Course competence reflections for Curriculum Planning by Courtney

Stevens

1. Integrate strategies that support diversity and anti-bias perspectives:

There are four goals for an anti-bias approach for all children across all different age
groups. We want children to develop strategies for challenging bias, and our style is
to be direct about certain issues but the culture of the child and their family is to be
indirect. We will face the challenges of navigating between cultural differences. This
will require us to be aware of diverse styles and the creative willingness to explore,
develop, and support a variety of strategies. We need to have books and
commercially available materials for the children. We need to make sure that these
are unbiased or anti-biased in the message that they give to the children. Give
children time to discuss fairness and models for unfairness, opportunities to analyze
bias and time to adapt or change stories to reflect more diverse or complex models.
Photographs can be used to show the different kinds of people, environments, and
cultures that people live in. We want to able to provide new information and
different ways to adapt to different developments. Curriculum themes and learning
experiences designed to courter bias. We need to integrate related bias into
relevant to curriculum themes like languages and bath time for color baby dolls.
Then changing character names in stories to gender-neutral names and not allowing
the children to see the pictures of the story. We also want to make sure to change
stories so that they are not stereotypes. Complicate simplistic thinking, which helps
children to move beyond seeing things as purely good and evil based on certain
visible characteristic. We need to use questions to help children to expand their
thinking and opportunities for the following scenarios. Class meetings and family or
community stories help the children discuss as a group different concerns and ideas
that the children may have. Allow the children to talk about the experience they
have at home and in their environment. Problem-solving stories using role playing,
puppets, persona dolls, or drawings. Children create a persona doll or puppet story
that reflects a situation relevant to an area of bias and illustrates a problem that
children are able to talk about. Field trips, guests, word of the week and stereotype
or fact need to make sure to expose anti-bias information. Also, have the children
decide between stereotypes and facts while you do some of these things. And in
Bias in popular media, comparing stereotypes to reality we need to think of specific
forms of media that young children are exposed to complete anti-bias. This helps
children to compare between reality and stereotypical images from various forms of
media.
2. Examine the critical role of play:
Play is important offers a chance to connect with the children. Observations of
children at play yield examples to support both Piagetian and Vygotskian theories of
play. Whether children are practicing what they have learned in other settings or are
constructing new knowledge, it is clear that play has a valuable role in the early
childhood classroom. Early childhood teachers have long recognized the value of
play in programs for young children. Unfortunately, teachers often fail to take

advantage of the opportunity play provides for observing childrens development

and learning. Through such observations teachers can learn about childrens social
interactions, cognitiveband language abilities, motor skills, and emotional
development. Observing children at play should be a daily responsibility for early
childhood professionals. Regular observations provide teachers with assessment
information for identifying children with special needs, planning future play
experiences, evaluating play materials, determining areas of strength and weakness
for individual children, planning curriculum for individual children, reporting to
parents, and checking on a childs ongoing progress. The increased use of authentic
assessment strategies are making observations of childrens play more
commonplace in early childhood classrooms. The early childhood teacher is the
facilitator of play in the classroom. The teacher facilitates play by providing
appropriate indoor and outdoor play environments. Safety is, of course, the primary
concern. Age and developmental levels must be carefully considered in the design
and selection of materials. Once appropriate environments and materials are in
place regular safety checks and maintenance are needed to ensure that the
equipment is sound and safe for continued play.
3. Establish a developmentally appropriate environment:
There are many aspects involved in making a classroom developmentally
appropriate, including: the physical environment, curriculum, teacher involvement
and parent involvement. These aspects should be integrated so children get the
best experience possible from their classrooms. The developmentally appropriate
classroom is a safe, secure, and stimulating place where each child can grow
physically, socially, emotionally, and cognitively. Classrooms should consist of
developmentally appropriate materials and learning centers for the children to
explore. The general atmosphere of the classroom should be relaxed because
children learn more when they feel psychologically safe. Curriculum must be
developmentally appropriate, fun, and challenging enough for the children. Group
direction and waiting times for young children should be limited and appropriate
transition activities should be provided. The classroom and curriculum should
celebrate each childs uniqueness and family background. Teachers should also
interact with the children and lead them in a positive manner to encourage their
self- esteem and help teach them problem solving and cooperation. Every so often,
we need to take an objective look at our rooms to see if we are doing our best in
each area. When you apply all these principles, you will create developmentally
appropriate classroom that are fun, exciting, and effective.
4. Care giving routines as curriculum:
The components of creating a quality infant and toddler program are many, but
each one is valuable to the development of these very young children.
Understanding growth and development, building parent partnerships, creating
appropriate environments, and providing stimulating activities and play will help
babies thrive and give them the tools necessary for later success. However, the
most important gift teachers of infants and toddlers are love. Care giving routines
are the heart of quality care. Care teachers need to use feeding, napping, diapering,
and toilet routines as opportunities to build close, caring relationships with each

child. If routines are done with sensitivity, the care teacher can satisfy the babys
need for attention, tactile stimulation, interactions, and attachment. Routines
provide an opportunity to build a relationship with each child. If carried out in a
manner consistent with how routines are done at home, these routines build a
bridge between home care and center/family child care. How routines are
approached helps set the emotional tone of the program. If routines are done in a
consistent manner, they establish predictability and give the children a sense of
control by letting them know what comes next. All routines need to be done with
consideration to health and safety issues for children and adults. Routines provide
opportunities for the adults to enhance the infants development in all domains.
5. Develop activity plans that promote child development and learning:
Assessment of individual childrens development and learning is essential for
planning and implementing appropriate curriculum. In developmentally appropriate
programs, assessment and curriculum are integrated, with teachers continually
engaging in observational assessment for the purpose of improving teaching and
learning. Accurate assessment of young children is difficult because their
development and learning are rapid, uneven, episodic, and embedded within
specific cultural and linguistic contexts. Too often, inaccurate and inappropriate
assessment measures have been used to label, track, or otherwise harm young
children. Developmentally appropriate assessment practices are based on
guidelines. Assessment of young childrens progress and achievements is ongoing,
strategic, and purposeful. The results of assessment are used to benefit children. In
adapting curriculum and teaching to meet the developmental and learning needs of
children, communicating with the childs family, and evaluating the programs
effectiveness for the purpose of improving the program. The content of assessments
reflects progress toward important learning d developmental goals. The program
has a systematic plan for collecting and using assessment information that is
integrated with curriculum planning. The methods of assessment are appropriate to
the age and experience of young children. Therefore, assessment of young children
relies heavily on the results of observations of childrens development, descriptive
data, collections of representative work by children, and demonstrated performance
during authentic, not contrived, activities. Input from families as well as childrens
evaluations of their own work are part of the overall assessment strategy.
Assessments are tailored to specific purpose and used only for the purpose for
which they have been demonstrated to produce reliable, valid information.
Decisions that have a major impact on children, such as enrollment or placement,
are never made on the basis of a single developmental assessment or screening
device but are based on multiple sources of relevant information, particular
observations by teachers and parents. Teachers study children as individuals as well
as in relationship to groups by documenting group projects and other collaborative
work.
6. Develop unit plans that promote child development and learning:
Goals describe what competencies we want children to develop. While each child is
unique, one such overarching goal is to increase the childs everyday effectiveness
in dealing with both his and her present environment and later responsibilities in

school and life. When we understand who a child is and how they learn we become
tuned into that child. We know their likes and dislikes, and we can appreciate them
for who they are. We are able to recognize the difference between a child who has a
fearful/cautious temperament and a child who is labeled clingy and not wanting to
try something new. We also understand that the child who has a feisty temperament
needs a safe environment that supports their need to climb, jump and investigate
with great energy instead of being referred to as the child who is hyperactive. In
addition, we need to be conscious of the child who has a flexible temperament. This
is the child who is so easygoing that it would be easy not to pay much attention to
them when trying to meet all of the other childrens needs. We need to make sure
that the child who is easygoing gets adult interaction even though they may not
appear to have a need. We need to make sure that childcare rooms are inviting and
those we allow children time to engage in many types of play experiences. We also
need to play with the children in our care and encourage them to try new things. As
we increase our awareness of the children through observation we can plan the
environment to support continued learning and development.
7. Analyze early childhood curriculum models:
Preschool curriculum models vary widely. Some may detail exactly what to teach.
Others may provide guidance in developing activities and interactions. How play is
defined and used can also vary. A single curriculum may not address all of the
different areas of learning. Curricula may appear to be comprehensive, but the
focus on some domains is superficial and will not expand childrens knowledge or
develop the skills necessary for their later learning. Even if curriculum fits a
programs philosophy and provides the needed amount and type of content, it
might not be appropriate for the children enrolled. In addition, if it is impossible for
teachers to implement, it will be ineffective. Not all curriculum models have been
empirically evaluated or even based on a systematic and comprehensive review of
research of how young children learn. In addition, no single curriculum or approach
has been proven to be best for all preschool programs. To help discern which
curricula are more appropriate, the roles of the teacher and the child in the leaning
process and the areas of learning to be addressed should be considered. Curricular
decisions should take into account childrens ages, behavior or learning needs,
linguistic and cultural backgrounds, and economical status, as well as teachers
prior training and experience and need for ongoing professional development.
Assessment systems should be specifically designed to measure whether learning
objectives are being reached, engage children in meaningful tasks within a realistic
context, and document changes over time. For parent involvement, curricula should
help build program-family partnerships and establish ongoing meaningful
communication with families. Decision-makers should look for research evidence of
a modelseffectiveness and attempt to see the model in action in multiple settings.