Teachers Talk About their Experiences Using ScienceStart!

ScienceStart! was developed over several years as a collaboration between the teachers at a Head Start Demonstration Program and the University of Rochester.  Professor Lucia French and her graduate students wanted to create a “state of the art” preschool curriculum that would be effective with low-income children.  Development of the curriculum was based on Dr. French’s knowledge of learning and development during the preschool years,  her interest in children’s development of language and literacy skills, and her extensive observations of preschool programs in South Korea.

For once, the “Ivory Tower” and the “Real World” came together.  ScienceStart!, based on a theoretical base, was effective in improving children’s language and literacy development while being loved by teachers and children alike. 

Since that time, ScienceStart! has also found favor with tuition-based preschool programs that are selected by affluent parents who are eager for their children to have a “head start” with learning science. 

Carmelo Piazza was one of the first people to purchase ScienceStart!  At the time, he taught at PS 261 in Brooklyn.  He now owns and operates the Brooklyn Preschool of Science, which has several campuses in Brooklyn NY.

 “When I was teaching preK at PS 261 in Brooklyn, I saw that children learn best when all the parts of their day are integrated. . . .When I opened my own school, I was looking for a curriculum that made this easier.

ScienceStart! does such a good job connecting concepts across subject areas. What I love about it is that the kids learn about science at the same time they’re learning language, literacy and math. . . . Daily activities and lessons include a lot of play and exploration in the classroom and outside.”

Check out Carmelo’s book Crazy for Science, available from Amazon.

Holly Davis is an enthusiastic supporter of ScienceStart!  As a teacher in Owensboro Kentucky, she worked with PreK and Kindergarten students living in high-poverty neighborhoods.  “They have little exposure to the wider world, they aren’t taught how things work – from nature to machines.”

Holly and her students worked on ScienceStart! lessons together, with an emphasis on play-based and hands-on investigations.  “Students’ curiosity is piqued and they become immersed in what they are doing. It’s a game changer because they’re SO engaged.”

Holly emphasized that ScienceStart! helped her students expand their vocabulary and concepts. “Who would think of teaching viscosity to a four-year-old? But they’re doing it. With science and play-based activities, we’re getting them to ask questions. Their vocabulary just explodes. They’ll say things like, ‘Have you ever experienced gravity?’”  

Holly takes advantage of the fact that the ScienceStart! lesson plans are scalable and adaptable to all ability levels.  “You can make a scaffold. You make it as difficult or as easy as you need. Those with more advanced skills can dig in deeper, and those who need more practice get more time with the teacher to practice skills. That’s a key component as to why it’s been a success for our program.”

Newport Children’s Schools is a family owned, private preschool with four campuses in the Seattle area.  Many of the parents who send their children here are employed by Microsoft, Amazon, and other high-tech industries in and near Seattle. 

The school has used ScienceStart! for many years.  It’s website states:

“Our hands-on, science-based curriculum gives children a boost into educational excellence while fostering curiosity, independence, self-reliance, and emotional maturity.”

When they were interviewed about ScienceStart!, teachers replied:

ScienceStart! lesson plans provide a strong framework while allowing us a great deal of flexibility. This curriculum is built as an invitation for curious learners to explore and emphasizes teaching children how to ask questions and apply their background knowledge and skills to find their own answers. This has helped build confidence, excitement, determination and resilience in our students as they test with trial and error in finding and sharing answers and observations.

ScienceStart! lessons weave STEAM and literacy components beautifully and our students leave school every day with new sounds, songs, rhymes and vocabulary. The curriculum also provides an outline for teachers on ways to integrate literacy and phonemic awareness components into the daily schedule. 

This model works itself seamlessly into our play-based learning model, allowing us to teach across all learning styles throughout the day.

ScienceStart! lessons are cumulative and students build on their skills and knowledge throughout the school year. They retain learned skills, language and knowledge because they’re applying them daily in response to new challenges.