STEM Curriculum

Our hands-on STEM focused curriculum, Collections Curriculum is aligned to the current Massachusetts state standards in PreK, Kindergarten, Grade 1 and Grade 2. We take great pride in our curriculum approach at all levels and make updates to meet student’s needs, student interest and current best practice. Students who attend The Hundred Acre School are prepared in all domains of learning: social emotional, physical development, cognitive development, language and literacy (ELA: English Language Arts), mathematics, science, technology, engineering, arts, and social studies.

In 2014, a preschool curriculum was developed for The Hundred Acre School at Heritage Museums & Gardens Inc. located in Sandwich, Massachusetts. Heritage Museums & Gardens received a Preschool Innovative STEM Curriculum Grant from the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) in 2014. The goal of the grant was to develop innovative preschool Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics curricula to be used by early education programs for preschool-aged children. EEC recognizes that quality programs include: project based learning, hands-on experimentation, and providing experiences that support natural inquiry. These concepts are central in the Collections Curriculum. While this curriculum has been developed for use at The Hundred Acre School, the hope is that the concepts are easily replicated by other Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care programs.

In 2015, Heritage Museums & Gardens received a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, which primarily works with communities to create conditions so vulnerable children can realize their full potential in school, work and life. This grant provided the opportunity to pilot the curriculum at two additional sites in New Orleans, Louisiana and Brockton, Massachusetts. Through this grant, Heritage Museums & Gardens updated the Curriculum and added additional Investigations, and developed an online training program for educators interested in implementing this STEM-focused model.

In 2019, the Collections Curriculum was expanded to Kindergarten. It is to be used in combination with an award winning and research based literacy and math program. See details in the Kindergarten Curriculum section.

In 2020, the Collections Curriculum was expanded to grade 1. See details in the Grade 1 Curriculum section.

In 2021, the Collections Curriculum was expanded to grade 2. See details in the Grade 2 Curriculum section coming soon.

This curriculum is designed for preschoolers. It covers all domains of development, but focuses teaching and learning activities through a STEM lens. The learning environment (indoors and out) had been carefully designed to promote STEM explorations and support and enhance the curriculum.

The curriculum is divided into for in-depth study of each topic. Following an emergent curriculum philosophy, the Investigations serve as a guide for teachers as they capitalize on children’s and families’ interests in each topic and design lessons based on children’s inquiry questions. Each Investigation has been selected to cover all objectives outlined by the Massachusetts Preschool Learning Experiences developed by the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care and is aligned to a standardized assessment tool.

The school year begins with “Using STEM STEM Tools for Investigations” to introduce children to the Scientific Method, their new school and daily routines. The goal is to encourage children and families to explore inquiry learning and how to use tools to test their theories. The tools introduced in this initial Investigation will then become part of the instruments used for other Investigations. Using the Scientific Method becomes a way for children to organize their ideas, develop and test hypotheses, and build upon their knowledge.

The remaining Investigations can be taught in any order depending on teacher goals, student interest, and environmental/social influences.

1. Paying Attention to Sound: Human-Made & Natural
2. Becoming Patternmakers
3. Creating Visual Arts
4. Living and Nonliving Objects in our Environment
5. Exploring Color
6. Playing with Sunlight and Shadows
7. Investigating Insects, Arachnids, and Earthworms
8. Discovering Flight: Birds to Machines
9. Kitchen Chemistry: Conducting Science Experiments
10. Studying Trees
11. Connecting with our Community
12. Recycling: Protecting Our Environment
13. Water is Essential for Life

Every Investigation begins with provocations designed by our teachers to get children and families talking and asking questions about STEM concepts related to the specific Investigation. As children’s questions emerge, teachers will design activities to help children test their hypotheses and further their learning. Teachers expand the investigation based on children’s interests and experiments.

Investigations culminate when students have fully explored a particular concept and a future investigation is selected based on students’ interests and teacher’s goals for deepening their knowledge and connections. Our investigations last between 5 and 8 weeks.

Early elementary education (K-grade 2) is an important time for children age 5-8 in both physical and mental development. Unlike many other elementary schools, students of the Hundred Acre School will spend their day both indoors and out engaged in play activities that strengthen their social and cognitive development.

What children learn in these early elementary years will shape their success in school and as an adult. One of the most important aspects is laying the building blocks for solid literacy and mathematical development is the development of what is referred to as soft skills. Soft skills are things like communication and listening, insight into others, critical thinking and making connections across complex ideas. These soft skills are key in our STEM focused curriculum so elementary students, K – 2nd at The Hundred Acre School will blend together our STEM focused curriculum with literacy and math programs that have had proven successful results.

STEM Focused Curriculum

Kindergarten Collections Curriculum: The school year begins with “The Scientific Method: Conducting Science Experiments”. Students reconnect with STEM tools and the scientific method while and they explore kindergarten routines, explore their new classroom, science in their world, and get to know new classmates. The remaining Investigations can be taught in any order depending on teacher goals, student interest, and environmental/social influences.

1. Inventive Thinkers: Engineering Design Process
2. Animals in Our Environment
3. Learning About the Human Body
4. Observing Weather and Weather Forecasting
5. Exploring Horticulture
6. Connecting with our Community
7. Stewards of the Earth

Grade 1 Collections Curriculum: The school year begins with Persistence Pays Off: Inventors and Inventions. The remaining Investigations can be taught in any order depending on teacher goals, student interest, and environmental/social influences.

1. Survival of Living Things
2. Stewards of the Earth
3. Waves: Light and Sound
4. Patterns in our Environment
5. Mapping and Directions
6. Exploring our World: Conducting Science Experiments

K & 1st: Language & Literacy

Wilson Fundations® provides research-based materials and strategies essential to a comprehensive phonics, spelling, and handwriting program which will be partnered with the Geodes Reading program that uses rich, knowledge-building books to develop reading and writing skills in a meaningful context.
Since the publication of Fundations®, several impact and efficacy studies of thousands of kindergarten and first-grade students have been performed in schools across the United States. The consensus across these studies is that students using Fundations achieve greater gains in foundational literacy skills compared to students using programs previously implemented by the schools. These results held with English language learners (ELL) as well.
Studies of students who received Fundations instruction in Florida, New York, and Massachusetts demonstrated:
• Better learning of letter knowledge.
• Larger gains in phonological and phonemic awareness.
• Greater gains in phonological decoding.
• Reduction in risk of later reading difficulties.

Geodes® Reading can open up the world for students. Too often, though, the joys of literature are out of reach until students master key reading skills. Enter Geodes®, the first texts for beginning readers that unite phonics with compelling content and beautiful art. With Geodes, students are inspired to wonder, to decode, and to know

Guided Reading is an instructional approach that involves a teacher working with a small group of readers. During the lesson, the teacher provides a text that students can read with support, coaching the learners as they use problem-solving strategies to read the text. During Kindergarten, most students progress through Level A-D. Reading levels progress at a student’s pace including some readers that are beyond level D. The Hundred Acre School has resources through Level “I” which is the end of Grade 1.

K & 1st Math:

Eureka Math builds students’ mathematical knowledge logically and thoroughly to help them achieve deep understanding. While this approach is unfamiliar to those of us who grew up memorizing mathematical facts and formulas, it has been tested and proven to be the most successful method in the world. Eureka Math connects math to the real world in ways that take the fear out of math and build student confidence—helping students achieve true understanding lesson by lesson and year after year. Click the logo get additional information about this curriculum from their website. https://greatminds.org/math

Melissa Russell, M. Ed. is a dedicated educator with certification in both early childhood and elementary education. She has a Master of Education degree focusing on Curriculum and Instruction from Lesley University and holds an undergraduate degree double majoring in psychology and education from Mount Holyoke College, where she graduated with honors. She has taught in both formal (classroom) and informal (museum) educational settings where she has honed her expertise in inquiry-based education, STEM-related curriculum development, and museum education. Since 2010, Melissa has led numerous education initiatives for Heritage Museums & Gardens that have helped build its reputation as a prominent outdoor education center. Melissa was head of curriculum development for children ages 2-10 for the Hidden Hollow™ nature discovery area, developed numerous museum-wide programs for families, and helped design and lead teachers’ workshops emphasizing STEM and nature education at an early age. As a museum administrator, she was responsible for training and supervising 25 museum educators working in all content areas of the museum. Melissa is the founding director of The Hundred Acre School at Heritage Museums & Gardens where, through her leadership, museum galleries have been transformed into a state of the art STEM-focused school that is the pinnacle of best practice.
Contact Melissa at mrussell@heritagemuseums.org

Kori Bardige, MS. Ed., is an early childhood consultant. She completed her undergraduate degree in psychology at Lawrence University and her Master’s in Special Education from Simmons College. She has taught in both self-contained and inclusive public preschool and child care programs. After leaving the classroom, she began developing training programs and providing professional development to child care providers throughout Maryland. She was the principal investigator on two large grants to improve child care quality in Maryland. She also worked as a Preschool Special Education Consultant in New Jersey, providing training and technical assistance to public preschool programs on behalf of the New Jersey Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. Now back in Massachusetts, Kori opened Learning Circle Consulting and provides training, coaching, and mentoring to school districts, child care programs, home visitors, and families focused on scaffolding learning, engaging curiosity, and teaching through play. Her primary goal is to encourage teachers to become more reflective and intentional in their practice by using assessment data to plan their curriculum and instruction and scaffold playful interactions. She offers educators a variety of tools to elicit children’s questions that enhance learning experiences and capitalize on children’s curiosity, and engage them in exploration, inquiry, experimentation, and productive play.