The Warner School’s science-based preschool curriculum project, ScienceStart!, has been making big changes in the way young children are taught—and it hasn’t gone unnoticed. Recently, when the Sesame Street television program needed national experts for its upcoming season, it turned to Warner’s ScienceStart! team for help.

Sesame Street contacted Lucia French, associate professor in teaching and curriculum and counseling and human development—and the mastermind behind the ScienceStart! curriculum—for help on its programming. The children’s show was planning to focus its next season on the concepts of science, nutrition, and physical activity. Along with Kathy Conezio, Warner doctoral student and research associate, French traveled to New York City to give a presentation to Sesame Street’s 80-person creative staff of scriptwriters, artists, musicians, and songwriters.

For their presentation, French and Conezio discussed the importance of understanding that science education involves learning concepts, learning and practicing problem-solving skills, and relating this knowledge to everyday life—all key components of the ScienceStart! curriculum.

ScienceStart! is a unique program that capitalizes on children’s natural curiosity about the world around them and uses science as a vehicle to develop language, literacy, and school readiness skills among preschoolers. “Science meets every child’s need to understand the world through active investigation,” explains French.

French began the curriculum several years ago and has received more than $1.5 million in support from the National Science Foundation and U.S. Department of Education to write and field test the program.

The Department of Education grant made it possible for the ScienceStart! staff to work locally with 30 programs, 98 teachers, 61 paraprofessionals, and 2,258 children over the course of three years. During that time, more than $110,000 in books, supplies, and equipment was provided to Rochester-area preschool programs.

ScienceStart! differs from most early childhood programs that squeeze scattered science activities throughout a child’s schedule. The curriculum embraces science—and the cycle of inquiry that advances it—as an essential part of the preschool experience. “It is a child-centered classroom where children learn through guided discovery,” says Nancy Forand, ScienceStart! project manager.

Classrooms following the ScienceStart! curriculum use science as the basis for everything children do during their day. For example, in an exercise to learn about magnification, children use a plastic cup, plastic wrap, and water to create a magnifying glass that gives them the ability to look at objects they place in the cup. In another hands-on exercise, they use food coloring to learn about color mixing, primary colors, and how to predict color changes. Through both exercises, children learn new concepts and language skills.

Preschoolers in these classrooms have made large gains in their language skills, particularly in vocabulary acquisition and the ability to give explanations. “Children are hungry for content at this age and by learning more concepts, they learn more vocabulary,” says French. The children have also made significant gains in their knowledge of science content and ability to engage in science processes, as documented by French. Teachers, administrators, and parents involved with the program have given overwhelmingly positive feedback.

ScienceStart! continues to gain momentum and broaden its impact. A new $3.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Early Reading First program creates a partnership between the Warner School and the Rochester Diocese Catholic Schools to establish Rochester preschools as centers of educational excellence. See related story.

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