Kindergarten students from Little Bay Primary School visited the Early Scholars Academy on February 14, 2013. The facility was designed to improve the school readiness of young children through science, math, literacy, language, and technology. Highly qualified specialists guided students through creative encounters using a research based curriculum.
In the “All Around the World” pod, students visited the “Tropical” room. This room was a tropical habitat filled with native plants; animals, insects and rain forest background audio to simulate the jungle. Musical instruments common in the tropics were placed throughout the space to allow the children to explore and create different types of music. The next experience was the “Polar” room. In this room, students experienced a large wall mural of snow covered mountains, floating icebergs, and sounds of cold polar winds. Penguins, tents, camping supplies, weather stations, a bush airplane overhead, interactive screens, and audio/video enhancements engaged children in numerous imaginative activities. The last room was the “Ocean” room. In this room, a large yellow submarine took center stage on a sandy ocean bottom floor with a sea level mural overhead. Children boarded the submarine for a simulated dive in the deep ocean, observing and interacting with many types of sea life shown on monitors in the sub's "windows." Along with a touch tank and aquarium this center created a realistic underwater adventure.
The other Pod, “Destination Exploration," consisted of the Space, Earth, and Community Rooms. In the Space Room, a large spacecraft for boarding and pretend travel to the surface of Mars fascinated children as they entered this future world. The Mars-textured floor, spinning planets, star-filled walls, A/V interactive video simulated space travel, Mars rovers and Landers, and other space toys ignited young imaginations. Next in the Earth Room, the students learned about the Earth and its elements. They explored a water table, rock viewer, fire wall, wind tunnels, and large rotating globes. Finally the Community Room featured the world of travel through play. A large travelscape was lit to simulate both day and night. Brightly colored cars, trains, helicopters, hot air balloons, houses, and skyscrapers provided the setting for an unlimited number of self-directed learning activities.
Children’s horizons were broadened in ways that many would not otherwise experience prior to first grade.