Curriculum for Young Children - Essay Example

Field Experience/Focused Observation Theory in Words School Focused Observation The overall theme for this unit is “Things That Move.” I chose this theme because young children at a typical early childhood center serving ages 6 weeks through 6 years need movement incorporated in the curriculum. The curriculum which is designed here is using Innovative Curriculum (Frog Street). Innovative Curriculum is developmentally appropriate for the age group I chose, which is 2-year-olds. Frog Street Curriculum is consistent with the Common Core State Standards by: “[e]ngag[ing] all students in deep and close reading; [e]ngaging all students in persevering to understand complex text; [e]ngag[ing] all students in rigorous non-fiction reading; [and] [e]ngag[ing] all students to ‘sleuth read’—to reread and revisit [the] text for answers” (“Creating Common Core Comprehension Connections,” 2014, pgh. 3). Notes From Questions Asked Upon interviewing a daycare director, the following information was gleaned about the 2-year-old program in a nationally-known daycare chain. 1. Where does your curriculum come from? Frog Street curriculum is also called Innovative Curriculum. It focuses on addressing the need for young learners to move and interact with their environment. 2. How do you apply the curriculum to your students’ needs? The curriculum is designed to engage children at their level, whatever stage of development the 2-year-olds are at momentarily. 3. How do you adapt your curriculum to all learning styles? The curriculum is flexible for learners who are visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. There are plenty of opportunities for children to see, hear, and explore their physical space. 4. What is your behavioral plan of action? If, after several attempts at unruly behavior—such as biting, which is common at the two-year-old level—a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) will be implemented, where a record is made of the time, date, and circumstances surrounding the negative behavior. With redirection and refocusing, it is hoped that the behavior can be corrected. 5. How do you feel about the Common Core curriculum? The Innovative Curriculum is in alignment with the Common Core, as stated above. 6. Do your students and parents know how to get around campus? Students need to be guided by teachers because the school can be confusing for two’s to navigate. Parents are very familiar with the setup of the school, however. 7. Do you feel like your curriculum is age and individualized appropriate? The curriculum is age appropriate and adapted to suit childrens’ individual needs. Daily sheets are provided for parents describing what their child(ren) has/have done throughout the day, recording what they ate at meals and when they used the potty or were changed. 8. What assessments do you use? Is your assessment appropriate for all students? Assessments are done twice a year, once in November and once in May, since this is a year-round daycare. The assessment is appropriate for all students in six sections of the 2-year-old class (A/B, C/D, and E/F). There are 8 students assigned per each section, and two sections make up an entire class. Two teachers are assigned to every class full of two’s, and assessments measure the ability or lack thereof to reach certain developmental milestones. 9. Are families involved in the classroom? If yes or now, how so, or why not? Families are typically only at the center for pickup and drop-off; however, there are certain family events associated with the seasons (such as “Winter Fest”) which encourage family involvement. 10. What are the classroom rules? There are only three classroom rules: listen to your teachers; do not hit or bite; keep your hands and feet to yourself. 11. What technology is used? Students at age two are only allowed a maximum total of 30 minutes of screen time per week. Occasionally students will watch short educational videos with a limit of 6 minutes per day, Monday through Friday. 12. What learning domains are covered daily/weekly? The learning domains covered daily and weekly are psychomotor, affective, and cognitive—including playtime (twice per day), outside time (twice per day), computer and/or engineering class where students watch a short video and then play with blocks, creative movement (twice per day), circle time, gym time, nap time, Spanish language class, English language arts and STEM--which includes a morning and afternoon snack with lunch in between. 13. What is your educational experience? The director mentioned she had a Master of Education in Child Development, and was also a certified Birth through Age Three teacher. 14. What did you learn that was new? If you had concerns, what are they? What might you try in your own setting? I learned a lot about the Innovative Curriculum. My only concern was that this nationwide daycare was not NAEYC accredited, mainly because their philosophy includes a complex schedule where the two’s have to move to a new classroom location every 30 minutes, which is not seen as developmentally appropriate. It might be wiser to give young children more time to adjust to a smaller pool of activities. Recap of Observation To recap, this daycare center that serves two-year-olds has an intensive and rigorous curriculum in the Innovative Curriculum that is supported by Frog Street materials. Also, many of the materials are bilingual in nature so that students who are Spanish-speaking, non- native speakers of English can also benefit from the program. Additionally, young children are taught in bilingual Spanish during their Spanish language portion of the day when they have Spanish class. Two-year-old students are taught their numbers from 1 to 10 in Spanish, as well as the colors and the alphabet. From the start of the day, students are busy with activities. First there is morning playtime, then morning snack. Students have a time to go potty or get changed—as many of these students are in potty training mode. Then, students go outside after morning snack, followed by engineering/computer class, then art class, then morning circle time. After a nice, leisurely lunch, students go back to creative movement. Then they have gym, a two-hour nap, an afternoon snack, Spanish class, English language arts, outside time again, and then the program is officially over for the day. Students then are allowed to play for up to two hours doing various activities until pickup (from 4:30pm-6:30pm). Throughout this entire time, students are encouraged to move as well as play and be creative. Students have musical transitions in the hallway, where teachers lead students in fun, simple songs that are developmentally appropriate and entertaining. Students are changing from class to class every 30 minutes, which can be somewhat hectic. However, students seemed to adjust well enough. Although students are moved from class to class every 30 minutes, this does keep students moving and the teachers are also constantly active. Movement is definitely good for the brain and activities like Total Physical Approach are integrated into the curriculum as one can see via the Curriculum Activity Guides #s 1-3. CAG #1 focuses on Language Arts; CAG #2 focuses on Math; and CAG #3 focuses on Science. CAG #1 includes phonological awareness and vocabulary in literacy, in the “I Move” section. CAG #2 includes Math in the “Travel” section. CAG #3 focuses on “Transportation” (Science). However, just as a safety—literacy, math, and science are included every day in the curriculum for three weeks as shown in the Excel files. These Excel files of the unit plan demonstrate the commitment that is necessary in order to properly execute the curriculum that needs to be in place in order for the two-year-olds to be able to have intellectual, social, physical, and sensorimotor development, which is critical for children (Arce & Ferguson, 2013). All of the appendices demonstrate what a comprehensive and well-designed program Frog Street curriculum is. By providing students with a wide variety of activities, young two’s are able to explore the world around them in a safe and engaging way that encourages their cognitive development. Students are challenged to interact with their teachers and other young two’s in a caring and nurturing environment. This is an ideal environment where children learn. References Arce, E. & Ferguson, S. B. (2013). Curriculum for young children: An introduction. Independence, KY: Thomson Delmar Learning.  Creating common core comprehension connections: With literature and informational text. (2014). Retrieved 15 March 2015 at http://www.frogstreet.com/curriculum/core-curriculum/. Read More