Central Florida preschools look to boost learning by getting kids tinkering and building

A new program informed by Harvard University research is looking to improve preschool education in Central Florida by encouraging young children to assume a “maker mindset.”

Launched last month, the Empowering Communities to Shape Their Worlds program is an educational approach that relies on building and tinkering.

“The maker mindset is that there’s always a new and better way to produce and improve what we make,” said Marnie Forestieri, CEO of the Young Innovators Academy, whose three preschools in Orange and Seminole counties area are included in the program.

The Early Learning Coalition of Orange County is providing extra pay to 25 preschool teachers to learn and implement the educational approach at daycare centers that largely serve children from low-income families.

The initiative began at a research facility at the Harvard Graduate School of Education called Project Zero. For the last 12 years, researchers at the facility have been investigating ways in which a maker’s approach to learning could influence curriculums.

“It’s about getting kids to understand how objects and systems are designed, so they can feel empowered to hack or reshape those objects and systems,” said Edward Clapp, a principal researcher at Project Zero.

When Forestieri learned about Clapp’s work she began weaving it into the curriculum at her preschools. Then she invited Scott Fritz, CEO of the Early Learning Coalition of Orange County, to come watch it in action.

“When I went over there and looked at it, I was just thoroughly amazed because it was everything I wanted it to be for a school for children,” Fritz said.

In one of Forestieri’s lesson plans a teacher reads a story to the class about a turtle trying to cross a stream. The teacher then asks the students to think about how the turtle can get to the other side.

“That’s what it means to put the kid in the driver’s seat,” Forestieri said.

If a student says a bridge could be built for the turtle, the teacher will say, “okay, that’s a really great idea. Why don’t you go make it?” Forestieri explained.

Her classrooms include what she calls “maker’s centers,” which are equipped with cardboard boxes, blocks and other building materials.

“What we learn every day from kids is that they are super smart. We don’t have to go and tell them what to do, which is what teacher direct instruction is doing,” Forestieri said.

Alfreda Clark is center director at the West Lakes Early Learning Center and one of the educators participating in the program. Clark’s center sits near Camping World Stadium. She is excited that the program was extended to West Lakes and grateful for the extra funding it provided.

“The children at West Lakes are primarily from under-resourced families and under-resourced communities. So, this allows children who are here to receive similar opportunities that they would receive in other areas where families have everything they need,” said Clark.

The extra money means a boost in pay to $25 an hour for preschool teachers who in Florida earn an average of $17 an hour.

To kick off the program, Clapp and his colleagues came to Orlando to teach participating teachers about the educational approach. They plan to return three more times during the eight-month program.

In-between visits, teachers will host study group meetings, to share ideas and learn from each other.

“In this industry, everybody works like they’re on a small island. And we didn’t want that to happen. We wanted to share this,” said Forestieri.