In Ms. Clearfield's class, 4K students are preparing for kindergarten and beyond.
Early childhood education has proven benefits, including narrowing the academic disparity between students from different socio-economic background, preparing students for school, and lowering the state's achievement gap.
One of the main focuses of Hillsboro's early education program is on social and emotional development of its 4K students. Skills like sharing, helping, listening, and respecting one another have a proven impact on individual well-being throughout school and into adulthood.
Developmental milestones, like pattern recognition, are learned through play-based approaches. Once Ms. Clearfield's students understood the logical repetition in patterns, they had an opportunity to stack, sort, and count blocks and bears in order to create their own unique designs.