Our social studies encompasses several themes -- people, their physical environment, interdependence, community structure, cultural similarities and differences. In the pre-k through 1st grade, social studies units are driven by themes that are meaningful to young children -- family, home, things that go, people's jobs, school, neighborhood.
Each study begins by asking the open ended question, "What do you want to find out about this topic?" and is followed by the question, "How will we find the answers to all of these questions?" The children's questions provide a springboard for our studies.
We read non-fiction books related to the topic of study and we go on field trips around the neighborhood and surrounding community to provide the children with direct, concrete experiences. In the classroom, the children reconstruct experiences using a variety of materials blocks, paint, clay, collage, sand, water, dramatic play. In culminating activities, the children apply what they have learned to further solidify their understanding of key concepts. The pre-k classes open a shoe store in the dramatic play area, kindergartners turn their room into a bread bakery that is open to the entire school community for business, the first graders sell produce at their classroom produce market, 2nd and 3rd graders make a museum to present all they've learned about the Long Island Sound.
The second through fourth grades learn through direct experience with trips and interviews, but they are also mature enough and have the skills to handle resources such as books, the internet, and museums. Studies in these grades gradually move away from the "here and now" to the "long ago and far away." The children demonstrate what they have learned through murals, dioramas, models, artifacts, or dramatics. Over time increased emphasis is put on the process of research to find answers: selecting a topic, gathering information, organizing it and integrating it for a final presentation.
Throughout each core social studies there are opportunities to integrate other disciplines -- reading, writing, math, art, science. Sometimes a science study will be a central focus and the social studies are related to it. For example, in addition to studying the plant and animal life in the Long Island Sound, students learn about how people have made a living around it, how to make maps, how people have played a role in its pollution.