ABSTRACT
This chapter presents framework and the rubric that are used to assess key elements for educative experiences focus on students' experiences and how those experiences can lead to even more growth. It also focuses on the conditions teachers create in order to facilitate educative lived experiences for children. Development of a rubric based upon John Dewey's work offers a practical tool through which early childhood educators can judge the degree of quality education within their specific contexts. The rubric has a specific focus on the following three Deweyan dimensions that make up educative early childhood experiences: active learning, democratic learning, and inquiry-based learning. It can be argued that the two most important foci of early childhood curriculum are the same foci Dewey emphasized within his laboratory school in Chicago: experience and growth. As Dewey noted throughout his writings about education, educators need to plan highly educative experiences for children that will promote both individual and social growth.
