Today’s Curriculum for Early Learning Programs
Today’s curriculum for early learning programs does the following:
- Includes goals for achievement in all domains—social, emotional, cognitive, and physical—in order to prepare children for the role of citizen in a democracy.
- Addresses the development of knowledge, understanding, processes, and skills, not just isolated facts.
- Is based on content identified in subject area standards.
- Is grounded on realistic goals that challenge yet are achievable.
- Reflects the needs and interests of individual children and the group.
- Respects and supports individual, cultural, and linguistic diversity.
- Builds on what children already know and are able to do to consolidate their learning and to foster their acquisition of new concepts and skills.
- Allows for integration across traditional subject matter disciplines.
- Meets the recognized standards of the relevant subject matter disciplines.
- Engages children actively, socially, physically, and mentally.
- Is flexible so that teachers can adapt to individual children or groups.
Excerpt from Early Education: Three, Four, and Five Year Olds Go to School, by C. Seefeldt & B.A. Wasik, 2006 edition, p. 35.
© 2006, Merrill, an imprint of Pearson Education Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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