The Curriculum Of A Preschool Classroom

Chapter two discusses various theorists that helped to mold and shape early childhood education to where it is today. There are several different theorists that contributed to the development of early childhood education. Some of these theorists include Alfred Adler, Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, and John Dewey. Each theorist developed a unique theory that has caused early childhood guidance and education to flourish like it has today. Without learning and building on these theories, early childhood guidance and education would never develop or change. The chapter explains how some theories may seem strange to the contemporary families, but these theories are the foundation of how early childhood education got to where it is today. The book goes

Healy, C. (2015). Who benefits most from head start programs? Chicago Policy Review (Online), Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.durhamtech.idm.oclc.org/

Early Childhood Education illustrates the teaching and care of children in other environments outside of the home. Early childhood centers on the development of all children no matter their gender, race, abilities, or ethnic orientation and gives knowledge of early childhood learning process, which entails values, culture, desires of parents for their children, and especially a child’s need for knowledgeable functionality in society.

The process skills approach to teaching is defined as the educator helping children develop science skills and processes to confidently undertake their own investigations (Campbell, 2012). These skills are developed through: communicating, science language, asking questions, making sense of phenomena, predicting, modelling, conducting investigations, planning, testing, observing, reasoning, and drawing conclusions of science concepts (Campbell, 2012). When the educator assist children’s learning, it is important to put the emphasis on the nature of science and scientific concepts. Guided discovery approach to teaching requires the educator to ask effective questions that encourage children to explore and extend their investigations throughout science learning (Campbell, 2012). This can be developed through play experiences as children explore their world around them. An interactive approach to teaching children is based on questions that lead explorations and the educators to provide essential resources to guide these explorations (Campbell, 2012). It is the educators’ responsibility to support children’s development, ideas, questions, ways of thinking, and develop scientific thinking. Furthermore, an inquiry approach to teaching relates to children investigating the answers to their own

It is essential that educators create safe, welcoming environments that promote learning for all students in a classroom and to do this they must acknowledge issues of diversity and difference and know how to approach these issues. There are two key documents that guide educators in their planning and implementation of curriculum; The Australian Curriculum and The Early Years Learning Framework. Using these two documents to create learning programs, educators must enact an inclusive curriculum that empowers all students, regardless of differences. For educators to understand and address issues of diversity and differences such as socio-economic, cultural and ethnic backgrounds, language barriers and stereotypes around gender and sexuality, they must look at their own philosophy, values and beliefs around these issues.

In early learning environments, children acquire knowledge and develop cognitive, social and emotional, physical and language acquisition skills in the content areas such as language arts, math, science, and social studies in a variety of ways. It is up to the teachers to plan and implement in-depth studies of themes and topics that are meaningful and relevant to the children, being sure to address the development of the whole child while integrating all of the content areas. In the physical classroom the environment should provide students with hands-on opportunities to grow and develop skills, gain knowledge, and have fun as they explore carefully designed learning centers. They should be provided with materials that are related to

More and more classrooms are devoting classroom time to center activity time. The main purposes of these centers are to generate opportunities for children to experience learning independently in the classroom. This gives children the sense of freedom to learn what they want to, even if these centers have options the child still get to choose what they want to learn. When looking at your classroom teachers need to think how the flow of traffic will go and what teachers want the children to get from each learning center.

Develops, weekly plans, and implements age appropriate curriculum (lesson plan) to nurture and stimulate all domains of children’s development in their care. Provides a developmentally appropriate classroom environment that reflects the children’s learning and growth. Perform on-going developmental evaluations of children as required by funding sources and develop lesson plans and follow curriculum implementation that addresses the individual needs of each child. Maintains a record of growth and keeps parents up to date with child's progress.

Have you ever walked into a preschool classroom and wondered what they are doing and why they are doing it? The Highscope Classroom to an untrained eye may look like the kids are just "Playing". The classroom is full of conversation and play and the teachers are actively engaged with the children, on the floor talking with and or playing with them. What is the theory behind all this play?

One must look at classroom management as a plan for what procedures students will follow throughout the day. Teachers must understand their role in making sure students have a successful experience each day. Wong H. & Wong R., state “Effective teachers teach how to responsibly follow procedures” (2009, p. 165). To have a smooth-running classroom with minimal behaviors, students must be taught classroom procedures from the very first day. In my classroom we have procedures for many things we do each day. Some of these are arrival of children, snack time, lining up and walking down the hallway, and cleaning up centers. I have been teaching these procedures for many years with much success.

I believe the purposes of today's schools include learning curriculums that are enjoyable for students that improve knowledge and prepares students for real world experiences. I want my students to feel like they have a purpose of being in school and are capable of making changes. These beliefs have been shaped by the educational experiences that I had in a preschool classroom my senior year of high school. In my preschool classroom, I taught eleven preschools science, math, social studies, reading, and writing. When I made lesson plans I planned lessons that students would enjoy, but also were learning the curriculum. Some lessons that I created was when the students were learning their letters I put shaving cream on trays and would have

The debate about appropriate curriculum for young children generally centers on two options: free play and basic activities vs. straight academics (which is what many kindergartens across the country have adopted, often reducing or eliminating time for play). A new report, “Lively Minds: Distinctions between academic versus intellectual goals for young children,” offers a new way to look at what is appropriate in early childhood education.

The preschoolers in Star room constantly surprise me with how intelligent they truly are. I came into practicum assuming that the preschoolers would not be able to comprehend many things such as; rules, effective communicating, identifying different categories like colors, animals, textures, etc. My assumptions prior to practicum were based on that fact that I have never really worked with such a young age group before. Therefore, I expected the children to be much slower in developed in comparison to the six-year old’s I have worked with at camp. However, the children have surprised me ever since I entered the room on the first day of practicum. I was in awe when I observed how advanced in development the preschoolers are. One example of when

This research focuses on science in early childhood education, because as an educator I have always had an interest in science and I often wonder whether I am teaching this topic effectively and correctly for the children. I will define ‘What is science? And I will use a minimum of six articles relating to my topic. What is Science? Duschl, Schweingruber, & Shouse, defines science, Science is both a body of knowledge that represents current understanding of natural systems and the process whereby that body of knowledge has been established and is continually extended, refined, and

Science is, by its nature, inquiry based and science knowledge is built through processes in which discoveries of the natural world are made (Abruscato, 2000). It utilizes discovery and scientific thinking process to explore and learn knowledge and skills. Learning by doing is the new efficient method in teaching science. For kindergarten, this method leads to better understanding of science concepts and builds skills that children will use in future life .What a child can do with assistance now, they can later do on their own (Vygotsky, 1978). John Dewey (1916) stated that children must be engaged in an active quest for learning and new ideas. Inquiry is important in educating kindergarteners because it not only keeps them interested in lessons but also helps them retain more information when performing exploration and investigation. Children are naturally motivated to learn and actively seek out information to help their understanding (Piaget, 1950).The success of students who participate in hands- on inquiry activities suggests that if students have first hands experience with science, concepts are easier to understand and apply and students are generally more favorable to science and have better understanding of the nature of science .Within a conceptual framework, inquiry learning and active learner involvement can lead to important outcomes in the classroom. In kindergarten, students who are actively making observations, collecting results and drawing