The first two pieces of the SARA system are Selection and Action.

Selection is decision-making and is one of the most foundational and crucial elements of intelligence.  It is the act of using discernment, personal preference, comparison, logic, and self-expression. The teacher sets the stage with only appropriate experiences from which to choose and then gives the responsibility to the child for making a selection from them.  Each child’s choices must be accepted and respected. 

Selection is the Infant reaching for the rattle, the Baby crawling toward the big blue ball, the Toddler deciding between the shovel and the spade in the sandbox, the Two or Three picking the green crayon for her art, and the Four or Five deciding which block will make the best base for his tower.

Selection does not just happen at the end of Circle Time when the children choose their plan for Center Time. Planning, decision-making, and choosing are important skills of intelligence that occur over and over during the day in all Routine and Curricular elements of the day. 

Selection builds skills children will rely on for years to come as they make decisions based first on personal preference, and then on logic and reasoning. Giving each child the opportunity to choose creates ownership of the learning.  Respecting those choices increases self-esteem. 

A day without Selection is a day without Learning.

Action includes everything a child does, from arrival to dismissal.  High Scope and I stress Action as a vital part of the system to remind teachers that all the best learning in young children comes from the combination of physical and sensory action with language in an atmosphere of warmth, humor, and respect.  This ‘marriage’ of action and language is one of the key components of the philosophies of all of the most noted and sensible learning theorists of the past and continues to be rediscovered and reinforced by modern brain and learning research today. 

Children under the age of eight learn best – and with the highest quality – when they are actively involved in appropriate and physical learning experiences.

Next Blog: Reflection