The Early Childhood Curriculum

Suzanne Krogh, Kristine Slentz

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2001
• ISBN:
  9781135680411
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Examines the meaning of curriculum, discusses curriculum integration, describes how to plan, create, and evaluate a curriculum, and examines how modern literacy, mathematics, social studies, science, and expressive arts curricula evolved into their present forms. Methods of assessing children's progress through the curriculum are integrated throughout.

CHAPTER 1
PLANNING AND CREATING THE CURRICULUM

Curriculum is happening all around the home, the school, the playground, and wherever young children gather. Perceptive teachers can help enrich and enhance what is happening.

Barbara J.Taylor

Chapter Objectives

After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

Identify the positions of the NAEYC and DEC regarding appropriate curriculum for young children.

Define the differences and benefits of an emergent and a traditional curriculum.

Define an integrated curriculum, and explain how one works as well as its pros and cons.

Explain the similarities and differences in curricular approaches for different ages and abilities of children.

As you think about and apply chapter content on your own, you should be able to:

Create plans for activities and lessons.

Observe the ways in which curriculum emerges from children and is designed by adults.

Integrate assessment techniques into curricula you develop.

Consider a range of learning needs when developing curricula.

The terms instruction and methodology refer to the ways in which we teach children; curriculum is the content that is taught. This chapter and those following are devoted to the content of children’s learning, although at times the instructional implications also are discussed.

In the United States, there is no national curriculum to tell every teacher what should be taught and in what order, although discussions about creating just such a unified approach occasionally occur during policy discussions about school improvement. Since the late 1980s, a national curriculum that includes early childhood has been instituted in Great Britain. Its critics “note the irony in a capitalist, free-market-loving government’s enacting such a curriculum” (Unks, 1995, p. 422), and it may be this disconnect that ultimately keeps the United States from creating similar nation-wide requirements at any grade level.

At this time, curriculum in the public schools is typically decided by local school districts or, at least in part, by individual schools. Nonpublic schools, particularly preschools and child-care centers, must decide for themselves what is important content for their young learners. For the early years, more than with any other age group, the what of children’s learning is the responsibility of the teacher, working either alone or in cooperation with others in the school or center. Thus, if you find yourself working with prekindergarten youngsters, you will need extensive knowledge about developmentally appropriate curriculum. One could also argue that the same is true for teachers of older children. Although state and district education agencies generally have much to say about what should be learned between kindergarten and the third grade, an aware teacher is in a better position to make decisions about what to emphasize, what can be visited just briefly, ways in which some curricula can be integrated, and how best to prepare children for the inevitable standardized tests.

CURRENTLY RECOGNIZED CURRICULAR CONCEPTS

In your course work and in centers and schools, you will come in contact with a variety of terms that pertain to curriculum decisions for early learning. Some of these represent concepts currently accepted by early childhood specialists, and some are decried as inappropriate, even though they are perhaps popular. Major curricular terms in American early education today include the following. If you have read other books in this series, some of the curricular concepts will be familiar to you.

Integrated Curriculum

When academic subjects are brought together to make a more meaningful learning experience, we say that the curriculum has been integrated. For high school and college courses, this may mean joining two classes in a team-teaching endeavor. In the early childhood years, during which formal courses are not the norm, integration frequently takes place as part of an emergent curriculum or theme-based learning, both of which are described in the sections that follow. A slightly different approach is to “begin with the discipline frameworks and identify the connections, the ways that curriculum can be integrated and made more meaningful for learners. Integrated curriculum is the answer to achieving coverage of the curriculum while also promoting meaningfulness” (Bredecamp, 1997, p. xvi).

Emergent Curriculum

This term was first coined by Elizabeth (Betty) Jones (1970) in a publication from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and has since entered the vocabulary of all early educators who value learning that comes from and is determined by the daily lives of young children and their caregivers and teachers. Arguing against formulaic curricula and commercial packages that seem to promise magical results, Jones and John Nimmo (1994) said that “there is no magic except the magic we create for ourselves.” It is children who “are the wizards, inviting us to join them in their magic making” (p. 3). Yet, Jones (1999) pointed out that emergent curriculum “is scary for some teachers. For those who haven’t yet learned how to plan well, it may be too much to undertake.” She added, however, that “for those with some practice in observing and reflecting on child behavior, it’s a well-timed challenge in taking children’s interests seriously and becoming co-players with them” (p. 16).

There are currently two well-known models of emergent curriculum. The first model is from the United States and is called the project approach in which teachers and primary grade children negotiate, plan, and participate in an in-depth study of their choice (Katz & Chard, 1989). Such studies might last for a few weeks or even months. The second model can be found in the city preschools of Reggio Emilia, Italy (Edwards, Gandini, & Forman, 1993). Here too, the children and teachers negotiate their choices, planning, and learning. Because the children are generally too young to communicate their learning and research findings through the written word, they are encouraged to explore and share their ideas through the arts.

Theme-Based Learning or Thematic Curriculum

A theme or central idea is selected by the teacher, and related learning activities then are designed and taught. Proponents of theme teaching argue that this approach helps children make meaning of their learning experiences as they “form connections among individual bits of information. These connections contribute to children’s concept development and are the most important reason for advocating a theme-oriented approach to teaching” (Kostelnik, Soderman, & Whiren, 1999, p. 507).

As in project learning or the Reggio Emilia schools, themes permit children to focus deeply on a single topic over a period of time. In addition, themes that are developed in response to children’s interests keep them excited about learning. Thematic teaching has its dangers in that teachers may create activities whose connection to the theme is contrived, “cutesy,” or devoted to fun and games, a situation that can lead to shallow or misguided learning. Kostelnik and colleagues (1999) gave as an example the popular theme “letter of the week.” Perhaps the teacher has chosen the letter G this week and is confident that the children are getting the connection as they use green paint at the easel, snack on grapes, and growl like lions. However:

In reality, the children may be focusing on the subject of their paintings rather than on the color, they may be thinking of grapes as fruit rather than a g word, and they may be more aware of the loudness or mock ferocity of their growling than the consonant sound they are making. Since g is not a concept and does not directly relate to children’s real-life experiences, these are poor attempts at theme teaching, (p. 511)

Effective themes, according to Kostelnik and colleagues (1999) are those that relate to children’s life experiences, represent a concept, are supported by a body of factual content, and lend themselves to possible development as projects (see the pre vious section entitled Emergent Curriculum).

Subject-Based, Discipline-Based, or Traditional Curriculum

B...

Table of contents

• CONTENTS
• To OUR READERS AND THEIR INSTRUCTORS: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE SERIES
• PREFACE
• CHAPTER 1 PLANNING AND CREATING THE CURRICULUM
• CHAPTER 2 LANGUAGE AND LITERACY: SPEAKING, WRITING, AND READING
• CHAPTER 3 MATHEMATICS: How MUCH, How MANY, WHAT SIZE, WHAT SHAPE
• CHAPTER 4 SCIENCE: CURIOSITY ABOUT THEIR WORLD
• CHAPTER 5 SOCIAL STUDIES: LEARNING TO LIVE TOGETHER
• CHAPTER 6 THE EXPRESSIVE ARTS: CREATIVITY IN ACTION
• AUTHOR INDEX
• SUBJECT INDEX