Bloom Early Education Curriculum: Nurturing Lifelong Learners

Bloom Early Learning & Child Care champions the belief that every child deserves a nurturing start, emphasizing early learning as the foundation for future success. Bloom's curriculum is designed to be integrated and adaptable, catering to the unique needs of each child.

Integrated Curriculum Design

Teachers at Bloom create theme-based weekly lesson plans, informed by ongoing assessments of each child. An inclusive care approach ensures that individual interests and developmental needs are considered, creating real-life learning experiences within the classroom.

Addressing Individual Needs

Bloom's Toddler Program is specifically designed for children between 16 and 36 months. This program recognizes the significant growth in language and social skills during this period. As toddlers test boundaries and assert independence, the program supports their communication and socialization with parents, teachers, and peers.

Preparing for Kindergarten

The Preschool Program introduces children to the next steps in early learning, focusing on kindergarten readiness. As children turn three, they become more aware of their role in the world and increase social interactions. By age four, they begin to master the skills needed for kindergarten success.

Bloom’s Preschool Program offers resources designed to help children explore science, social studies, writing, reading, phonics, and math through discovery-based activities.

Read also: Nurturing Young Minds

Curriculum Components

Bloom's curriculum is centered upon The Creative Curriculum®, emphasizing exploration and discovery as a way of learning.

Social-Emotional Learning

Second Step® Social-Emotional Learning is incorporated to teach social-emotional and self-regulation skills needed for success in kindergarten and beyond.

Nutrition Education

Lessons from Learning About Nutrition through Activities (LANA) encourage children to make healthy food choices through fun experiences.

Character Development

The Virtues Project® emphasizes basic values that build character and responsibility.

Learning Environment

Bloom believes children learn best when engaged, so the curriculum extends into the physical space. Each classroom is set up to complement the ages and interests of the children. The classrooms are filled with toys, mirrors, large pictures, and baskets full of books.

Inquiry-Based Learning and Questioning Techniques

Bloom's pedagogy emphasizes inquiry, critical thinking, and high-level questioning to stimulate learning and extend children's comprehension.

Stimulating Thought Through Questioning

Teachers are encouraged to vary the types of questions they ask, moving beyond basic recall to promote deeper and more complex learning.

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Bloom’s Taxonomy, including remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating, is used to guide questioning techniques. The taxonomy encourages teachers to ask higher-level questions that require deeper thinking.

Adapting to Developmental Stages

Teachers can use Bloom’s Taxonomy to ask preschoolers higher-level questions. Through observation and assessment, teachers track each child’s skills. By asking higher-level questions and documenting the answers, teachers can reflect on children’s growth throughout the year.

Practical Application

Teachers write questions on index cards, color-coding each level for easy reference. They choose favorite stories and create questions using Bloom’s levels of questioning as a guide for each book.

Learner Agency and Wonder

As a learner-centered school, Bloom emphasizes wonder in the hearts and minds of learners. When learners wonder, they invite feelings of awe and respect, leading to appreciation and a sense of responsibility.

Encouraging Curiosity

Learners are encouraged to wonder about their interests, making learning easy and exciting. Bloom sparks wonder through discussion around personal interests, questions, goals, and dreams.

Resources and Materials

Bloom provides a variety of guest speakers, experiments, thought-provoking inquiry, puzzles, stories, challenges, and technology to support learning. Learners have the space and freedom to open and expand, practicing curiosity and flexible thinking.

Skill Development

As children explore their ideas, they naturally expand their skills in language arts, mathematics, the scientific method, and critical thinking. Bloom staff support movement to higher personal skill levels.

Project-Based Learning (PBL)

Through Project-Based-Learning (PBL), learners follow a set process to research, create, demonstrate, and share their knowledge.

PBL Process

The PBL process includes:

Defining the problem
Doing research
Identifying resources
Collaborating and communicating with others
Overcoming challenges and failures
Presenting and communicating
Reflecting and revising

Benefits of PBL

PBL is multi-disciplinary and engages high cognitive levels, providing opportunities for deep learning. It is intrinsically motivating and brings joy and wonder to the classroom. PBL empowers learners to become aware of their environment and community. They learn effective communication, problem-solving skills, and how to collaborate to reach a goal.

Core Areas of Learning

In addition to core areas, children at Bloom have frequent opportunities for movement, nature, unstructured play, art, music, and restorative practices like contemplation and reflection.

Language Arts

Younger students at Bloom learn to read with instruction in the UFLI Science of Reading curriculum. Older learners engage meaningfully with literature each week. Bloom uses the Structured Writer’s Workshop model to teach and practice writing skills.

Math

With a constructivist approach to mathematics, students develop their own meaning and methods. Learning Guides use specific types of questioning to draw out concept comprehension. Curriculum may include Miquon Math, DK Math, Zearn, or Khan Academy.

Science + Sustainability

Children dive deep into topics based on their interests. Learning Guides introduce topics, questions, problems, or ideas and assist in the exploration towards understanding with critical thinking, information literacy, and the scientific method.

Social Sciences

At Bloom, developing reflective skills and emotional mastery is a daily practice. Students learn about themselves, then expand outward to family and friends, the local community, the country, and other communities around the world. Bloom uses The Social Justice Standards as a framework for anti-bias education.

Learning Guides

Bloom staff are “Learning Guides” who assist kids to stay with their chosen activity or take a break when needed; to help problem solve, troubleshoot, and brainstorm; to help mediate conflict and work with emotions; to challenge when necessary and nurture when needed. Learning Guides carefully observe each child and thoughtfully assist them in following their customized learning path towards their individual learning goals. Learning Guides are available daily for verbal updates, and at conferences where parents are also provided written reports on their child’s progress and readiness for new challenges.

Transition to Other Learning Environments

When a child’s path leads to a different learning environment, the transition would be similar to that of a student changing schools. Bloom will provide all necessary documents to families.

Hands-on Learning and Enrichment

With a balanced approach that combines a well-developed curriculum and hands-on learning, Bloom strives to make learning FUN! Children work toward developmental milestones and school readiness using engaging, age-appropriate activities designed to teach specific skills.

Hands-on Activities

In addition to teacher-planned activities, the Curriculum Coordinator creates hands-on learning activities for each age group that focus on building literacy, language, phonemic awareness, math, and problem-solving skills.

Enrichment Classes

Every week, students participate in Music & Movement to build gross motor skills. In addition, each month they rotate through additional specials like cooking, gardening, and science.

Bloom's Transformation in Early Education

Bloom has shifted its focus to helping early education professionals uncover the truths behind how children grow and develop. Classrooms have been transformed, with children becoming explorers and teachers responding to learning needs with their own insights. Bloom understands that all children are capable learners with a natural desire to understand the world.

Blossom and Root Early Years Curriculum

Blossom and Root Early Years Vol. 1 is designed for learners ages 2 - 4. It is secular, hands-on, developmentally appropriate, joy-filled, low-pressure, and affordable. The curriculum is adaptable and flexible to support family rhythms and a child’s unique needs. It is also low-prep, typically requiring less than half an hour to prepare each week.

Curriculum Details

The curriculum includes artists such as Vincent van Gogh, Yayoi Kusama, Mary Cassatt, Paul Klee, Tarsila do Amaral, Albert Namatjira, Harriet Powers, Horace Pippin, and Jackson Pollock. Weekly prompts encourage kindness, community, and care. Hands-on prompts in the kitchen help develop fine motor control, encourage family connection, and build self-confidence. Lessons are short, typically around ten minutes long. Early Years Vol. 1 is designed for younger learners who are not yet ready to focus on letters, letter sounds, and numbers.

Supplementing the Curriculum

Parents can supplement the program with workbooks, apps, and computer games. They can also add a favorite Bible study to make it work for their family.

About the Author

Kristina Garner, the voice of Blossom & Root, wrote the Early Years curriculum for parents looking for an early education for their child with an emphasis on nature, the arts, quality literature, and a hands-on approach to learning. She has a B.A. in theatre from the University of Colorado at Denver, is ECE teacher and director certified, and spent over 15 years working with children in a variety of educational settings.

Professional Development with Bloom’s Taxonomy

Bloom Early Education Center provides families the best infant care. As a longtime provider of professional development for early childhood educators, Bloom uses Bloom’s Taxonomy to create a framework that promotes adult learning and higher-order thinking skills.

Reconceptualizing Workshops

Bloom designs workshops to intentionally spiral, revisiting key concepts repeatedly with additional ways to extend or expand those ideas. This spiral design allows participants to deepen their understanding and use higher-order thinking skills to further their knowledge, apply ideas, evaluate, and create new knowledge.

Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy

Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy includes: Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, and Create as the keys to acquiring knowledge. Workshops are constructed by selecting overarching goals for what knowledge and experience participants will learn.

Workshop Structure

Workshops begin with assessing participants' prior knowledge. Content is presented as an upward spiral, building from remember and understand to apply, analyze, evaluate, and create. Participants revisit activities to integrate new information with previous experiences.

Promoting Higher-Order Thinking

Prior to closing the workshop, participants reflect upon their own learning to consider what next steps they want to take. A simple 3-2-1 activity is used, where participants write down three things they want to remember, two things they learned or still have questions about, and one thing they want to do when they get back to their program.

Outcomes

Providing repeated opportunities for participants to apply and reflect upon new knowledge at higher levels of the taxonomy leads to a shift from, “This is fun” to, “Wow, I learned something I’m excited to use in my classroom.” Participants move from listening to being active and engaged.

Infant Care at Bloom Early Education Center

Bloom Early Education Center provides families the best infant care, enrolling infants as young as 6 weeks old. It is important for your infant to have consistent caregivers so you can take comfort in knowing that the teachers in our infant room have both worked with us for over a decade. Our teachers have extensive and on-going training in pediatric first aid, infant care and curriculum. Infants are assessed on their level of development; teachers take this information and work to have the babies reach the next milestone. They read stories and sing songs to enhance the babies’ language skills. You won’t see infants waiting in cribs here at Bloom Early Education Center. Rather, our attentive caregivers always make a lot of time for hugs, snuggles and bonding. So you can expect your baby to get lots of tummy time. We make sure that the babies in our care are active all throughout their waking hours, exploring and learning about their environment. Our center is also equipped with a safe floored outdoor area, so the babies get outside time often as well.

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