The Creative Curriculum® is a hands-on, project-based approach to education that incorporates real life experiences into the learning process. MECK Pre-K students spend each day learning, practicing real life skills and expanding their knowledge. Teachers are trained to follow a child’s interests, build on previous knowledge, and provide real world experience based on that knowledge.

• Teachers use a variety of interactive activities to engage children in learning. In the course of a lesson, they will engage children in group conversations about what they already know, what they want to know, and what they have ultimately learned. This encourages curiosity and problem solving as well as learning.

• Mighty Minutes® turn every minute of the day into a learning opportunity. Teachers use these short and playful songs, chants, rhymes, movements, and games to teach language, literacy, math, science, social studies, and physical skills throughout the day.

• Children participate in fun, hands-on activities that integrate their learning objectives with other skills. For example, children learning about clothing may design and create their own scarf by measuring a piece of fabric, cutting it, and putting it on.

MECK Pre-K uses a variety of methods to inform our approach and evaluate our program. One such method is the BRIGANCE® Early Childhood Screener, which evaluates key predictors of school success across several developmental domains. We conduct an assessment at the beginning of each year, and this data helps us to create lesson plans tailored to students’ needs. We conduct a second assessment at the end of the year to tell us how children have progressed.