Running Head: Final Project Final Project/Research Paper 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. Back in the 1900’s a woman by the name of Patty Hill created a curriculum for kindergarten students in the United States. She also founded the laboratory school at Columbia University Teacher’s College; this was the beginning of the use of curriculum in early childhood education. Curriculum was created as an unbiased, cultured, community and parent approved way of teaching. The first national goal was to have every American child ready to start school and learn by the year 2000. Curriculum is a basic guide of implementing cognitive, physical, social, emotional, language and developmental learning skills. When using this method of teaching, the area we are trying to focus on is clear, it is important that all areas receive equal time. If our curriculum is well written out, it will reflect the philosophy and goals of what we are trying to accomplish for that school year. The creation of curriculum was invented so that young children would be able to benefit from it. If you look up the definition of curriculum in Early Education Curriculum, a textbook written by Hilda L. Jackman, it will read; a multileveled process that encompasses what happens in an early education classroom each day… The word multileveled is a perfect word to explain developmentally appropriate curriculum. When a teacher puts together a curriculum it is kind of like a balancing act. We have to make the work that the children do challenging yet not to simple. We must push our children to reach for that little extra step in their cognitive thinking. We must try to get them to succeed just a little past their limit, but not too fa... ... middle of paper ... ...make sure that we are influencing our students in a positive way. The things that we say and do are easily absorbed by little ears that we do not think here us. Guiding our students through educational work is one aspect of being a teacher, however, the other half is helping them to build their character and understand good morals and values. We must cherish our students for each of their own individual abilities and talents, recognizing that everyone has something different to offer. Not only are the teachers able to teach the students, the students can also teach us something new everyday. These young, fragile minds are so ready to learn, so we should take advantage of it while we have the chance. Works Cited Berk, L.E. (1997). Child development: Fourth Edition. A Viacom Company. Bredekamp, M., Kunesh, R.A., Shulman, D.D. (1992). What does research say about early childhood education? NCREL Oakbrook. Retrieved March 8, 2005 from http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas.stw_esys/5erly_ch.htm Jackman, H.L., (1997) Early education Curriculum. Thompson Delmar Learning. Thompson Corporation. Salkind, N., (1990) Child Development: Sixth Edition. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, INC.
The behaviorist and constructivist theories pose a significant debate in early childhood education that questions if curriculum should be based on the children’s natural childlike dispositions or should adults determine and decide every aspect of curriculum. The distinction between the two theories determine what and how young children learn. The behaviorist theory believes that people of all ages learn the same and that behavior is controlled by outside influences and rewards. Whereas, the constructivist theory believes young children develop cognitive structure based on interactions with other people and the environment. Most early childhood programs follow the constructivist theory and are child-centered. According to Freeney, Galper, and
Definitions for curriculum are many and varied. Broad sweeping statements claim that curriculum is what is taught in various subjects and the amount of time given to each. While a more specific view is that curriculum are performance objectives for students that focus on specific skills or knowledge (Marsh, 2010). Marsh (2010, p. 93) defines curriculum as “an interrelated set of plans and experiences” that are completed at school. The curriculum used in education can have various interpretations, it may refer to the curriculum as a plan that encompasses all the learning that is planned and directed by the school. Cu...
Curriculum has been interpreted in several ways for many decades in the past. Each educator or education professional, with whom, you ask to define and interpret curriculum, will more than likely give you a different view than others you have asked on separate occasions. It’s not just educators that have different views and opinions of curriculum; lawyers, carpenters, nurses, and even stay-at-home parents all interpret and view curriculum in different ways. This even goes for different categories of schools:
The Child Development Center of College of San Mateo provides early care and educational programs for children between the ages of 3 to 5 years old. Children are divided into classrooms with a “master” teacher, a “regular” teacher, and two or three “associate” teachers. Klara attended Classroom, “A,” a stimulating and well-resourced classroom. Klara was observed for two hours on Monday from 9 am to 11 am and for two hours on Wednesday from 9 am to 11 am. During these two hours, classroom activities consisted of “free time,” “story time,” and an outside “play time.” A “master” teacher, a “regular” teacher, and two “associate” teachers were present during observations. Additionally, a total of eighteen children were in attendance during the observed days.
Morrison, George S. Fundamentals of Early Childhood Education. 7th ed. Texas: University of North Texas, 2008. Print.
When children are getting ready for their first day of school, they have no idea what is in store for them. Their mom’s and dad’s take them to get their first school supplies and new backpacks. What they don’t realize is that at the same time, their soon-to-be teachers are making the curriculums for the upcoming school year. When the word curriculum is used people have a general idea of what it means, but there has never been an agreed upon definition of the word. It has been said “Educational practitioners, theorists, and researchers have used the term curriculum in various ways, with no definitions universally accepted. Among the definitions currently used are the following: A course of study; derived from the Latin Currerere, meaning to run a course, Subject matter; the information or knowledge that students are to learn, Planned learning experiences, Intended learning outcomes; the results of instruction as distinguished from the means of instruction, All the experiences that students have while at school or in a non school educational program, and The experiences, both planned and unplanned, that enhance (and sometimes impede) the education and growth of students.”(Parkay and Hass, 2000 p. 2) All of those definitions are correct. A curriculum can have many differing definitions, but each definition has the common theme that a curriculum allows for some type of experience that expands intellect. The importance of Early Childhood Curriculums is a huge part in a child’s learning that can set the stage for their entire academic career.
Curriculum is the organized framework that explains the content that children are to learn, the processes through which children achieve the identified curricular goals, what teachers do to help children achieve these goals and the context in which teaching and learning occur. The best curriculum for early childhood teacher is developmentally appropriate curriculum that allows teachers to set-up an effective learning environment for children.
School staff needs a clearer understanding of developmentally appropriate practice. Most schools' kindergarten programs claim to be "developmental" yet they rate themselves relatively low on some of the key classroom activities that early childhood educators define as developmental practice. Research on children's learning, as well as the recommendations of a number of national organizations, suggests the importance of developmentally appropriate practice.... The National Governors' Association's strategies for achieving the national education goals include developmentally appropriate preschool programs and age-appropriate expectations and activities in kindergarten. If school administrators and teachers believe they have already adopted a developmental orientation, they are less likely to see the need to change... (Love, 1992, p.
According to Glatthorn, Boschee and Whitehead (2006, p.74), a curriculum theory is a set of related educational concepts that affords a systematic and illuminating perspective on curricular phenomena. In a simpler term, a curriculum theory is an academic discipline devoted to examining and shaping educational curricula (Wikipedia, curriculum theory). One that would be a proponent of a structured-oriented curriculum would be concerned primarily with analyzing the components of the curriculum and their interrelationships. They will tend to be descriptive and explanatory in intent whereas, one that is a proponent of a value-oriented curriculum would be concerned primarily with analyzing the values and assumptions of curriculum makers and their
The modern early childhood curriculum refers to the experiences gathered throughout a child’s infancy and beyond. It incorporates everyday interactions with family members within a wide spectrum of environments. Such interactions can be spontaneous or structured however, it is important that they are established within a supportive, safe and nurturing setting in order for the child to flourish in terms of their mental and physical ability ( O’Hagen,and Smith (1998). We refer to such a curriculum as Child centered as equal emphasis must be made on the child’s learning through out infancy as it is within a formal education setting.
Often time’s curriculum is thought of as a set of rules and standards given to teachers to follow. However, more goes into a curriculum than just what meets perceived. Teachers are not just the vehicles from which a curriculum flows but in a sense, they embody it. There are four main different avenues in which curriculum is constructed. It’s constructed through government agencies, publishers, school systems, and teachers. It can be defined as “content, a set of specific educational plans, a changing series of planned learning experiences, or as everything that learners experience in school” (Van Brummelen, 20). A curriculum is strongly built behind a worldview. “A worldview is a comprehensive framework of basic convictions about life. Worldviews
Curriculum is important being it’s the underlying factor that plays a role in determining ones growth, achievement and success. The majority of curriculum con...
In 1949, a small book had a big impact on education. In just over one hundred pages, Ralph W. Tyler presented the concept that curriculum should be dynamic, a program under constant evaluation and revision. Curriculum had always been thought of as a static, set program, and in an era preoccupied with student testing, he offered the innovative idea that teachers and administrators should spend as much time evaluating their plans as they do assessing their students.
From a Latin word for course, later to define course of syllabus, Curriculum is now a formal outline to assist teachers by providing the core structure to learning and it constitutes a wide and inclusive range of planned educational experiences. Recent times have shown an understanding of curriculum to be that it “represents the expression of educational ideas in practice” (Prideaux, 2003).
The curriculum is one of the fundamental elements of effective schooling and teaching. The Curriculum