Education Director: Betsy McArdle
Education director Betsy McArdle learned about Children’s Discovery Center while researching schools for her own daughter.
“It was the overall feel and commitment to an inquiry-based learning model that led us to immediately enroll our daughter,” she says. Since then, she’s watched the center grow and evolve.
“The environment was always so welcoming, so when there was an opportunity for me to become a part of the team, I jumped on it!” A public school educator for 12 years, Betsy has worked in general, special education and administration settings in four different states. An early childhood educator for Ohio’s Lakota Local School District, she was part of a team that visited Italy to gain experience with the Reggio framework.
“It was the start of a journey to learn these practices and strive to implement inquiry-based learning into every learning environment I was a part of, including with my own children. The encouragement of students to become investigators, risk-takers and communicators is why I’m so invested in growing this approach.”
In her new position, Betsy ensures lesson plans support state standards and incorporates National Association for the Education of Young Children best practices and behavior management strategies.
“I collaborate with teachers to plan Reggio-inspired projects and aid in creating aesthetically pleasing learning environments. In the classroom, I coach and model teaching techniques. I’m involved with both the Mt. Pleasant and Ohio campuses, so I share plans and ideas from center to center.”
With two children now attending the center, she is thrilled with the care, love and support they receive.
The children explored with pumpkins in many different ways. They explored through their sense of touch by feeling the outside and insides of a pumpkin. They smelled the inside of the pumpkin. They even painted with pumpkins and orange paint. They used their curiosity while exploring and I learned a lot about how they use their minds to explore.
Ms. Jen’s class took inspiration from the book, Poking, Pinching, & Pretending: Documenting Toddlers’ Explorations with Clay by Lella Gandini, which provided plenty of ideas for exploring clay. “Sensory activities like this open up a whole new world for children in this phase of development. We had so much fun!” says Ms. Jen.
Observing and listening to children before teaching them something they might learn on their own is key for Ms. Jen Dickson.
Throughout May, the Pre-Toddler B class completed a unit on plants and soil. During this unit of study, I noticed the children were most intrigued when water was incorporated into activities. Whether it was watering the plants in the Pre-Toddler garden, mixing soil and water to make “mud pies” or just washing their hands, the children loved splashing around in water.
What interested Ms. Caroline about teaching at CDC was the Reggio Emilia philosophy presented in a Christian environment. “Prior to CDC, I knew very little about the Reggio Emilia philosophy, but after researching both the philosophy and CDC’s organization, I knew this was a company I wanted to work for,” she says.
While still working through their Pirate project, I was able to introduce printmaking techniques to the Pre-K class. There had been a lot of conversation about treasure maps, so we observed a variety of examples and came up with a plan to create maps for themselves. They observed water, a compass, creatures in the water, an island, and of course an X to mark the spot. Students were given Styrofoam “linoleum plates” that could be “carved” with the pencil lines. They drew (carved) their islands and then using a breyer to roll on their ink, printed their islands onto their maps. The children truly paid close attention to detail while working on this project.
As the Pre-K class transitioned to their Christmas project, I took the opportunity to focus on color temperature and observational still life drawings. Students enjoyed picking out a still life of warm colors (reds, oranges and yellows) and cool colors (greens, blues and purples). One of my favorite techniques for young children is drawing with oil pastels and then painting over them with watercolors. The oil pastel lines resist the water and pop through the paint.
Using tissue paper and glue to cover their papers, students then added oil pastels over the textured surface to create the illusion of heat and rain drops. Some students even found random small objects around the atelier to add as a “big rain drop.”
Lastly, we had lots of fun creating Christmas ornaments out of model magic, cookie cutters, burlap and glitter!
Thankfully, my son Wesley will continue to attend CDC and I will remain a part of the family at this unique and wonderful school. I look forward to following the children’s progress through the rest of this year and am thrilled to pass the atelierista torch onto a dear friend of mine, Amy Sargent. Majoring in sculpture in college, having countless years experience in various children’s ministries, an artist husband and three precious little girls, Amy will surely be an AMAZING blessing to your children’s artistic education at CDC.