PK Curriculum: Education and Curriculum Constructivism

The article by Erika Christakis, informs future teachers and parents how preschool today may not be benefiting their children as much as they thought. She talks about how preschool has changed drastically over the years as well as kindergarten. She states that “kindergarten may be the new first grade”. Her statement shows how children today are expected more then they were years ago in all grades, especially preschool and at such a young age. Many think this is helping our children or will benefit them in the future if they know more as a child but this may not be the case. The article talks about multiple studies done throughout America to children are learning and how school curriculum changing affects children. A studied showed that children

Early childhood is a time of curiosity, a time for play, and a time of rapid development. Every child is unique and deserving of an early childhood education that facilitates academic, social, and developmental growth through a variety of enjoyable experiences. Differentiated instruction adapts content, products and processes to meet the diverse learning needs and preferences of students (Thousand, Villa, & Nevin, 2007). Friedrich Froebel, the creator of Kindergarten, believed that children grow and learn as they play (Bruno, 2009). Play-based instruction not only enables young learners to have fun, but it also encourages interactive and cooperative learning, passion for discovery, and a foundation for later learning experiences

Toddlers and preschoolers are at different developmental stages, and therefore require their teachers to use different approaches and techniques to further learning. I completed my observations at the Bright and Early Children’s Learning Center where I observed a toddler classroom and a preschool classroom. My observations took place from 8:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. on the 21st and 28th of September. The first day that I observed I was placed in the toddler classroom which had two teachers, Miss Ashlynn and Miss Miranda, and six students, most of whom were two years old. In the preschool classroom there was one teacher, Miss Stephanie, and eight students, each of whom were 3 years old or 4 years old. While the rooms were physically similar, the teachers used different strategies and activities to appeal to the different age groups.

These subjects are taught using games, music, artwork, films, books, computers, and other tools to teach basic skills. The majority of children need adjusting when they first go to preschool it being their first time away from home and their parents. Because young children look up to adults and learn through examples, it’s important that the teachers are good role models.

“Early roots of play as a best practice for early learning was documented by Plato, a Greek philosopher, who insisted that play is considered a natural activity of childhood.”(Ingrid Crowther, 2011, Pg. 2) Early Childhood Education is a term that refers to educational programs that are devoted to children from birth to the age of eight. “Children of this age learn by exploring and investigating; therefore, their environment should support and encourage this process.”(Rebecca Isbell and Betty Exelby, 2001, Pg. 11) Early childhood environments should be attractive and exciting. These environments should allow children to work and play using proper resources, materials, and tools.

The education of children has existed since the beginning of time as parents have taught and molded their children into the young adults they desired them to be. Initial training of children was not in a formal setting, although history would see numerous settings, purposes, and methodological changes. Philosophies of education have also changed through the years as various voices have seemed to grasp the purpose of educating the next generation, thus laying out objectives to reach those goals of teaching children.

As early childhood educators we all have our own philosophies and approaches to education. There are several types of early childhood programs. Each program has its own philosophies, methods, and program goals. Every early childhood educator is unique making each early childhood program experience special. Consistently, early childhood programs offer educational foundations that prepare young students for their educational futures. In this paper I will focus on comparing and contrasting two programs that stood out to me, Ridgeline Montessori and the Whitaker Head Start.

Educators hold the important role of supporting and facilitating each child’s development, one method of facilitating for the child is by recognizing and providing an optimal learning environment. An optimal learning environment is a safe environment specifically designed to facilitate a child’s learning and developmental needs. Educators need to provide time and opportunity for children to respond and experience the world creatively, it also needs to offer exposure to a variety of experience, to be secure and offer stimulating experiences so children can take risks and investigate the world around them safely. Olds (2001) suggests that children need to feel comfortable in their environment for them to explore. Educators need to be vigilant in making sure that each individuals needs are met so the child feels safe and comfortable in the learning environment. Creating an optimal learning environment means educators need to consider the aspects that create this environment. Harris Helm suggests that the overall effectiveness of an early childhood program is dependant on quality of staff, suitable environment, consistent schedules and parent involvement.

Though I am just entering the field, I have enough experience to pick out the concepts that I believe are most relevant to the children at their young age. The first is the power of relationships to bring comfort and safety. The children are growing and exploring a lot in the preschool years, so it is vital that they feel comfortable in the facility. The second is the need for communication. The third concept that makes up my personal philosophy is the benefit from learning through play.

The design of the preschool is a starting point of how a child views a school classroom. When a child walks in an unknown classroom for the very first time, not knowing what to expect from a room full of unknown things and people. A preschool classroom is the child’s first interaction with what a school is and experience of what a school is supposed to be like.

The differences between the sources provided here showcase the differences of ideology in teaching children. One source from Robert Owen’s A New View of Society, Or, Essays on the Principle of the formation of the Human Character, and the application of the Principle to Practice 1813-16 describes how the government should make plans for the education for children by teaching them how to be ‘’rationally educated, and their labour be usefully directed. Such habits and education will improve them with an active and ardent desire to

The infant program (6 weeks to 18 months) starts with a phasing-in process. Throughout the program, interaction with each child offers conversation and manipulative materials at receptive moments. As the child progresses from sitting to crawling to walking, from bottles to feeding themselves, they are encouraged and assisted every step of the way. Toddler (18 – 36 months) learning is based on play and learning activities which make use of Montessori materials. Focus is on these key developmental areas: sensory and perceptual development, self-help skills, physical and motor skills, social and emotional growth. Preschool classroom (2 ½ to 4 years), school environment is dedicated to nurturing a child’s inherent curiosity by enabling children to explore and discover. Classrooms and materials are designed to stimulate the child’s senses as well as to respond to the pre-school child’s need: master coordination and movement, understand social relationships, become independent and care for the self, develop language from writing then to reading, associate quantities with symbols, learn to add and subtract. Elementary classrooms ( 4 to 10 year olds) reflects the child’s work to order their world with reason: move towards abstract reasoning, foster a passion about the natural and social world, become creative thinkers and problem-solvers, develop a moral sense, show respect and responsibility, develop

For Montessori’s curriculum early childhood education, values the sensory exploration; for example Phonological awareness helps children’s reading and construction of meaning, drawing pictures and scribbling to support children to write; using pictures and objects to teach children words.

Experts of sociology recognize five social institutions that have occurred in other civilization’s example government, religion, education, economics, and family. Two specific functions of schooling greatly influenced my identity; these functions are socialization and future preparation. The social aspect of school is very important. This is how we meet others and how we learn the ways of our society, religion, and our country. We learn what is appropriate and what is not, how to behave with others and how to develop our values. The text mentions a "hidden curriculum (p.416)," which is the "unstated standards of behavior or teacher 's expectations." School prepares us not only for our educational future, but also our social future. Gender, race ethnicity, and social class make an individual unique in who they will become and how they learn.

This also suggests that teachers should facilitate this process by knowing the best time to teach children certain things. The third premises of this learning theory is sensitive time which is the “right” time to introduce children to different learning concepts. Each child develops at a different pace so it is important that teachers recognize the correct sensitive times to introduce new concepts based on individual needs. The prepared environment is the fourth premises of her theory which means that the teacher preselects the learning materials she wants her students to be exposed to during class time. Teachers manipulate and prepare the classroom environment so that students have specific choices to guide their experience towards what is planned for their development. The last premises of Montessori 's learning theory is auto-education which is often seen as the main goal of the Montessori method. Auto-education is when children teach themselves by making choices and experiencing things in the planned environment. Montessori used these premises to create 4 unique planes of development which track children 's development and outline what environmental changes need to be made to ensure the appropriate learning experience for children. The first plane, infancy, lasts