Programs and Curriculum Planning

Early childhood education programs are formed by administrators coming together to form curriculums for teachers in the program to have as a guide to teach young children. For an example, each county has a board of education for the school system with administrators who form a curriculum for teachers to teach by; and administrators leads the teachers to make sure the teachers are teaching children based on the curriculum formed by the board of education. Child care centers usually form curriculums based around what program the center is accredited by through the state. For an example, here in Georgia we have a program name “Bright from the Start” which has standards each center must meet to be on the program and have curriculum for each child care center to follow. Whether it is a school system or childcare center administrators and teachers must work together to teach from the curriculums formed so children can learn. How the role of the administrator in program and curriculum planning is different from that of the teacher.

Education administrators organize and manage the administration, support systems and activities that facilitate the effective running of an educational institution (AGCAS 2012). For an example, in a childcare center the administrators are the owners, directors, and whatever program that accredited the daycare center through the state. School systems have administrators also. The board of education votes on the school super intendant who schedule meetings to plan a curriculum for the school system to teach by. The school super intendant hires administrators such as principals, and assistant principles to make sure the teachers in the schools are teaching by the curriculum. The teachers are teaching the children based on the school system and/or the daycare curriculum chosen. The administrators are here to help teachers follow the program and the curriculum. It is according to what grade level of school the teacher is teaching or what age level the daycare teacher is teaching. For an example, I have worked with two years old for seven years and I had to form my own curriculum. The learning and developmental needs of your chosen age group

For my two years olds, I formed my own curriculum name “Discovering Independency Curriculum”. My two years olds curriculum integrates the necessary first steps to prepare children for preschool, kindergarten and so on. The curriculum starts the child moving from childcare towards a more structured educational formation in preparing for preschool as children build his or her ability to sit and listen for longer periods of time. My daycare is a area based learning environment for children to learn and play. The children move area to area as he or she explores, discover, and expand interest in learning. The first area is my “Dramatic Play” area. The dramatic play area is filled with things like dress up clothes, dolls, and puppets so the children can play dress up and pretend. The next area is the “Transportation/Community” area. In this area I have toy community transportation vehicles and a rug with streets and building designs for the children to push the vehicles on.

Another are I have is the “Art” area. In this area the children have access to crayons, markers, paint, and papers so they can draw and paint pictures. I have a “Reading/Quiet” area. This area is filled with books on the book shelf, stuffed animals and children lounging furniture so the children are comfortable and cozy in this area while reading. I have a “Kitchen/Household” area. The kitchen/household area has a toy kitchen set, toy food, and toy cleaning utensils so the children to play with. I have a “Music” area as well. This area has a radio and musical instruments for the children to sing, dance, and play. The last area I have is the “Building” area. In this area, I have different styles of blocks for the children to stack and build with. All of the learning areas are filled with age appropriate manipulates and toys form the children to learn and play with. I also teach the children through lessons and circle time based around the time we have during the daily schedule and activities planned. How your program will address the cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development of children in this age group (give specific curricular ideas for each area of development) as well as classroom management and the daily schedule

Throughout the day I follow a daily schedule so that everything I do with the children stay on a routine. When my daycare opens at 6:30 am, breakfast is served to the children who did not eat at home until 8:30 am. At 8:30 am until 9:00am, the children are having a potty break and getting diaper changes. Due to me working with two years olds, I schedule at least six potty breaks and diaper changes periodically. The children and I do circle time every morning at 9:00am until 9:20am. Circle time is used in my child care setting to get children settled and organized for our morning activities. We also incorporate songs and creative movements, group sing a longs and finger play. At 9:20am I teach a lesson based off my lesson plan and guide the children through the morning activity. The lesson plans I design focuses on each of the developmental areas including Sensory and Perception, Personal and Social, Creativity and Arts, Physical, Cognitive, and Language and Communication.

All children go to areas at 9:30am. Again, all areas are here for the children to explore, discover and expand interest. The children play at the areas until it is time to go outside at 10:00am. The children do outside activities from 10:00am until 10:30am. I bring the children inside at 10:30am, so that I can get the children washed up for lunch. As we sit and wait for lunch to be served at 11:15am I read to the children. After the children are finish eating lunch we do a potty break and diaper changes so children will be ready to go down for nap at 12 noon until 2:00pm. All children are required to stay on his or her sleeping mats between nap times whether the child is asleep or not. The reason for this is the children awake have to be considerate of the children who are getting a nap. After the children have snack time at 2:00pm, the children have potty break.

From 3:00pm until 3:30pm the children play outside. Once the children come back inside it is time for potty break again. At 4:00pm we do puzzles and strings until 4:30pm. The children combine and go to center areas because parents begin pick up around this time. Even though my childcare is formed around the daily schedule, the two years olds participate in hands on activities while learning how to solve problem using his/her own creativity with any help. How your program aligns with the philosophy, vision, and mission statements you created in Week One

My mission statement reads “The mission of Kawonda’s Little Explorers Child Care Center is to provide the most appropriate and safe learning environment to meet the individual needs of children where parents drop the children off to a nurturing and caring atmosphere.” A lot of parents may feel worried having to be away from the children. This is why I gain my parents trust and provide a safe and quality environment for my children to feel comfortable about staying and my parents feel comfortable leaving the children. My philosophy reads “We believe that every child develops differently. Teachers here are trained quality educators of young children who are aware of the different stages of development and how the stages affect each child differently. Teachers integrate the first steps necessary to prepare children for preschool, kindergarten and more.

Our center is a more structured educational formation that prepares the children for preschool so that children are building the ability to sit and listen for longer periods of time. Our lessons are designed to focus on each of the developmental areas including Sensory & Perception, Personal & Social, Creativity & Arts, Physical, Cognitive, and Language & Communication. We show nurturing and caring towards our children to build a trusting relationship with our children and parents.” My daily schedule is based off of my philosophy and I planned my lessons around the developmental areas. My vision reads “The staff at Kawonda’s Little Explorers Childcare Center will continue to provide a quality and safe environment for children.

We will continue to build your children’s brain with positive learning. Parents expect the children to be well taken care of when they leave their children and that is what we do, provide the most quality care while our children are busy exploring the world of learning.” I live this vision every day in my childcare center. I have a home child care setting so I trust each staff member because we are family. I make the children feel at home and open to learning. How your program aligns with NAEYC’s indicators of effective curriculum, as outlined in Chapter 4 and found in the article, “Where We Stand on Curriculum, Assessment, and Program Evaluation

According to Where We Stand NAEYC and NAECS/SDE, Educators should implement curriculum that is thoughtfully planned, challenging, engaging, developmentally appropriate, culturally and linguistically responsive, comprehensive, and likely to promote positive outcomes for all young children (NAEYC and NAECS/SDE 2009). I believe the curriculum I created for my two years old is thoughtfully planned. I did research and studies to make sure my curriculum is developmentally appropriate. I want nothing but the best for all young children. When observing the two years old setting I prepared it may seem as if the children are playing. Understand that children learn through play and from each other. As an educator of young children I am here to help parents help his/her children succeed.

References
AGCAS editors. January 2012. Education administrator: Job description http://www.prospects.ac.uk/education_administrator_job_description.htm © Copyright 2013 Graduate Prospects Ltd. All rights reserved.

Where We Stand NAEYC and NAECS/sde. 2009. The position statement’s recommendations “Curriculum” http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/StandCurrAss.pdf Copyright © 2009 by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. All rights reserved.