Early childhood education (ECE) is critical to student success. ECE or early learning refers to education from birth to 8 years of age. 

It’s why Sprig Learning creates holistic early literacy and numeracy programs for pre-K to 3. 

Holistic learning focuses on the development of the whole child — mental, physical, emotional and spiritual.

The mental, or cognitive, aspect of learning development includes both literacy and numeracy, two of the fundamental recognized domains of early childhood development. 

Sprig’s holistic learning approach emphasizes early literacy and numeracy, to establish a robust learning foundation which highly correlates to increased student outcomes, greater attendance rates, and ultimately graduation. 

Besides focusing on the essentials of oral language and math, there are many other reasons why holistic learning strengthens early learning. 

One of the major reasons is holistic learning’s connection to differentiated instruction, which enables educators to personalize learning for every early child. Sprig’s holistic assessments help educators identify the unique strengths, needs and learning interests of every child. 

Here are 11 more reasons why holistic learning suits early learning so well.

 

Holistic Learning Does These 11 Things for Early Learning

Listed below are 11 qualities or characteristics of holistic learning that make it so conducive to foster growth and success in early learners. 

Sprig Learning elaborates on each reason, being the forerunner in the field of early holistic learning in education. 

Its program capabilities are cited to demonstrate how early learning is affected in each case.

 

1. Makes great academic gains by creating a school culture where students feel valued and where learning is experiential and engaging.

Like anyone else, early learners need connection. Young students who report a stronger sense of school belonging are more likely to hold higher education aspirations.

With Sprig, learning is a two-way dialogue. Learning activities in Sprig programs encourage students to experience the world and engage with their educators. 

When assessing students, it’s done by way of an engaging conversation that does not feel like a chore, or even a test. 

This comfortable learning environment helps early learners stay engaged in school.

 

2. Provides better learning opportunities for disadvantaged children to narrow the education opportunity gap.

The loss of learning during the pandemic was most pronounced among socioeconomically disadvantaged students and schools.

Sprig Learning’s programs are designed to reduce both explicit and implicit bias that exists in early learning. There are many ways this can be accomplished, but two prominent ones are by the use of technology during assessments to limit potential human bias, and by creating culturally responsive educational materials.

Every early learner, irrespective of their background and circumstance, can benefit from a unique learning path suited to maximize their learning potential. 

 

3. Is designed for a full day of school.

Full-day school and preschool programs are associated with greater gains in cognitive and social-emotional development and school readiness. 

Sprig Learning programs include preparation and collaboration time for teachers, learning blocks for literacy, math and other subjects, and end of the day dismissal. 

They fit seamlessly into the teacher’s schedule, which allows teachers to spend high-quality instructional time with early learners. 

 

4. Creates an authentic feedback loop with students, families and the community.

Due to the formative period of growth early learners go through, they require a high degree of collaboration from those around them, to ensure the right steps are taken in order for them to succeed.

It’s possible to increase participation in learning conversations in school by 40 percentage points and more, by reframing the relationship between teacher, student and parents as having shared accountability of student learning, regardless of their language background.

Sprig Learning programs allow educators to communicate with and receive feedback from the families and communities of students. 

 

5. Facilitates learning recovery for returning students.

The concept of learning recovery has become prominent due to the pandemic. 

Sprig programs were built to identify needs and address any learning loss that typically occurs during the summer. 

To help remedy this, Sprig’s holistic assessments gather new insights about students that are often overlooked and which may have changed during periods when learning loss is likely to have occurred. 

 

6. Addresses longstanding inequities in our education system.

Holistic learning is a game changer. But it is also inclusive. If not, it would be one more wedge between the haves and have nots, leading to a disparity in education quality.

Since the beginning, Sprig aims to provide high-quality and equitable learning that reaches all students, regardless of their background.

This includes minority students, students from low-income families, Indigenous students, students with learning and thinking differences, and students whose first language is not English. 

 

7. Allows early learners to stay on track academically during difficult times.

Holistic learning is comprehensive in terms of what it measures. Educators and administrators are able to comb through relevant information to notice subtle warning signs. 

Especially in early learning, it’s important to look beyond yearly report cards. Other factors have to be considered, such as participation from the student, parent involvement, etc. All of these things contribute to academic achievement.

Sprig Learning will always provide up-to-date reports on students that show if they are performing below level, at level or above level.  

Teachers may adopt instruction and intervention strategies as necessary to help every young student improve.

 

8. Aligns instructional materials to standards in literacy, mathematics and social studies.

Holistic learning is an approach to education that focuses on both the instruction and the content. 

Many communities across North America are revising their curricula to implement changes that are more reflective of the language, history and culture of communities. 

Sprig Learning’s programs are, or can be, aligned to the local curriculum.

 

9. Uses curriculum to reflect the experiences and interests of marginalized communities.

Holistic learning is aligned to a broad spectrum of curricula not out of necessity, but because of its inclusive nature. 

Sprig Learning’s programs affirm and develop students’ identities and empathy for others. They include a diverse set of authors and perspectives.

Young learners see themselves reflected in the textbooks, and are able to understand the rich and varied history of their communities. 

 

10. Creates affirming, student-centered learning experiences.

Holistic learning puts the student at the center, where they are immersed into a learning experience.  

Sprig Learning programs fuel creativity by building stories embedded with audio and visual components, supporting learning in the classroom, home and in the community.

They balance and enhance use of essential materials, activities and interactions to teach early learners. 

 

11. Ensures parental involvement.

Parents are perhaps the biggest ally in early childhood education outside of the school setting. Holistic learning always incorporates the viewpoints of parents.

With Sprig Learning, parents are able to do teacher recommended activities with their children at home. 

In non-affiliated Sprig schools, parents can still download the Sprig Home app and take an assessment to get recommended activities. 

They can earn badges together to work on weekly goals, and fit learning activities into their daily schedule. It is fun to observe the child’s learning tree grow as more activities are completed. 

 

 Holistic Learning — An Approach to Early Learning.

It’s said that equity-focused school leaders consider alternative instructional approaches (such as culturally responsive teaching) to meet the learning needs of all students in the building, regardless of age or background.

Early learners are especially vulnerable as a lot hangs on their experience in the first few years of the school system.

High-quality early childhood education is more than an ideal, in fact National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) call it an essential investment. 

It calls for a strengthening of the connections between early childhood programs, school districts and elementary schools that creates a continuum of high-quality learning for children. 

Holistic learning is one of the leading approaches that help school leaders to collaborate with childhood education providers, services providers, educators and families. 

We hope these 11 reasons demonstrate how holistic learning provides the knowledge and capacity to serve early learners.   

It allows for better pre-K to grade 3 alignment, and lets young students flourish in a system that is truly designed for them! 

If you have any questions about the application of holistic learning, please let us know. 

In school districts across Canada and the US, there is a standardized assessment delivered at the end of grade 3 or grade 4 which often represents the first standardized assessment in the early years. 

It also often marks the end of the primary school years.

But in fact, a lot of the time, early childhood education begins with an assessment!

Sprig Learning designs holistic assessments and creates early learning resources that raise the quality of education in pre-K to 3. 

By holistically assessing every young student in the early stages of their education, it’s possible to gather the insights needed to improve student outcomes and enrich the learning experience for all students.

 

The Prevalence of the Early Childhood Assessment

In this table from the Education Commission of the States, we see that not all states have mandatory kindergarten entrance assessments. 

The states that do mandate such assessments, have diagnostic screenings or readiness assessments that are either developed or approved by the department of education. 

35 out of the 37 states who use kindergarten entry assessments (KEA) say that the data gathered is used to inform instruction. 

The following details are provided for the recommended uses of KEAs.

• Identify students in need of remediation, intervention and/or enrichment.
• Develop a school readiness plan for each student.
• Identify and provide intensive instruction to students with reading deficiencies.

That is the extent of specificity in detailing how the KEAs are to be used. 

As a result, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research, there are many educators who find these assessments “overly burdensome with inadequate content to successfully inform teaching”.

Early childhood assessments need to be easily administered to students and include high-quality content that informs classroom instruction. 

Content and structure are the themes of recommendations in the following sections.

 

Considerations in Early Childhood Assessment

​​The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) says that “developmentally appropriate assessments can provide the information needed to strengthen high-quality early childhood programs and early elementary programming.”

NAEYC recommends that rather than early childhood assessments being used solely as screening tools, they should also be used to inform pre-K and kindergarten programs, curricula and individual instruction.

There is consensus that early childhood assessments should be conducted in a classroom setting. It should be conducted formatively, using everyday work and behaviour.

The Learning Policy Institute recommends that high-quality early childhood assessments:

• measure essential domains of child development in ways that are developmentally appropriate and culturally relevant.
• connect to formative assessment across preschool to grade 3.
• have administration procedures that are fair for all children and practical for teachers.
• yield results that are valid for all children being assessed.

 

On Content

Sprig Learning’s holistic assessments measure what early learners know, but more importantly the type of actionable information needed to differentiate instruction for students of different:

• learning interests 
• learning strengths
• learning styles
• backgrounds (cultural, socioeconomic, ethnic)

 

On Structure

Sprig Learning’s holistic assessments are delivered in a way that is playful and engaging for the student and easy to administer for educators – naturally aligning with classroom schedules.

In order to best assess early learners, the following things need to be considered: control (children led vs adult led), perspectives (one point of view vs multiple points of view), frequency (once vs ongoing) and timeline (diagnostic vs standardized). 

Sprig Learning’s holistic assessments are led by educators, take multiple perspectives into account to gain a comprehensive understanding of the student’s learning, happen multiple times in a year, and are used to inform classroom instruction.

Both diagnostic assessments and subsequent formative assessments are included in its holistic formative assessment structure.

 

Types of Early Childhood Assessment

Which types of assessment are ideally suited for early learning? 

To answer this question, it’s best to look at the recommendations provided by early childhood education institutes mentioned above, but also evaluate all the different types of assessments that exist.

In early learning, assessments can be conducted through:

 

Diagnostic Screenings: assesses the current situation and benchmark performance.

Observations: where educators keep note of the developmental progress of young students.

Portfolios: which store all the work early learners produce over a period of time.

Rubrics: helps teachers and/or parents evaluate the acquired understanding of important learning concepts.

 

Holistic learning incorporates all four. 

Educators bear some responsibility in helping students make sense of their worlds. Understanding the whole child leads to quality in education.

Holistic assessments diagnose all aspects of the child’s development – emotional, physical, spiritual and intellectual.

Based on this holistic understanding of a child’s needs, strengths and interests, learning activities are recommended to the student, which are completed and modified throughout the school year.

All of this work is monitored on student portfolios. Educators and parents are able to keep tabs on each student by observing their progress.

At any point of time, parents and other caregivers are able to support complementary learning at home and provide information that will be essential in modifying instruction. 

In a holistic learning approach, educators are able to facilitate the strengths of the early learner, give them freedom to explore and learn on their own, but also gather information that is essential to understanding their learning needs. 

 

The Right Early Learning Assessment

In summary, with increased accountability in public education, early childhood educators have to use assessments to: 

1. Identify students’ learning needs
2. Guide instruction
3. Measure student growth towards academic standards

In many states in the US and provinces across Canada, kindergarten is not mandatory. 

But in places where it is mandatory, high-quality early learning has a tremendous impact on learning, of which effective early years assessments play a vital role.

Over 70% of school leaders say that technology plays an integral role and is important in realizing wider strategic priorities. There are so many recommendations to cover when deciding the right assessment tool. Some of these suggestions are best applied by leveraging technology. 

Integrating holistic assessment practices in the early years has shown to increase student learning outcomes. 

To learn more about how holistic assessments can be used to assess early learners, please get in touch with us.