Guiding Principles To Early Childhood Curriculum Using Examples From Four Countries Early childhood education has been recgonised as important in laying foundation for the future of a child. Early childhood education is important in its own right - a time when children investigate, explore and discover a great deal about the world around them and establish attitudes to learning that remain with them throughout their lives (Wilks et al., 2008). It is therefore imperative to imbibe a framework of learning into the system of early childhood education. This framework is most times identified as a curriculum. Curriculum refers to planned approaches to teaching and learning, an area of study or topics, which fit together according to predetermined criteria that are guided by theoretical and philosophical beliefs about the nature of learners and about the kinds of knowledge that should be taught (Lim and Genishi, 2010; Marsh, 2009). Curriculum therefore represents a set of goals that represent the aims of education for children; in essence it represents a value statement of what a society aspires for its children (Spodek and Saracho, 2003). Curriculum assumes many labels and perspectives in different countries, such as ‘core subjects’, ‘foundation subjects’ or ‘key learning areas’, depending on the aim or purpose of education in each country. Early childhood curricula vary from guiding principles and characteristics through to key learning areas and descriptive outcomes. For example, one perspective of curriculum prescribes specific content knowledge, objectives and goals, teaching procedures, and assessment strategies - the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) may be said to belong to this category. Another perspective conceptualizes... ... middle of paper ... ...ry in practice. Theory into Practice, 46(1), pp. 5–13. Samuelsson, I.P., Sheridan, S. and Williams, P. (2006). Five preschool curricula —comparative perspective. International Journal of Early Childhood, 38(1), pp.11–30. Soler, J. and Miller, L. (2003). The Struggle for Early Childhood Curricula: A comparison of the English Foundation Stage Curriculum, Te Wha¨riki and Reggio Emilia. International Journal of Early Years Education, 11(1), pp.57–68. Spodek, B. and Saracho, O. (2003). ‘On the Shoulders of Giants’: Exploring the traditions of Early Childhood. Early Childhood Education Journal, 31(1), pp.3 – 10. Staggs, L. (2000) Curriculum guidance for the early years, Early Years Educator, 2(6), pp. 21–23. Wilks, A., et al., (2008). Analysis of Curriculum/Learning Frameworks for the Early Years (Birth to Age 8). Victoria: Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority
Tejada, E. (2010). The Promise of Preschool: From Head Start to Universal Pre-kindergarten. Education Review (10945296), 1-6.
Williams, Leslie R. and Doris Pronin Fromberg, ed. Encyclopedia of Early Childhood Education. New York: Garland Publishing, 1992.
Early childhood education, although constantly evolving, was actually established and practiced as early on as the times of Ancient Greece and Rome. The foundation that early childhood education is based upon is to instill in children the skills needed to succeed later on in life, while making sure young children enjoy their time in schooling. Throughout chapter 3 in the textbook Who Am I in the Lives of Children, the reader is capable of evaluating just how greatly the methods for teaching today’s youth have evolved and changed for the better.
Elaine Surbeck explains the background of early childhood learning programs. She talks about the history and how things have originated. Programs for children between the ages of three and six, while more recent to the American educational scene, have roots that are deeper and more diverse in origin than most people realize. Kindergartens, nursery schools, and day-care centers have existed in the United States for more than 100 years. The kindergarten, serving 5-year-olds, was first established in St. Louis public schools in 1873; private kindergartens have existed since 1855. Nursery schools serve children two through four years old. While the first nursery school in the U.S was a parent cooperative “typical” in America were often associated with university home economics departments and were established about 1922.
According to the standard promoting Development and Learning, in the class of ECE 232-80 Early Childhood Practicum, we explored principles of early childhood education and hands-on classroom experience under the direct supervision of a qualified supervising teacher. I reflect on experiences in their practicum placement and discuss various strategies for planning, observation, guidance, and assessment. I also explored the concept of early childhood education as a profession while reviewing professional organizations and literature. In this course, I learned to use a program to get certificates to put in my portfolio. Gateway was the program to obtain the certificates, on this occasion I obtained the Certificate of Orientation of ExceleRate Illinois
Morrison, G. S. (1976). Chapter 6: Early Childhood Programs APPLYING THEORIES TO PRACTICE. In Early childhood education today (10th ed., pp. 5-31). Columbus, Ohio: Merrill.
Educators have to meet children where they are. D.A.P and intentional teaching have greatly influenced the way in which I approach early childhood education. Educators often take on varying roles throughout their day. As an educator I have acted as a doctor, lawyer, parent, chef, comfort seeker, custodian, social worker, friend and more. It is imperative that I provide an atmosphere whereby my students and their families feel welcomed and valued as members of the classroom community. It is important to maintain structure through rules, routines and procedures for safety and to develop trust and secure relationships with students and their families. Through observation, documentation and communication I am able to plan for children’s interests, strengths and challenges. Age appropriate activities are provided and facilitated to meet the developmental and learning needs of individuals in hands on, interactive and explorative
Care and education have become a part of children’s daily lives in Ireland and England outside the home in childcare services. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is the statutory curriculum framework for children up to the age of five in England. It was first introduced in 2008 and on the 1st of September 2012 a new revised document was published. Aistear, published in 2009, is Ireland’s first early year’s curriculum framework for children from birth to six years of age. A curriculum framework is a scaffold or support for the development of a curriculum that can be used in childcare settings. A curriculum framework can also be used in partnership with parents when developing a curriculum. This paper will compare and contrast these two curriculum frameworks in relation to philosophy, content, pedagogical practices and expected/targeted outcomes for children. Due to the limits of this paper, it will only be possible to develop an overview of the similarities and differences.
My beliefs and values about early childhood education is based upon understanding that all children are unique individuals who need a caring, nurturing, and secure environment in which to grow and develop socially, emotionally, cognitively, and physically. Children under the age of three are in critical stages of development, it is my belief that a quality child care environment will have a positive impact on a child’s development and make a significant difference in the life of a child and his or her family. My philosophy of early childhood education and the elements I believe are necessary in developing a developmentally appropriate child care environment is rooted in my views and beliefs about experimentalism, progressivism, multiculturalism, and the influence of philosophers such as Dewey, Piaget, Montessori, and Vygotsky. Furthermore, I believe young children will thrive and grow in developmentally appropriate child care programs that possess the following elements: (1) teachers who see themselves as intentional, responsive and respectful facilitators of learning, (2) the ability to build a community of learners, (3) implement an effective curriculum that allow children to explore their natural curiosity about the world.
Isenberg, J. P., & Jalongo, M. R. (2000). Exploring your role: A practitioner’s introduction to early childhood education. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
There are many different areas that one must focus on as they are attempting to create a developmentally appropriate curriculum for young children. All of these aspects are equally important to the learning process. Therefore, it is imperative that we as teachers take the process of planning this curriculum very seriously. Not only is it important that we understand the basic guidelines for a lesson plan, we also need to be knowledgeable of the developmental and learning theories as well. These theories will help us to understand the way a child learns mentally and physically. Once we fully understand the concepts of early education we can then take them to the classroom and apply them to our students.
There are many documented theories about early childhood development, contemporary research still concurs with some of these theories. It suggests, however, that we should be thinking more holistically, taking into consideration; respect for diversity, the wider community and equity, play based curriculums, intentional teaching and ongoing reflective practices when planning for optimal educational experiences for children (Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, 2009). I acknowledge that ongoing professional learning and reflective practices are a key element of the Early Years Learning Framework (DEEWR, 2009). I accredit working and collaborating with other teachers, families and local communities collectively contribute
Linda, M. & Linda, P. (2011). Theories and approaches to learning in the early years.
Entering my kindergarten teaching experience in the last quarter of school year I had to quickly become familiar with kindergarten content standards and the school’s curriculum. To do this I observed my mentor teachers instructional time with the children and gained as much information as I could about the children’s educational standing by developing a professional relationship with the my mentor teacher and the children. I learned that the majority of my kindergarten children had not previously attended preschool and that this was their first year of school. I found that interacting with the children in social activities provided me with great insight to their literacy, math, science, and social studies development. In reviewing the children’s class projects, school displays, and an array of their work sample along with my mentor teachers year-long assessments I was able to recognize challenging, emerging and advanced content areas of the children’s core curriculum. These emerging and challenging content areas is what I centered my curriculum planning around. “Information about each child’s learning and development is used to evaluate teaching effectiveness. This may lead to changes in schedule, curriculum and teaching strategies, room set up, resources, and so on.” (Bredekamp and Copple, p. 249)
What Kids Really Learn in Preschool. Parenting. (Fall 99):Vol. 13 Issue 7, p 74. October