts for planning future instruction. 

Principle 4. Children’s development is an interactive and interrelated process and spans  the Sociomoral, Cognitive, Representational, and Physical Development domains. 

As children explore and expand on their interests and construct understanding in a particular  domain, that understanding influences their development in other domains as well. While all  developmental domains thus influence each other, it is within the Sociomoral domain (the area of  children’s personal and social development) that children best further their cognition and  language. 

Assessment 

The Project Construct assessment system is based on the belief that progress can be measured  more accurately by developmentally appropriate, performance-based assessment methods that 

are aligned with current views of curriculum and take into account the ways in which young  children learn, rather than with standardized paper-and-pencil, multiple-choice achievement and  readiness tests. The assessments are consistent with the guidelines for developmentally  appropriate assessment of young children (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009; Katz, 1997; National  Association for the Education of Young Children & National Association of Early Childhood  Specialists in State Departments of Education, 2003; Shepard, Kagan, & Wurtz, 1998) and with  the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (American Educational Research  Association, American Psychological Association, & National Council on Measurement in  Education, 1999). 

Based on the overarching principle that assessment should be an integral part of instruction, the  Formative Assessment Program reflects three main beliefs: (1) assessment activities should  mirror good instructional strategies, (2) assessment criteria should be aligned with learning  objective, and (3) assessment results should be used to shape instruction. The system allows  teachers to weave a seamless fabric of standards, instruction, and assessment. Of course, in today’s world of high-stakes, high-pressure assessment, many teachers are required  to go beyond the rich formative assessment practices described here and administer one or more  large-scale, standardized summative assessments, whether they agree with the validity and  usefulness of such assessments or not. However, for those seeking an extra layer of assessment  feedback but who are not required to administer a summative assessment, there are other, more  developmentally-appropriate options. 

The Project Construct assessment approach “is based on the belief that progress can be measured  more accurately by developmentally appropriate, performance-based assessment methods that  are aligned with current views of curriculum and take into account the ways in which young  children learn, rather than with standardized paper-and-pencil, multiple-choice achievement and  readiness tests.” 

The goal of any good assessment system should be to provide on-going, flexible, robust feedback  to teachers, administrators, and families of children in the educational program—feedback that  can then be used to quickly adjust instructional goals and practices in order to help children be  successful learners across all domains. Large-scale summative evaluation tools simply cannot  achieve this goal. 

Nevertheless, in the current educational climate where high-stakes testing and “accountability”  are the common buzz-words, it is understood that program administrators and teachers might feel  the need to add other layers of assessment on top of the formative assessment system proposed in  this framework. While Project Construct does not recommend any large-scale summative  assessment tool for use in Project Construct classrooms, there are some good, criterion referenced observational assessment tools available that might exist comfortably in the  classroom alongside the Project Construct framework for curriculum, instruction, and assessment  and provide an extra measure of feedback to stakeholders who wish it 

Parents as Teachers Missouri Curriculum Partners

Parents As Teachers 

This program is designed to provide support to families throughout pregnancy until their child  enters Kindergarten. PAT is FREE for all families in the Mountain View-Birch Tree R-3 School  District. Services can begin during pregnancy and continue until the child enters kindergarten.  Children learn more during the first five years than at any other time in life and this program  helps parents understand how their child grows and learns. For more information, contact (417)  934-5408. 

Services include: 

Personal Visits – educators trained in child development offer suggestions for learning activities.  The number of visits varies from family to family. 

Developmental Screenings – this is a summary of your child’s development, focusing on  language, cognitive, motor and social skills. Health, hearing, and vision are also screened.  Screenings are offered for 3 months through Kindergarten entry. 

Referrals – connections with other community agencies are offered.