Old Trail School

This winter, Ms. Diaz brought a large branch into our Atelier with a belief that children would find their own meaning in it. What begins as a found object can become months of deep inquiry.

Over the months that followed, Early Childhood students transformed that branch into a rainbow tree, a boat, a spider web, and eventually the starting point for a deep study of weaving and nest-building. They collected materials, worked in self-chosen committees, failed, and tried again. When an oriole nest was brought in for close study, one child looked carefully and said: "It went over and under." That observation guided everything that came next.

This is what process-based learning looks like in early childhood. When young children are given the freedom to explore without a predetermined outcome, they develop the habits of mind that matter most—curiosity, persistence and the confidence to try again after something doesn't work.