NSF grant is one of Warner's biggest

French

Lucia French, associate professor at the school, will establish two pilot sites where children learn in an inquiry-based science environment. The three-year NSF grant acknowledges the importance of the preschool science curriculum and its potential for national significance.

"The daily routine and the classroom layout look like a regular preschool program," said French of her ScienceStart! Curriculum, "but science is the hub around which the teacher's and children's activities are organized. Science meets every child's need to understand the world through active investigation."

The grant will support work to refine the curriculum--which was developed by French five years ago at a preschool program at Third Presbyterian Church in Rochester--and make it useful to teachers working with it for the first time. The grant also will be used to test the curriculum at other sites and create methods to document children's progress while they participated in the Demonstration Project.

French serves as the coordinator of the Demonstration Project, which is part of the Third Church Early Childhood Programs. The project is a significant site for research and encompasses the classrooms where some 36 preschoolers use the ScienceStart! Curriculum.

French's focus is quite different from early childhood programs that scatter science activities throughout a program's schedule. She has established a curriculum that embraces science--and the cycle of inquiry that advances science--as an essential part of the preschool experience.

Her approach also includes a strong component of parent involvement. Children take home Science ZipKits with open-ended activities for the evening. Then, science celebrations are scheduled at school to promote interaction between parents and children, as well as family literacy nights designed for reading and working on activities.

In particular, French's approach has been effective for children at risk for school failure. By offering girls and minority students an early and highly positive introduction to science (and also by involving their parents in science activities), the curriculum enhances their future interest in science.

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