chapter - 6 : principles and approaches of early childhood...

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Chapter - 6 : Principles and Approaches of Early Childhood Education

Principles and approaches to teaching young learners relate teaching to learning.

Teaching facilitates learning by promoting, nurturing a culture of learning &

building connections between knowledge. Teaching should facilitate the

construction of meaning, promote understanding, and connect theory and practice.

Learning is commonly defined as a process that brings together cognitive, emotional,

environmental influences. It leads to experiences for acquiring, enhancing, or

making changes in one's knowledge, skills, values, and world views (Illeris, 2000;

Ormorod, 1995). Learning as a process focuses on what happens when the learning

takes place. Explanations of what happens constitute learning theories. A learning

theory is an attempt to describe how people and animals learn, thereby helping us to

understand the inherently complex process of learning. Learning theories have two

chief values according to Hill (2002). One is in providing us with vocabulary and a

conceptual framework for interpreting the examples of learning that we observe. The

other is in suggesting where to look for solutions to practical problems. The theories

do not give us solutions, but they do direct our attention to those variables that are

crucial in finding solutions.

Maria Montessori

We begin with the Montessori approach to teaching:

Maria Montessori (picture to the left) was, in many ways,

ahead of her time. Born in the town of Chiaravalle, in the

province of Ancona, Italy, in 1870, she became the first female

physician in Italy after her graduation from medical school in

1896. In her medical practice, her clinical observations led her

to analyze how children learn, and she concluded that they build themselves from

what they find in their environment. What ultimately became the Montessori

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method of education developed there, based upon Montessori's scientific

observations of these children's almost effortless ability to absorb knowledge from

their surroundings, as well as their tireless interest in manipulating materials. Every

piece of equipment, every exercise, every method Montessori developed was based

on what she observed children to do "naturally," by themselves, unassisted by

adults.

Children teach themselves. This simple but profound truth inspired Montessori's

lifelong pursuit of educational reform, methodology, psychology, teaching, and

teacher training—all based on her dedication to furthering the self-creating process

of the child.

Maria Montessori died in Noordwijk, Holland, in 1952, but her work lives on

through the Association Montessori International (AMI), the organization she

founded in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in 1929 to carry on her work.

PRINCIPLES OF MONTESSORI METHOD

The Montessori Method is based on several principles. Montessori believed that

learning is a “natural, self-directed process” that follows several fundamental laws

of human nature. According to Montessori principles, a child will naturally become

in harmony with his or her environment during the learning process as long as the

environment is properly prepared and maintained. The role of the adult in the

child’s learning process is to simply prepare the environment and to make sure this

environment remains intact. Montessori’s principles state that the adult who is

preparing the environment needs to be committed to several things: observation,

individual liberty, and sufficient preparation. Montessori believes that as long as the

adults involved in the learning process follow these guidelines the children will

engage themselves in their own learning process.

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The teaching methods used in the

Montessori classroom (picture to the left)

are very specific. The Montessori teacher

must be sure to include work tasks and

activities that involve all of the individual

intelligences. These intelligences include

musical, kinesthetic, spatial, interpersonal,

intrapersonal, intuitive, linguistic, and

logical. Children are given the opportunity

to explore different activities that address these different areas of knowledge.

A Montessori class usually consists of 30 to 35 students and one to two

teachers. Children are grouped in three-year spans, which allow the children to

remain with the same teacher for three to six years. The classroom is usually divided

into center stations. The center stations are grouped by category such as daily living

materials (washing station, cleaning supplies, etc.), sensorial materials (sand, sound

cylinders, etc.), academic materials (books, pencils, etc.), and cultural/artistic

materials (paints, crayons, markers, etc.). The materials found in each station are

carefully organized and usually remain in the same location throughout the entire

school year.

The materials used in the classroom are also an important aspect of the Montessori

school system. The materials used are specific to the Montessori school and each

serve a very specific purpose. When new material is introduced into the classroom

the teacher carefully demonstrates to the children exactly how the material should

be used. After this demonstration the children are expected to only use the material

the way it is supposed to be used. If the teacher sees the child using the material in a

different way he or she will demonstrate the proper use of the material once

again. An example of such a material is the dried pea work task. The child is given

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a bowl of dried peas along with a spoon and an empty bowl. The teacher

demonstrates to the child how to spoon the dried peas into the empty bowl. The

child is then left to complete this task on his or her own. If the teacher were to see

the child using the peas for any other play or work he or she would demonstrate the

task again.

Montessori claims that their school system, unlike traditional school systems,

provides children with the opportunity to grow into independent and self-sufficient

individuals with a deeply rooted love for learning.

How her Basic Principles came about:

Montessori kept a list on what children like:

• Children like to repeat exercises; once they discover certain activities they

want to repeat them constantly in order to master them (sensitive period).

• Children like to choose on their own.

• Children have the need to check on themselves.

• It is a challenge to them to come up with the right solution.

• Children like it when human movements are analyzed. How do you do a

specific movement? Is it a beautiful movement?

• Children enjoy silence exercises.

• Children favor good manners in their social behavior.

• Children like an ordered environment in which everything has a fixed

place. This gives them a sense of security and safety.

• Children feel a need to take care of their own body, for instance, washing,

blowing their nose.

• Children in the ages from three to six are geared toward their senses; through

their senses they learn to explore and order their environment.

• Children write before they start reading (no books yet).

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Friedrich Froebel

Play is a natural instinct of the children. It has been effectively

used for teaching. Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel (picture

to the left) was the father of the Kindergarten system,

"Children's Garden" a system which encourages fun and play

based learning. Froebel characterized play as the "work" of childhood and described

it as "the purest, the most spiritual, product of man at this stage."

Froebel sought to encourage the creation of educational environment that involved

practical work and the direct use of materials. Through engaging with the world,

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understanding unfolds. Hence the significance of play. It is both a creative activity

and through it children become aware of their place in the world. He went on to

develop special materials (such as shaped wooden bricks and balls - gifts), a series of

recommended activities (occupations) movement activities, and linking set of

theories. His original concern was the teaching of young children through

educational games in the family. In the later years of his life this became linked with

a demand for the provision of special centers for the care and development of

children outside the home.

We have seen the development of kindergartens, and the emergence of a Froebel

movement. For informal educators, Friedrich Froebel's continuing relevance has lain

in his concern for learning through activity, his interest in social learning and his

emphasis on the 'unification 'of life.

Froebel labeled his approach to education as "self-activity". This idea allows the child

to be led by his or her own interests and to freely explore them. The teacher's role,

therefore, was to be a guide rather than lecturer.

Froebel's kindergarten was designed to meet each child's need for:

• physical activity

• the development of sensory awareness and physical dexterity

• creative expression

• exploration of ideas and concepts

• the pleasure of singing

• the experience of living among others

• satisfaction of the soul

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The Kindergarten Curriculum

Froebel’s Gifts

Froebel developed a series of gifts and occupations for use in kindergartens.

Representing what Froebel identified as fundamental forms, the gifts had both their

actual physical appearance and also a hidden symbolic meaning. They were

to stimulate the child to bring the fundamental concept that they represented to

mental consciousness. Froebel's gifts were the following items.

• Six soft, colored balls

• A wooden sphere, cube, and cylinder

• A large cube divided into eight smaller cubes

• A large cube divided into eight oblong blocks

• A large cube divided into twenty-one whole, six half, and twelve quarter

cubes

• A large cube divided into eighteen whole oblongs: three divided lengthwise

three divided breadth wise

• Quadrangular and triangular tablets for arranging figures

• Sticks for outlining figures· Whole and half wire rings for outlining figures

• Various materials for drawing, perforating, embroidering, paper

cutting, weaving or braiding, paper folding, modeling, and interlacing

The occupations were items such as paper, pencils, wood, sand, clay, straw &sticks

for use in constructive activities. Kindergarten activities included games, songs, and

stories. The activities are designed to assist in sensory, physical development and

socialization. By playing, children socialize, imitate adult social and economic

activities as they are gradually led into the larger world of group life. The

kindergarten provided a milieu that encouraged children to interact with other

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children under the guidance of a loving teacher, and this is followed in KG schools

all over the world even today.

Jean Piaget

Swiss biologist and psychologist Jean Piaget (1896-

1980) is renowned for constructing a highly

influential model of child development and

learning. Piaget discovered that children think

and reason differently at different periods in their

lives. He believed that everyone passed through an

invariant sequence of four qualitatively distinct

stages.

Invariant means that a person cannot skip stages or reorder them. Although every

normal child passes through the stages in exactly the same order, there is some

variability in the ages at which children attain each stage.

Piaget identified four major stages: sensory-motor, preoperational, concrete

operational and formal operational. Piaget believed all children pass through these

Chapters to advance to the next level of cognitive development.

• Sensorimotor stage: from birth to age 2. Children experience the world

through movement and senses (use five senses to explore the world). During the

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sensorimotor stage children are extremely egocentric, meaning they cannot perceive

the world from others' viewpoints. The sensori-motor stage is divided into six sub-

stages: "(1) simple reflex (2) first habits and primary circular reactions (3) secondary

circular reactions (4) coordination of secondary circular reactions (5) tertiary circular

reactions, novelty, and curiosity and (6) internalization of schemes."

• Simple reflexes are from birth to 1 month old. At this time infants use reflexes

such as rooting and sucking.

• First habits and primary circular reactions are from 1 month to 4 months old.

During this time infants learn to coordinate sensation and two types of

scheme (habit and circular reactions). A primary circular reaction is when the

infant tries to reproduce an event that happened by accident (ex: sucking

thumb).

• The third stage, secondary circular reactions, occurs when the infant is 4 to 8

months old. At this time they become aware of things beyond their own body;

they are more objects oriented. At this time they might accidentally shake a

rattle and continue to do it for sake of satisfaction.

• Coordination of secondary circular reactions is from 8 months to 12 months

old. During this stage they can do things intentionally. They can now combine

and recombine schemes and try to reach a goal (ex: use a stick to reach

something). They also understand object permanence during this stage. That

is, they understand that objects continue to exist even when they can't see

them.

• The fifth stage occurs from 12 months old to 18 months old. During this stage

infants explore new possibilities of objects. They try different things to get

different results.

• The preoperational stage usually occurs during the period between

toddlerhood (18-24months) and early childhood (7 years). During this stage

children begin to use language, memory and imagination also develops. In

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the preoperational stage, children engage in make believe. They can

understand and express relationships between the past and the future. More

complex concepts, such as cause and effect relationships which they have not

learned. Intelligence is egocentric, intuitive &not logical.

• The concrete operational stage typically develops between the ages of 7-11

years. Intellectual development in this stage is demonstrated through the use

of logical and systematic manipulation of symbols, which are related to

concrete objects. Thinking becomes less egocentric with increased awareness

of external events, and involves concrete references.

• The period from adolescence through adulthood is the formal

operational stage. Adolescents and adults use symbols related to abstract

concepts. Adolescents can think about multiple variables in systematic ways,

can formulate hypotheses, and think about abstract relationships and

concepts.

Piaget's Key Ideas (SUMMARY)

Adaptation What it says: adapting to the world through assimilation and

accommodation

Assimilation

The process by which a person takes material into their mind

from the environment, which may mean changing the

evidence of their senses to make it fit.

Accommodation

The difference made to one's mind or concepts by the process

of assimilation.

Note that assimilation and accommodation go together as

you can't have one without the other.

Classification

The ability to group objects together on the basis of common

features.

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Class Inclusion

The understanding of more advanced than simple

classification, that some classes or sets of objects are also sub-

sets of a larger class. (E.g. there is a class of objects called

dogs. There is also a class called animals. But all dogs are also

animals, so the class of animals include that of dogs)

Conservation The realization that objects or sets of objects stay the same

even when they are changed about or made to look different.

Decantation The ability to move away from one system of classification to

another, one that is appropriate.

Egocentrism

The belief that you are the center of the universe and

everything revolves around you: the corresponding inability

to see the world as someone else does and adapt to it. Not

moral "selfishness", just an early stage of psychological

development.

Operation

The process of working something out in your head. Young

children (in the sensory motor and pre-operational stages)

have to act, and try things out in the real world, to work

things out (like count on fingers). Older children and adults

can do more in their heads.

Schema(or

scheme)

The representation in the mind of a set of perceptions, ideas,

and/or actions, which go together.

Stage A period in a child's development in which he or she is

capable of understanding some things but not others

Stages of Cognitive Development

Stage Characterized by

Sensori-

motor

Differentiates self from objects

Recognizes self as agent of action and begins to act

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(Birth-2 yrs) intentionally: e.g. pulls a string to set mobile in motion or

shakes a rattle to make a noise

Pre-

operational

(2-7 years)

Achieves object permanence: realizes that things continue to

exist even when no longer present to the sense (pace Bishop

Berkeley)

Learns to use language and to represent objects by images and

words Thinking is still egocentric, has difficulty taking the

viewpoint of others.

Classifies objects by a single feature e.g. groups together all the

red blocks regardless of shape or all the square blocks

regardless of colour

Concrete

operational

(7-11 years)

Can think logically about objects and events.

Achieves conservation of number (age 6), mass (age 7), and

weight (age 9).

Classifies objects according to several features and can order

them in series along a single dimension such as size.

Formal

operational

(11 years and

up)

Can think logically about abstract propositions and test

hypotheses systematically.

Becomes concerned with the hypothetical, the future, and

ideological problems.

THE REGGIO EMILIA APPROACH

The Reggio Emilia approach is a form

of alternative education which focuses on

teaching children through a strong sense

of community. It is usually applied to

young students in pre-school and primary

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school grades. This philosophy proposes interactive methods of teaching, which

often involve the parents, educators and environment in a variety of ways.

Loris Malaguzzi (1920-1994) founded the 'Reggio Emilia' approach at a city in

northern Italy called Reggio Emilia. The 'Reggio' approach

was developed for municipal child-care and education

programs serving children below six. The approach requires

children to be seen as competent, resourceful, curious,

imaginative and inventive, possess a desire to interact and

communicate with others.

The 'Reggio' vision of the child as a competent learner has produced a strong child-

directed curriculum model. The curriculum has purposive progression but not scope

and sequence. Teachers follow the children's interests and do not provide focused

instruction in reading and writing. Reggio approach has a strong belief that children

learn through interaction with others, including parents, staff and peers in a friendly

learning environment.

The Reggio Emilia approach was conceived, encompass and implement the

theoretical contributions of thinkers including Dewey, Piaget, Vygotsky and Bruner.

Collaboration among children, teachers, parents, and the community is highly

valued and the centers are open to all families regardless of income and supported

by the town.

This approach originated in the Italian city of Reggio Emilia after World War II. At

that time, some of the schools in the city rejected the traditional approach of teaching

children through strict discipline and guidelines. It adopted a more flexible method.

Gradually, this new way gained popularity around the world because it encourages

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child development through exploration of interests and building relationships with

others.

One of the key elements of the Reggio Emilia approach is the school environment.

Small and colorless classrooms are thought to be unproductive and limiting to a

child’s imagination. This philosophy suggests lessons be held in much bigger rooms

with plenty of light, space and real plants. The idea behind the principle is to

stimulate a student’s sense of exploration from an early stage. Some schools

following the Reggio Emilia approach try to limit the barriers between classrooms to

encourage interaction between students.

Parents and friends are very important to this alternative form of education. The

children’s development is often seen as the responsibility of the entire community.

Parents are strongly encouraged to assist their children, not only with homework,

but also by being involved in the child's school activities. The Reggio Emilia

approach places a great value on parental input, and most school boards hold open

meetings on issues like school curriculum and policy.

A major innovation brought about by this type of philosophy is the role of educators.

Learning material is typically designed to enhance the teachers’ own education, to

allow them to learn along with their students. Many of these teaching methods

include learning from physical experience, such as touching, hearing or seeing.

Examinations, such as achievement tests, are often limited and a greater focus is put

on helping the children to comprehend the practical ways they can use what they are

learning.

Another important aspect of the Reggio Emilia approach is that it gives children

some control over the way they learn things. Parents and teachers are often

instructed to find ways to incorporate individual student interests into a child's

learning process. Children are also motivated to express themselves through various

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means, such as writing, drawing and play-acting. These works are often shared, and

even revised, by their peers, to encourage collective participation.

This model was conceived after World War II when the women of Reggio wanted to

build a school, literally from the rubble of the devastated town. The curriculum is

based on close observation and documentation of the children’s ideas by the

teacher who co-constructs knowledge with the children. Their ideology expanded

and deepened and special roles are given to the atelierista (helps children express

ideas) and the pedagogista (the teacher and connector of teachers). Parents continue

to be engaged as partners in their child’s learning. The environment is used as a

valuable source of learning both to inspire, reflect, and to promote the work of the

children, which is done in small groups.

Here are some key features of Reggio Emilia's early childhood program:

The role of the environment-as-teacher

• Within the Reggio Emilia schools, the educators are very concerned about

what their school environment teach children. Hence, a great attention is

given to the look and feel of the classroom. It is often referring to the

environment as the "third teacher".

• The aesthetic beauty within the schools is seen as an important part of

respecting the child and their learning environment.

• A classroom atmosphere of playfulness and joy pervades.

• Teachers organize environment rich in possibilities and provocations that

invite the children to undertake extended exploration and problem solving,

often in small groups, where cooperation and disputation mingle pleasurably.

• Documentation of children's work, plants, and collections that children have

made from former outings are displayed both at the children's and adult eye

level.

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• Common space available to all children in the school includes dramatic play

areas and work tables for children from different classrooms to come

together.

Children's multiple symbolic languages

• Using the arts as a symbolic language through which to express their

understandings in their project work

• Consistent with Dr. Howard Gardner's notion of schooling for multiple

intelligences, the Reggio approach calls for the integration of the graphic arts

as tools for cognitive, linguistic, and social development.

• Presentation of concepts and hypotheses in multiple forms such as print, art,

construction, drama, music, puppetry, and shadow play. These are viewed as

essential to children's understanding of experience.

Documentation as assessment and advocacy (Rather unique in Reggio approach)

• Documenting and displaying the children's project work, which is necessary

for children to express, revisit, construct and reconstruct their feelings, ideas

and understandings.

• Similar to the portfolio approach, documentation of children's work in

progress is viewed as an important tool in the learning process for children,

teachers, and parents.

• Pictures of children engaged in experiences, their words as they discuss what

they are doing, feeling and thinking and the children's interpretation of

experience through the visual media are displayed as a graphic presentation

of the dynamics of learning.

• Teachers act as recorders (documenters) for the children, helping them trace

and revisit their words and actions and thereby making the learning visible.

Long-term projects

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• Supporting and enriching children's learning through in-depth, short-term

(one week) and long-term (throughout the school year) project work, in which

responding, recording, playing, exploring, hypothesis building and testing,

and provoking occurs.

• Projects are child-centered, following their interest, returning again and again

to add new insights.

• Throughout a project, teachers help children make decisions about the

direction of study, the ways in which the group will research the topic, the

representational medium that will demonstrate and showcase the topic.

The teacher as researchers

• The teacher's role within the Reggio Emilia approach is complex. Working as

co-teachers, the role of the teacher is first and foremost to be that of a learner

alongside the children. The teacher is a teacher-researcher, a resource and

guide as she/he lends expertise to children.

• Within such a teacher-researcher role, educators carefully listen, observe, and

document children's work and the growth of community in their classroom

and are to provoke and stimulate thinking

• Teachers are committed to reflection about their own teaching and learning.

• Classroom teachers working in pairs and collaboration, sharing information

and mentoring between personnel.

Home-school relationships

• Children, teachers, parents, community are interactive. They work together.

Building a community of inquiry between adults and children.

• For communication and interaction can deepen children's inquiry and theory

building about the world around them

• Programs in Reggio are family centered. Loris's vision of an "education based

on relationships" focuses on each child in relation to others and seeks to

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activate and support children's reciprocal relationships with other children,

family, teachers, society, and the environment.

Reggio approach is not a formal model with defined methods (such as Waldorf and

Montessori), teacher certification standards and accreditation processes. But rather,

the educators in Reggio Emilia speak of their evolving "experience" and see

themselves as a provocation and reference point, a way of engaging in dialogue

starting from a strong and rich vision of the child. In all of these settings,

documentation was explored as a means of promoting parent and teacher

understanding of children's learning and development.

The Reggio Emilia approach on early childhood education, it did not play down on

the other approaches such as Waldorf and Montessori. Each approach has its own

strengths and weaknesses as well as areas of difference.

The Pre-primary Schools of Reggio Emilia

In contrast, the educators in the preprimary schools of Reggio Emilia are very

concerned about what their school environments teach children, often referring to

the environment as the "third educator" in conjunction with the two classroom

teachers (Gandini, 1998, p. 177). The environment reflects the schools' grounding in

John Dewey's educational philosophy and Vygotsky's social constructivist learning

theory (Malaguzzi, 1998). It embodies Reggio educators' belief that children are

resourceful, curious, competent, imaginative, and have a desire to interact with and

communicate with others (Rinaldi, 1998, p. 114). They believe that children can best

create meaning and make sense of their world through living in complex, rich

environments which support "complex, varied, sustained, and changing

relationships between people, the world of experience, ideas and the many ways of

expressing ideas" (Cadwell, p. 93) rather than from simplified lessons or learning

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environments. They also believe that children have a right to environments which

support the development of their many languages (Reggio Children, 1996).

There is great concern for what the environment is teaching. The design of the

schools represents the structure of the community. The schools reflect a diversity of

ages and architectural styles yet each school is designed around a piazza which

corresponds the central piazzas of the city. These are not solely vehicles for moving

through to get someplace else but serve as gathering places for children from all the

classes and comfortable meeting spaces for parents and teachers. Entering the Diana

School, a visitor looks down the piazza where floor to ceiling windows and plants

blur the boundaries between outside and in, supporting the concepts of

transparency and osmosis. Lights and shadows reflect and flicker across the floor.

The piazza offers many possibilities: a store, stocked with real vegetables a

kaleidoscope large enough to hold several children; and fanciful dress-up clothes all

invite investigation, lingering, conversation and collaboration.

Reggio educators include aspects of a home into the school: vases of flowers, real

dishes, tablecloths, and plants. There is attention to design and placement of objects

to provide a visual and meaningful context. The objects within the space are not

simplified, cartoon like images that are assumed to appeal to children, but are

"beautiful" objects in their own right. For example, dried flowers hang from the

ceiling beams and attractive jars of beans and seeds are displayed on shelves in the

dining area of Arcobaleno Infant-Toddler Center. On the 1997 study tour to Reggio, I

was struck by the beautiful wooden table with a large bowl of flowers and wooden

sideboard in one of the rooms in La Villetta School. I imagined being in a fine Italian

dining room! Manufactured and natural materials available for art projects are

carefully displayed in transparent containers, or objects are set on or before mirrors

to provide multiple views and capture children's attention. The strong role of the

arts in Italian culture is clearly evident in the place of the atelier (art studio), mini

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ateliers adjacent to each classroom and the role the atelierista (artist-teacher) plays in

supporting children and teachers in their work.

The walls hold the history of the life within the school in

the form of documentation panels of children's words and

photos which synthesize past projects and chronicle

current ones. Children's work and words are highly visible

within the space. Communicating clearly to the children, their parents & the

community. Having respect and value for children's abilities, potential, creating

another form of transparency and osmosis between the school and surrounding

community.

According to John Dewey Education is life itself

John Dewey (1859-1952) believed that learning being active and schooling was long

and restrictive. His idea was that children came to school to do things and live in a

community which gave them real, guided experiences which fostered their capacity

to contribute to society. For example, Dewey believed that students should be

involved in real-life tasks and challenges.

• Math could be learnt via learning proportions in cooking or figuring out how

long it would take to get from one place to another by mule

• History could be learnt by experiencing how people lived, geography, what

the climate was like, and how plants and animals grew, were important

subjects

Dewey had a gift for suggesting activities that captured the center of what his classes

were studying.

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Dewey's education philosophy helped forward the "progressive education"

movement, and spawned the development of "experiential education" programs and

experiments.

THE THEMATIC APPROACH (INTEGRATED CURRICULUM)

Thematic teaching is about students actively constructing their own knowledge.

Theorists Piaget and Vygotsky were strong proponents of this constructivist

approach. Piaget (1926) believed that knowledge is built in a slow, continuous

construction of skills and understanding that each child brings to each situation as

he or she matures. He also emphasized the cognitive growth that takes place when

students cooperate and interact with one another. Vygotsky (1997, 175) suggested

that social interaction and collaboration were powerful sources of transformation in

the child's thinking: "In education it is far more important to teach the child how to

think than to communicate various bits of knowledge to him."

Therefore, thematic teaching can be defined as the process of integrating and linking

multiple elements of a curriculum in an ongoing exploration of many different

aspects of a topic or subject. It involves a constant interaction between teacher and

students and their classroom environment. Among the important elements that

foster success in any thematic project are initiation of the theme, the teacher's role,

group exploration, integration of the theme with the curriculum and learning

centers, and building and maintaining spirit and enthusiasm.

Various Web sites also can aid in the initiation of a theme. For younger students,

visit the Web site of Jan Brett, author of Gingerbread Baby (1999) as well as many

other children's books (www.janbrett.com). Older students can research their

interest in particular aspects of a theme via the library and the Internet.

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Thematic Teaching and Curriculum Integration are established with the

following goals in mind:

INSTRUCTION is planned to accommodate individual interests, abilities, and

rates of learning while fostering a climate of teamwork and mutual support.

Students are grouped into heterogeneous, mixed-age classes that are taught by a

two-teacher team. Students stay with these teachers for two years. They work in

groups of all sizes and composition, engaged in activity-based, learning projects.

They have many opportunities to make decisions about their own learning and to

develop responsibility. Students’ progress at their own best rate and move on

when they are ready. There is no ceiling on the level of work they can do.

CURRICULUM is interdisciplinary/integrated, organized around themes, with

many hands-on activities and in-depth study of content. All levels focus on the

skills of communicating well in oral and written forms and using mathematical

concepts to solve problems. A strong citizenship program emphasizes

perseverance, responsibility, and other life skills. Assessment of learning is based

on individual growth and performance.

PARENT INVOLVEMENT is encouraged and recognized as essential for

creating a nurturing, family-like, school environment. Many parents work in the

classroom and throughout the school.

Thus, thematic teaching is about bringing together various aspects of the

curriculum into meaningful association to focus upon broad areas of study. It

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views learning and teaching in a holistic way and reflects the real world, which is

interactive. In general, integrated curriculum or interdisciplinary curriculum

include:

• A combination of subjects

• An emphasis on projects

• Sources that go beyond textbooks

• Relationships among concepts

• Thematic units as organizing principles

• Flexible schedules

• Flexible student groupings.

chapter - 6 : principles and approaches of early childhood...

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