ECE611 Early Childhood Curriculum and Methods

ECE611 Early Childhood Curriculum and Methods Dr. Allison Rief Introduction Early childhood education plays an important role in the development of cognitive and social understanding. Program design should take into account the whole child, their interest in play and their excitement over newly presented information. Curriculum should benefit intellectual growth but needs to recognize the importance of positive and fun experiences. Through carefully designed programs and appropriate developmental strategies, teachers provide these young learners with a strong sense of individuality in addition to confidence by allowing children to learn with personal exploration. Learning Center #1 – Lets make… Description: Learning center #1 is where students learn to explore their senses through various pre-designed curricular activities. Every week, children will create an art project, participate in a music lesson, and make a healthy treat. Materials/Equipment: beads and string, various food items, flour, salt, water, sand, glue, musical instruments, CD player, child friendly CD’s: An art table is available for children to sit to complete certain projects. During the music lesson, the table is put away to allow room for dancing, singing, and being silly. Contribution to Learning: Children would have the ability to initiate their own examinations of the contents and/or activity, constructing “their own knowledge rather than simply taking in information supplied by others” (Kostelnik, Soderman, Whiren, & Rupiper, 2015, sec 3.6). Activities such as these will encourage additional development of gross motor skills through musical lessons, eye-hand coordination with beading, recalling short step sequence, creativity, imagination, and communication skills (‘Leap Frog, 2017).