What do we mean when we say: Learning is Serious Delight? We mean that our classrooms are places where children truly love school! What does it mean to love school? Loving school indicates a positive attachment to the people and experiences of school, to the content and the curriculum of what and how you are learning, that your needs are met, and often your wants/hopes have optimum space to be nurtured.
At Uni Primary, we welcome the whole child--their head, their heart, their body, and their spirit. Children are playful (and we must protect their right to play), children are competent (and we must provide them with opportunities to demonstrate and develop competencies), and children are curious (and we must listen and bring their curiosity into the curriculum; this is an exciting task for our teachers)! Our hope is that children at Uni Primary learn to engage in classroom communities where they advocate for their needs and the needs of others, where they use their voice (not "turn their voices off") to speak up and speak out, where they develop healthy skepticism and healthy trust, and ultimately, where they thrive as a participant and citizen of humanity!
University Primary School’s philosophy is that young children are best served by teaching and curriculum practices that strengthen and support their intellectual growth and development, initiate them into basic skills which grow and mature in meaningful contexts, challenge them to increase their proficiency in intellectual processes as well as academic tasks, and at the same time and with the same importance, foster the development of their social and emotional understandings.
University Primary School’s mission is to create an exceptional and loveable school experience for children, families, and edcators. We are an innovative research and teacher training site for University of Illinois College of Education faculty, graduate students, preservice teachers, student volunteers, community colleagues, and visiting scholars interested in the ways children and teachers learn and develop. University Primary School is a Reggio Emilia-inspired Preschool-5th grade school, demonstrating inquiries and actions in pursuit of a democratic educational journey.