d: EVALUATING CURRICULUM MODELS 1
Evaluating Curriculum Models
Sherrie Jones
Kaplan University
Curriculum Development CE420-01
05/18/2014
Areas in the preschool center are designed to provide a learning interest for the child. It should provide a wide range if items for the child to explore, learn and have fun during the day. Each center is carefully constructed to address specific educational goals. “Most often children have multiple centers from which to choose at a given time: blocks, creative arts, pretend play, language arts, science, and math are common examples.”(Kostelnik, Soderman, & Whiren, 2011). The two curriculums that I have chosen to summarize are High Scope Curriculum and Montessori Learning. The components that I will reflect on are Environmental Design and Support for Student Preparedness. We should see these two items listed in the curriculum models.
The High Scope Curriculum is an early childhood education program for children ages birth to 5 years. “HighScope is for student that comes from a different socioeconomic background.”(HighScope, 2010). High Scope works to enhance the different developmental levels of the students learning progress. We know that children are active learners. They develop from learned behavior, whether that is from the home, their community or from school. The preschool classroom should be arranged with a variety of learning developing areas.
The Montessori Learning brings a different type of development to the classroom. “Montessori education offers a unique experience designed to help your child maximize her potential.”(Montessori, 2014). Montessori want to bring the child’s whole p...
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...cope Curriculum. Both of the curriculums meet the State of Texas minimum requirements; however, I feel that High Scope meets more of my standards. We have open access to all the play areas. We have a structured yet relaxed atmosphere for the students to learn. In the HighScope Curriculum young children build or their knowledge of the world. They discover things through direct experience with people, objects, events, and ideas.
References
HighScope: Physical Education in Early Childhood Programs (2014). Retrieved on 5/20/2014 from http://highscope.org/Content.asp?ContentId=744
Kostelnik, M. J., Soderman, A. K., Whiren, A.P. (2011). Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum: Best Practices in Early Childhood Education (5th ed.).Upper Saddle River, NJ:Pearson Education.
Montessori Learning (2014). Retrieved on 5/20/2014 from http://www.montessori.edu/prod.html
I am a firm believer that the quality of the child care directly affects the child’s development in the classroom. By eliminating the need for competing preschools to continue to improve their curriculum and to remain relevant in the field of early childhood education, we risk falling into the same trap K-12 education has fallen into. In other words, individual classroom freedom will be lost when teachers are forced to follow the governments blanket and mandatory regulations. I choose this concept because I feel it is important to allow a wide variety of options to families in order for them the find the right fit for their
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.
There are a few types of preschool programs. First there are structured preschool programs that focus on emphasizing an actual school setting and classroom activities in order to prepare the child for kindergarten or first grade. There are also day care centers, which are not as structured as preschool centers. Daycare’s focus mainly on child’s development through social interaction with children and caregivers. Then there are head start programs that are geared to give children a foot in the right direction in order to be ready for preschool or kindergarten. The right kind of childcare can be a wonderful opportunity to promote the profound learning children experience from birth through age five (Selecting child care, 2002).
High Scope revolutionized early childhood education system with a new approach to teaching and learning. The purpose of High scope approach is to help children develop in every learning domain using a carefully designed process, called active participatory leaning. Active learning emphasizes that children learn best through active experiences with people, materials, events and idea. The first section of this essay will provide further details about High Scope curriculum and the second part will be the discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of High Scope approach. In the final section, I am going to talk about what I have learnt about High Scope and how it is going to assist my future teaching.
The results of quality preschool programs can be seen early after they begin. Children learn many important life le...
Eliason, C. F., Jenkins, L. (2008). A practical guide to early childhood curriculum (8th edition). New
The Waldorf Approach Preschool is a highly debated area of a child’s educational journey. One of the primary goals of preschool is to prep the child for traditional elementary school. There are various contemporary models of early education that have been constructed to help children develop their educational career. A few examples of these models are the Bank Street Approach, The Reggio Emilia Approach, The Montessori Approach, and the Head Start Program just to name a few. The Waldorf approach is the program of discussion in this particular paper.
With the success of working with these children she was asked to open a school in a housing project in Rome, which was opened on January 6 1907, which was called Casa dei Bambini or Children’s House. Montessori was focused on teaching the children how to develop their own skills at their own rate, which was a principle Dr. Montessori called “spontaneous self-development”. [Early Childhood Today, p. 74.] Montessori discovered that children’s innate power for learning worked best when the children were able to be left alone in a safe, and a hands on environment. When the children were given furniture, equipment, and supplies they were able to work by themselves, they were also self-motivated to explore experiment and reach new understandings. Montessori found self...
Maria Montessori was born in Italy in 1870 and influenced childcare massively in the 20th century. Montessori believed that children learn best through using their hands. She felt that one of the main factors that contributed to the child’s development was the ‘prepared’ environment. Children learn through exploration and the adult’s role is to create an environment where they can do
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.
As an early childhood educator my job is not to simple play with children. I must plan, provide and supervise all while “playing” with my students. The classroom serves as the physical environment for the children for most of their waking hours. These classrooms need to be attractive and function effectively. Concerns for any early childhood educator should always include space, equipment and materials used, outdoor space and the daily schedule to ensure that all students are provided ample opportunities to learn and grow within a safe and secure environment.
In order to promote the best outcome from the curriculum we must consider that each child is an individual in their own right. Tricia David (2001: 55) states that early childhood should be a time of “spontaneity and of exploration according to individual interests”. Thus accounting for the child’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as their likes and dislikes, provides a curriculum, which will promote optimum development. This is also known as a ...
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)
Early childhood education plays a key role in a child’s academic development because he or she learns soft skills, job skills, and develop positive traits. Preschool is not like kindergarten, but instead a stepping-stone that prepares young students for the years of schooling they will have later in life. As more schools began to open families wanted to be able to verify that programs would benefit and protect their children. In response, the National Association for the Education of Young Children was made to help families find the best care for their children, by providing the early childhood educators with training and ensuring the quality of children’s daily experiences. (“NAEYC”5).
... such a manner that its curriculum framework is open to interpretation enough to be adapted to most if not all child-centered early years educational approaches. Montessori has a structured curriculum, which while not as flexible as High/Scope can still adapt to Aistear’s framework into their own set curriculum using already established Montessori exercises. In addition, Montessori and High/scope both share an emphasis on the importance of the prepared environment for the children, which is in accordance of Síolta, without which the Aistear framework cannot be successfully undertaken.