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DISCOVERIES

Why TransFor.Me Discoveries?
FIND IT OUT
Because it’s an inquiry-based learning collection that emphasizes the joy of observation and questioning! It encourages the search for answers to interesting questions and stimulates the joy of discovery while developing emotional intelligence. TransFor.Me Discoveries gives learners the opportunity to solve “mysteries” on their own and provides the instructor a selection of well thought out and logically arranged materials so they may conduct studies and foster discoveries. At this age, all children are naturally curious. Even before they can talk, they are able to observe, investigate, draw their own conclusions and communicating what they have learned.
For kids aged 2, 3, 4, and 5, TransFor.Me discoveries is a book collection with interactive elements, scientific activities, and emotional learning. Over the course of a year, students will participate in one activity once a week, for a total of 32 LESSONS.
Why is TransFor.Me Discoveries in English?

We know that mastering the English language means more than just having access to the language of international interactions! English proficiency provides a wider range of opportunities in career, access to culture or knowledge. When we talk about teaching English to children, we need to take into account the fact that during early childhood, a child’s brain has an incredible number of neurons available and for this reason demonstrates high plasticity for acquiring new knowledge. Therefore, just as with their first language, children learn better and faster through situations where they have to use the language authentically. For these reasons, we chose an English book for Early Childhood Education. This way, students will interact with the language not only to study how it works, but also to use it to explore their feelings and the world around them. We are not only teaching English, we are teaching other skills that will be highly relevant for their future.

Why inquiry-based learning?
Thanks to technology, we can now quickly answer almost any question. However, to help someone develop critical thinking and analytical skills, a learning methodology based solely on knowledge is no longer sufficient. We need to facilitate students’ learning experiences by allowing them to take charge of their own path of discovery rather than waiting for answers. To do this, we need to encourage the practice of observing the world, understanding its phenomena, asking questions, understanding problems, testing solutions, analyzing results and sharing discoveries. TransFor.Me Discoveries was developed based on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), a global curriculum reference created in the United States to address the need to train professionals and individuals with decision-making skills to help solve our current and future problems, such as technological disruptions and environmental challenges.
The TransFor.Me Discoveries Collection
Specially crafted for curious two-year-olds, this book helps students develop the habit of observing their own feelings and their environment. It introduces them to new experiences in a group setting, emphasizing play, teamwork, and kindness. The book establishes a sense of safety through pretend play about routines. It encourages sensory exploration, using our senses to learn about the world. The story also celebrates movement, promoting body awareness and spatial understanding. Through a diverse cast of characters, it teaches sign language and fosters attention for differences. It is na engaging, concise, and interactive book that inspires joy, friendship and a love for learning.
Chapters:
  1. Kindness: Being part of a group.
  2. Routine: Practicing good and healthy habits is fun.
  3. Senses: Perceiving the world through experimentation and play.
  4. Moving: The power of moving my body and things around me.
Identifying and understanding patterns is crucial for mathematical thinking and problem-solving. Therefore, this book helps students recognize shapes and sizes while hypothesizing about the evidence they represent. It emphasizes the value of different perspectives to enhance conceptual understanding. Children compare and contrast patterns reflected in mirrors and create stories about their experiences with light and shadow. They also analyze objects of different shapes on inclined planes. This engaging resource cultivates curiosity and lays the foundation for a better understanding of what happens around them.

Chapters:

  1. Inquiring Sizes and Shapes
  2. Mirror and reflexes
  3. Light and shadow play
  4. Inclined plane
Self-awareness is an important life skill that can be developed in different ways. This book facilitates observation and raising questions, first about tangible things such as what objects sink or float in water, then about emotions such as how to deal with frustration. When paper crafts do not have the expected result, some people call it a mistake, but with a growth mindset, it becomes an opportunity to be creative. Another way to develop self-awareness is to express preferences about natural elements and what to inquire. Finally, as the characters are playing with elastics, they encounter circumstances of jealousy and collaboration with which students can identify. Through hands-on, entertaining activities, students will discover about themselves.
Chapters:
  1. Water play
  2. Paper Fun
  3. Nature Collection
  4. Rubber Band
Wondering what causes the shadows of objects to have different shapes or what invisible forces cause things to move can help students investigate the world beyond the classroom walls. Cause-and-effect is a principle on which all problem-solving is based. In this book, students will practice this skill by developing different ways to make a toy house and playground with accessibility in mind while using simple machines. Additionally, they will have the opportunity to create a puppet theater to develop their communication skills about things they love to learn.
Chapters:
  1. Inquiring about the sun
  2. Invisible forces: Air, gravity, emotion
  3. Building a home for a toy: Simple machines
  4. Puppet Theater
Topics covered in TransFor.Me Discoveries
1.
Specifications, dimensions, and Measurement
Aerodynamics, gravity and scientific procedures
2.
Reflex and Optics
3.
Potential energy and geometry
4.
Movement and forces
5.

Light and dark

6.

Materials properties

7.

Engineering and craftsmanship

8.
Approach overview
Scientific Practices
  • OBSERVE AND QUESTION
  • PLAN AND INVESTIGATE
  • ANALYZE AND INTERPRET DATA
  • USE MATH AND LOGICAL REASONING
  • BUILD EXPLANATION AND DEVELOP SOLUTIONS
  • ARGUE FROM EVIDENCE
  • OBTAIN, EVALUATE AND COMMUNICATE INFORMATION
Interdisciplinary Content
  • ORAL LANGUAGE
  • MATH
  • ARTS/HANDICRAFTS
  • SCIENCES
  • EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCES
  • ENGINEERING, TECHNOLOGY AND APPLICATIONS OF SCIENCE
Emotional Skills
  • SELF KNOWLEDGE
  • INTERACTIONAL SKILLS
  • SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS
  • DECISION MAKING
The author
Vanessa Miranda
Vanessa Miranda, a psychology graduate from Florida Atlantic University, with a specialization in cognitive-behavioral therapy for children and adolescents, worked as a therapist at Behavior Analysis Inc. in Miami. After her inquiry-based learning specialization at the Exploratorium Museum in San Francisco, Vanessa founded «Oficina dos Inventores,» creating interactive experiments for children to explore the world and developing workshops for teachers to experience hands-on inquiry-based learning. In 2022, Vanessa published «A Dona Aranha e o Espelho» (The Spider and the Mirror) an interactive multidisciplinary literature that blends scientific practices, 21stcentury skills, and socioemotional aspects.