NSU University School Preschool

School Highlights

To promote environmental stewardship, the Preschool created a new Outdoor Living Lab.  This schoolyard habitat, certified by the National Wildlife Federation, houses a variety of pollinating plants, edible vegetation, and a pond.  The Outdoor Living Lab is maintained by children and helps them learn about and appreciate their local ecosystems.  Equipment such as digital microscopes are introduced for field investigations and micro-science.

Curriculum Highlights

Environmental education is a major curriculum focus for all NSU University School Preschool children.  The carefully planned Spring and Growth experiences introduced in PK1, PK2, PK3, and Junior Kindergarten, for example, allow children to think, question, and develop hypotheses about the life cycles of plants and wildlife. In PK1 and PK2 children observed earthworms up close in soil-filled sensory bins. Children were taught that earthworms are not just exciting to observe, but they are also beneficial to soil and plant health. In PK3, children investigated plant roots and their functions.  They also explored the important role honeybees play in the process of plant pollination. In Junior Kindergarten, children used tweezers and magnifying glasses to dissect and study the structure of a variety of common flowers.  Children identified the stem, leaf, petal, stamen, pistil, and pollen, and used thinking maps to draw and label the various parts of their dissected flower. Junior Kindergarteners also learned the difference between insects and animals, and between destructive pests and helpful bugs.

Research Highlights 

In collaboration with the College of Psychology and two community-based early childhood programs in Broward and Palm Beach County, NSU University School Preschool is contributing to the Teacher Child Interaction Training (TCIT) research project. TCIT is adapted from Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), a widely used, evidence-based intervention to enhance children’s prosocial functioning and positive attention skills. Based on the success of PCIT, a school-based adaptation was created to improve functioning and positive relationships in the classroom. Teachers participating in the TCIT project learn to interact with children using skills based on play therapy but adapted to be used in a classroom setting.  In addition to didactic and practice-based strategies, TCIT uses in-vivo coaching to target skills in the classrooms. The goal of the TCIT research project is to evaluate the effectiveness of model’s prevention and intervention strategies when early childhood staff are coached in real-time.  Outcomes will, it is envisioned, be disseminated through publication in peer-reviewed journals in education and/or psychology.

Community Highlights

In continuance of Dr. Marilyn Segal’s mission to instill a love of literacy and support young children’s early reading success, NSU University School Preschool has implemented an annual Giving Tree Book Drive.  High-quality children’s literature is collected and donated to under-resourced children in the Broward community.  During its inaugural year, the Giving Tree Book Drive collected over 150 new picture books which were distributed to children enrolled in Jack and Jill Children’s Center (Home – Jack & Jill Center (jackandjillcenter.org).