Free Essay. Curriculum Planning and Implementation

Summary of Observations from the Videos, and Identifying the Interests and Development of the Children

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In the videos, the children seem completely involved in the exercises going on. They equally appear to love what they are doing, as they seem happy. They constantly converse amongst themselves, and equally, stare at that which their colleagues are doing. They are permitted to express themselves with no limitation whatsoever. For instance, after being provided with crayons for drawing, they go ahead and draw everything that comes to mind. While some of the drawings may not bear any ideal meaning, the teachers are heard congratulating the children and encouraging them in the expressions (Ontario, 2007). One of the other kids, after hearing the other’s drawing being praised, go for an eraser and begins to do the same.

In the “mint tea and chat” video, the children are observed to mimic the ordinary adult table setup. They have small conversations and help each other fill their glasses. One of the kids instructs the other not to fill her glass, and how to go about the mixture ratios. All the while, the teachers stay off and do not interfere or interrupt the kids.

“In the building structures with Young Children” video, the children are provided with the required material and left to do their construction on their own. What is apparent is the teacher’s failure to criticize the children. Instead, she inquisitively engages the children, seeking to understand the reasoning behind the child’s creativity. Further, they constantly praise the children, look impressed, and engage them to keep going. To motivate them, she promises them a few gifts. To bring the importance of having big houses without necessarily scaring the children, she wittingly brings in the story of hurricanes taking down houses that are not strong enough. After that, the children are observed to try and add components into their constructions that seek to make their houses stronger. Her criticisms are constructive. They avoid, as much as possible, doing the constructions themselves, and leave it to the children to handle it completely.

“In the respecting and responding to children” video, one of the little children had her attention disrupted by the camera-man. To have it back, the teacher begins to sing a song, in which the child joins, and resumes concentrating on the activity. Also, regardless of the questions, the children ask, some perhaps having no meaning at all, the teacher responds to the all in a jolly manner. The children were reluctant to get back inside the classroom despite the cold weather settling in. Seeing that their attention was drawn to the sand, the teacher offered to take some sand with her to class, so that they could keep playing with it. The children gladly accepted.

Generally, the attention span, levels of creativity, and manner of expressions are being tested on these kids. They have been provided with the freedom to express their creativity in whatsoever ways. In interacting with nature, the children are allowed to have the general feeling of what the environment entails. However, questions may be asked regarding the general lack of criticism from the teachers, even when some of the children were doing the wrong thing. Instead, they were being encouraged to go on. There are easier, or less-rigid modes of correction, that children could respond positively to.

Learning Experiences

Children learn in different ways than ordinary adults. They do so through making comparisons of different physical experiences, through interacting with fellow children, as well as their feelings (Ontario, 2007). A large percentage of their learning is usually through their imagination. For learning to take full effect, both the logical and creative aspects of the brain have to be triggered. One such way through which this trigger is achieved is through play.

Music and Movement

Integrating music and movement in the children’s learning experiences plays a crucial role in their development and comes along with several benefits. Naturally, children are drawn to music and begin to show reactions to it from an early age. The main benefit in children learning through music and movement is that they can release their energy. In the process, the children have fun, get to be creative, move around while dancing and burning off their energy. Doing so in groups help enhance their social skills and their ability to work together with other children as a team. Further, the children can learn how best to express different emotions, as well as improve the balance, movement and coordination.

Outdoor/Nature

Fundamentally, children are given a chance to explore and do their learning outside the classroom walls. This should be done more frequently. Through outdoor learning, the children can develop healthier and more active lifestyles since it gives them the chance to engage in various forms of physical activity, move freely, and develop a sense of well-being. Further, it gives the children experiences with the natural world, that are different or unique from that which they encounter within the classroom. The respect for nature and the environment is equally enhanced (Ontario, 2007). Through their study of nature and the environment, they get to realize and appreciate the interdependence between all living species, i.e., humans, animals, plants and different cycles of life. The spaces offered by the natural environment are ideal for those children who learn best through intense or active movement. Such movements stimulate the development of their brains and the creation of neural networks. Finally, outdoor learning exposes children to various risks. Through frequent interactions with such risks, they can develop counter mechanisms, or coping skills, which will serve them well as they continue to grow and develop.

Creative Art

Though they may come out as shady or messy, art is integral in the preschoolers’ curriculum. It opens up the children to new dimensions and allows them to express themselves through their imaginations. Some of the benefits of art include: building the arms, hands and fingers’ strengths; developing hand and finger control, that ultimately helps in the writing skills; coordination of both the hands and the eyes; exposes the child to varying textures, colors, as well as tastes; allows the child to think and plan on their creation, and how best to go about it; boosts the child’s creativity levels, etc.

Creative art utilizes the child’s senses and the urge to explore. Besides, the entire activity is often fun and gives the children immense joy as they see their drawings and creations come to life (Ontario, 2007). Focus and attention should be put in the process, rather than the finished project. The process bears more weight and is wholesomely crucial to the learning and development of the child.

Math

It is integral that the children begin to interact with math from an early age. Math is essential as it provides the children with skills that are quite vital in life. It provides the children with skills that help them solve problems, determine their spatial awareness, as well as how best to make use of different shapes. Further, it equips the child with the requisite foundation that is extremely crucial in their elementary schooling and beyond. It ought to introduce basic concepts in math through involving the children in simple terminologies. Preschool children are not quite ready to learn on the use of mathematical skills in practice. However, they can obtain a rough idea of it through language and practice.

They ought to be taught on how to count forwards, as well as backwards, as this teaches them how numbers relate (Ontario, 2007). Further, children do best with visual representations. As such, the best way to go about this is through the use of visuals in their teaching. Pictures help them build on these relationships more clearly and efficiently.

The entire school curriculum has math integrated all over it. As such, failure to equip the children with the basic skillset at attender age sets them up for failure. The fact that children at such tender ages can learn at impressive rates should be taken advantage of, and used to impact this knowledge early enough.

Justifications

From the discussion above, it is clear just how essential the four aspects of learning experiences are to the growth and development of a child. As has been established, the mode of learning that children understand best is different from that of adults. As such, the two cannot possibly be handled in the same manner. The children’s curriculum ought to be modified and adjusted to fit in the child’s unique abilities, that when handled in the right manner, help in the realization of their full growth and development.

Through the integration of creative arts, the children can express their thoughts, feelings and emotions. As such, it is possible to have a better understanding of that which is going through the child’s mindset. Music and movement mainly help in the child’s mastery of movement coordination, as well as keep the body active. As such, the child can develop healthily. Having an outdoor study environment enables the children to have direct interaction with nature, as well as the environment. They are thus able to appreciate the little details that matter, details of which the classroom experience alone would not have exposed them too. Finally, math is crucial in the wholesome development of the children, as it is something they are bound to experience not only later on in school, but in life as well (Ontario, 2007). As such, the earlier they begin to interact with it and understand it, the better.

A curriculum that integrates all that has been discussed above is not only wholesome but sets up the child for success in future. They guarantee the full and wholesome development of the children, without limiting their abilities. One aspect is no more important than the other. When looked at internally, all the four learning experiences correlate. The success of one leads to the success of the other. As such, success in the curriculum is only bound to be realized if all the four are implemented harmoniously.

References

Ontario. (2007). Early learning for every child today: A framework for Ontario early childhood settings. Toronto: Ministry of Children and Youth Services.