Early Childhood Learning Lab at Boston University

It is with heavy hearts that we let you know that the amazing and beloved ECLL has been permanently closed.

The Early Childhood Learning Lab has space available for the 2020-2021 school year!

The ECLL is a small open enrollment preschool located in the Wheelock College of Education & Human Development. Its purposes are to provide an exemplary play-based education for children ages 2.9 to 5 years (in a mixed-age group), and to serve as a pre-practicum site for Boston University’s Early Childhood Education majors.

Teachers plan curriculum and provision the environment based on their observations of what interests children. Insects, tools, plants, pets, and food preparation are among the many topics that have been investigated by children and teachers in the ECLL.

Please check our website for tuition information, the daily schedule, and the application form: www.bu.edu/wheelock/research-action/ecll

Early Childhood Learning Lab | Wheelock College of Education & Human Development

Curriculum Highlights

Our Daffodils have bloomed!
In the fall, children planted daffodil bulbs on the playpark. Children referred to a non-fiction book earlier in the year to learn that daffodil bulbs needed a long winter under the earth before they start to grow in the spring! This week, we were all so thrilled to see that the daffodils growing on our playpark have bloomed! Children have closely observed the daffodil flowers, made observational drawings and paintings of the flowers, counted how many daffodils have bloomed, and smelled the daffodils to see if they have a fragrance. In the next weeks, children will continue to observe the life cycle of the daffodil plants as the flowers and leaves eventually wilt. What will we plant next?

Fish Inquiry

When a particular interest bubbles up, teachers and children engage in in-depth investigations or "inquiries". Children observe, experiment, hypothesize, gather evidence, test solutions, refer to books, or may ask an expert.

Recently at the preschool, a group of children became interested in finding a suitable companion for our lone classroom fish.
Over a period of several weeks, these Ichthyologists, or fish experts, gathered information about our Zebra Danio fish to create a list of criteria for the companion fish. The new fish for instance could not have a long tail, as the Zebra Danio may bite long tails.
The Ichthyologists then compared the criteria to the characteristics of various fish species as well as their preferences, for example that the new fish should be colorful or sparkly.
They presented their findings to the class, and all the children voted on which of two kinds of fish they wanted to get.
After the vote, Ichthyologists and teachers took the train to the pet store, where they asked the pet store owner pertinent questions about the care of our new classroom pet. Our new fish, a Serpae Tetra, is now acclimating to it's new home.

Curriculum Highlights:

Beautiful Stuff…
Children and teachers are contributing Beautiful Stuff (recycled items from home) to our classroom collection. Children have been looking closely at the items and noticing their different characteristics. Some characteristics children have identified are: bumpy, shiny, colorful and soft. Examining the objects has been going on in the classroom, and now it is time to prepare the workshop downstairs for the next step - constructing with Beautiful Stuff. To get the workshop ready, children have been sorting the objects and putting them in labeled containers on the shelves in the workshop. This preparation makes it possible for children to know where they can get the items they need when it is time to work on their constructions.
While sorting the items into containers, some problems did arise. For example, if an item is both red and shiny, should it go in the container labeled, “RED” or the one labeled, “SHINY”? Children have many solutions for these problems, as well as reasons why their solution is the one that will work best!

Today is BU Giving Day! Your gift to the Early Childhood Learning Lab Scholarship Fund makes a huge difference. The ECLL scholarships provide children from our community access to our program and the opportunity to attend and thrive at the ECLL. BU Wheelock students also gain the experience of student teaching in a diverse preschool setting. Your donation supports our mission and the greater community – thank you!

Early Childhood Learning Lab Scholarship Fund - Boston University Giving Day The Early Childhood Learning Lab (ECLL) is an open enrollment preschool located in the Wheelock College of Education & Human Development. Its purposes are to provide an exemplary play-based education for children ages 2.9 to 5 years, and to serve as a pre-practicum site for Boston University’s Ear...

Curriculum highlight from this past week:
Teachers are always interested in observing children engaged in pretend play. It is through this activity that children demonstrate what interests them and what they know and wonder about. Many children have been acting out scenarios that involve “taking care". They take care of babies, pets, themselves and others by attending to an injured pet, putting a baby to bed, dressing themselves and babies, and preparing food for themselves and others.

Curriculum highlights from this past week:
A fall time tradition at the ECLL is the planting of daffodil bulbs in the outdoor garden beds. These flower bulbs were closely examined by the children this week.

Children shared their observations…
“This one has leaves on it,” said Pryce.
“This one doesn’t have any leaves,” observed Emmeline.
“There’s something inside here! It’s white,” Pryce said noticing the papery outer layer of the bulb coming off.
“This one’s pretty big. It’s bigger than all the others,” Emmeline said.
“I’m making a bulb shape,” Fiona said while drawing, “It’s pretty tricky.”
“It feels bumpy,” said Krish

We read a non-fiction book, “From Bulb to Daffodil,” and found out that after being underground all winter, these bulbs would sprout and grow daffodil flowers in the spring! Some children did observational drawings and everyone was eager to engage in the process of planting the bulbs. Children talked about the life cycle of daffodil flowers and what plants needed to grow.