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Early Childhood Curriculum

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WHAT IS CURRICULUM?

Curriculum is the overall plan or outline of learning experiences that will be covered by the children and teachers over a period of time. Curriculum is not one activity or a few activities, but an all-encompasing master plan into which day-to-day learning activities fit.

A good curriculum is much more than a collection of activities. It is based on the key outcomes for children, and it should provide teachers with a useful framework for choosing learning experiences and materials and for seeing how those fit together to accomplish the outcomes.

Curriculum development can be one of the most fun parts of the childcare field. You don't have to be a real creative or artistic person to utilize materials that you have on hand to create an educational program for the children in your care.

There is a wealth of information available FOR FREE on the internet. You do not have to spend your life savings to purchase special materials--you can use materials you have on hand for use with ideas you find online.

Contents at a Glance

FREE ON THE INTERNET
New Text / Write module
NAEYC - Developmentally Appropriate Curr...
Making Curriculum Effective
RESOURCES
GUESTBOOK

FREE ON THE INTERNET

PreSchool Express: This links to PreSchool Express website by Jean Warren.
Lesson Plans Page: This links to Lesson Plans website by HotChalk, Inc.
School Express: This links to School Express website by Comp Ed, Inc. of Phoenix, Arizona.
The Project Approach: This links to Project Approach website, Sylvia Chard.
High Reach Learning: This links to the High Reach Learning website.
Edutopia: This links to Edutopia, The George Lucas Educational Foundation, How To: Build a Theme-Based Curriculum,By Karen Epper Hoffman...

New Text / Write module

NAEYC - Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum

Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs
Sue Bredekamp and Carol Copple, Editors
ISBN 0-935939-79-X

Constructing appropriate curriculum requires attention to at least the following guidelines for practice:

Developmentally appropriate curriculum provides all areas of a child's development: physical, emotional, social, linguistic, aesthetic, and congnitive.
Curriculum includes a broad range of content across disciplines that is socially relevant, intellectually engaging, and personally meaningful to children.
Curriculum builds upon what children already know and are able to do (activating prior knowledge) to consolidate their learning and to foster their acquisition of new concepts and skills.
Effective curriculum plans frequently integrate across traditional subject-matter divisions to help children make meaningful connections and provide opportunities for rich conceptual development; focusing on one subject is also a valid strategy at times.
Curriculum promotes the development of knowledge and understanding, processes and skills, as well as the dispositions to use and apply skills as to go on learning.
Curriculum content has intellectual integrite, reflecting the key concepts and tools of inquiry of recognized disciplines in ways that are accessible and achievable for young children. Children directly participate in study of the disciplines, for instance, by conducting scientific experiments, writing, performing, solving mathematical problems, collecting and analyzing data, collecting oral history, and performing other roles of experts in the disciplines.
Curriculum provides opportunities to support children's home culture and language while also developing all children's abilities to participate in the shared culture of the program and the community.
Curriculum goals are realistic and attainable for most children in the designated age range for which they are designed.
When used, technology is physically and philosophically integrated in the classroom curriculum and teaching.

Making Curriculum Effective

Curriculum Areas

Basics of Developmentally Appropriate Practice
Carol Copple and Sue Bredekamp, Editors
ISBN: 1-928896-26-X

As part of its standards for accreditation of early childhood programs nationwide, NAEYC (2005b) has identified as essential the curriculum areas listed below. All these areas are important for children's learning and well-being. With minor differences here and there, this list is representative of the curriculum areas defined by many professional groups and states:

social-emotional development,
language development,
literacy development,
mathematics,
technology, scientific inquiry and knowledge,
understanding ourselves and our communities,
creative expression and appreciation for the arts, and
physical development and skills.

RESOURCES

FCCAMC, California: This links to The Family Child Care Association of Modoc County, California website.
FCCAMC, Maryland: This links to The Family Child Care Association of Montgomery County, Maryland website.
NAEYC: This links to the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) website.
Redleaf National Institute: This links to the Redleaf National Institute Website, the National Center for the Business of Family Child Care.
Resource Area for Teachers: This links to the RAFT website. RAFT is a non-profit organization that believes hands-on teaching is the best way for teachers to teach and students to learn.
Child Development Training Consortium: This links to the Child Development Training Consortium website. CDTC promotes high quality early education to California's children and families by providing financial and technical assistance to child development students and professionals.