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(Unit 5) Topic 2: Planning Developmentally Appropriate Activities for Children

2 Clock Hours of Early Childhood Education

What is Curriculum?

​Young children are very sensitive to their settings, and their behaviors and interactions with other children and adults are often different in different situations (Vitiello, Booren, Downer, & Williford, 2012). 

​Topic 2 Page 3

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This means that young children are likely to have different learning experiences when involved in different types of activities. To help young children develop all of the diverse skills they need to succeed, they should be exposed to different settings and activities throughout the day.

​Early childhood programs are not all created equally. Some early childhood programs are large, some are small, but they can all create dynamic and quality curriculum. This curriculum can be developed by one, or several staff members. ​Smaller programs may have classrooms that consist of one lead teacher per classroom, while larger ones may have several teachers. Teachers have firsthand knowledge of their children’s interests, needs, learning styles and prior experiences and therefore are well-qualified to develop curriculum.

​Directors, teachers, aides, parents, and even volunteers may be included in developing curriculum at some point in time. Each of these people can provide helpful information in planning the curriculum and how the program unfolds. In larger programs a curriculum specialist may be hired to help plan the curriculum. The child care director usually plays a key role in curriculum development as well. In most centers, the director is in charge of supervising all center activities. Therefore the director’s position usually includes curriculum supervision.

The curriculum in an early childhood program includes many different materials, equipment, and activities. Room arrangement and organization is also part of the curriculum. Children should have a mixture of structured and unstructured play, as well as indoor and outdoor activities and space. Most importantly, the curriculum should be designed based upon how children learn and develop individually, and as a group.

Feeding the class pet, painting a picture, building a block tower, or climbing the play structure on the playground are all parts of curriculum. The curriculum consists of a wide range of concepts, experiences, and materials designed to meet the developmental needs of the group of children. These needs include their social, emotional, physical, and cognitive needs. ​

A good curriculum also focuses on children’s learning styles and characteristics. It often organizes important concepts into themes.  It also tailors learning experiences to children’s ages and stages of development. It also requires detailed planning and flexibility.

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