At Desert Spring, we ask ourselves, “What do children have a right to explore?”
We have adopted this outline of themes that children will explore over their years at Desert Spring. We expect these possibilities to be inspired and expressed uniquely by the identity of individual children, their classroom communities, in the relationships formed with and among educators, and by our presence living here in the University West neighborhood of Tucson in the Borderlands of the Sonoran Desert.
Themes children have a right to explore
- Constructing identity; mine and others
- Building community and relationships
- Messages: inventing symbols and exploring ways to communicate
- Environmental Projects: projects inspired by children’s interests and questions
- Daily Living and Routine Projects: projects that grow out of daily routines and rituals such as meals, naps, cleaning up, etc.
- Self-directed projects: projects designed to be available to children at most times of the day that they can work on without assistance