Curriculum for Early Childhood Education
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Early childhood education is traditionally defined as any education taking place before the primary grades of first through third grades in elementary school. It encompasses all education from birth to first grade, but usually the term is used to refer to the more formalized nursery or preschool environments and kindergartens. These classroom environments have different emphases from developmental to academic. The most appropriate type of educational structure for children this age focuses on their individual level of development and their individual interests; therefore most academic classrooms are inappropriate because of their emphasis on seat work and teacher directed learning. The best available curriculum for teachers of this age group is found in a book called The Creative Curriculum for Early Childhood, by Diane Trister Dodge and Laura J. Colker. The Creative Curriculum is a comprehensive, child development-based curriculum that allows teachers to set-up an effective learning environment for preschool and kindergarten classrooms. It is based on child development theories, it is easy to use, practical and flexible in its approach to teaching, and allows each child to proceed on the path of learning at the child's own pace. The first portion of the book, "Setting the Stage," gives the reader some the theoretical foundation of Dodge and Colkers' philosophy of education for children this age. The authors draw on Piaget, Erikson, and Maslow by name but also refere
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an represent a sound or words. Without being given the opportunity for symbolic play a child will not become a proficient reader (Weininger 39). Vygotsky claimed that symbolic or dramatic play increases and promotes a child's abstract thinking (Saracho n.p.). Socio-dramatic play can also help a child learn impulse control. All children have aggressive impulses that they must learn to regulate. At least one study has shown that socio-dramatic play can help children from low-income families to control these impulses (Saltz, Dickson, and Johnson 367).
Piaget's last stage of play which is of concern to early childhood educators is "games with rules." At this stage, a child is exploring social conventions and interactions. These games usually require two or more children, so they are social in nature. The rules, of the game, may be fluid as long as all the children who are playing agree to them. Examples of games with rules are checkers, chess, marbles, tag, board games, and organized sports. Only a few percent of children aged four to seven will play games with formal rules without intervention from a parent, older sibling, teacher, or other adult (Mann n.p.). Parents often enroll children in organized sports before they a
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Approximate Word count = 2666
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)
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