Curriculum Goals: 1) Show ability to reason, question, and remember (schemas/logic) 2) Engage in mental operations (problem solving) 3) Learn to uselanguage to communicate and understand
Area 1: learning skills - reasoning, questioning, and remembering
Kids make sense of this world through schemas, which are concepts, or framework, that organize and interpret information. Assimilation allows a child to interpret new experiences with his or her current understanding (i.e. their current schemas). Accommodation adapts and refines a current schema to include new information provided from new experiences.
Our goal is to shape our children’s schemas to encompass an understanding of the basics of counting, the alphabet and writing, objects and animals, and more by guiding them to assimilate and accommodate by encouraging discussions (asking questions), reading, exploration, experimentation and prediction, and sorting/classifying objects into groups (through criteria, comparing and contrasting, recognizing patterns, and ordering objects in a pattern that makes sense [shortest to tallest]). By having our well-trained teachers guide the children to make these associations and observations on their own through such activities, rather than simply feeding them the information, the children remember the information and schemas, which are correct with the help of the teachers, much better. While doing so, the children develop important learning skills. Through predicting during experimentations or reading, children practice reasoning. When predicting what will happen in a book, the children are able to practice their newly developed theory of mind, which is the ability to read intentions and form ideas about others’ mental states. Being encouraged to look through the eyes of the character in the book, our preschoolers also are guided to take another person’s point of view, which helps them ease out of their egocentric perspective. Next, by encouraging questioning, they cultivate a curious attitude towards learning. Also, asking children to recall what they learned through a book or experimentation during the afterwards discussions, the children practice their memory. Each skill is essential for the child’s further education.
Area 2: thinking skills – mental operations/problem solving
As young as three years old, kids are able to perform mental operations. Judy DeLoache proved this when her experiment found that three year olds could think of a model as a symbol for a room in order to find something. It is important to take into consideration that kids do not have the same reasoning as adults. They have intuitive, not logical, reasoning and can’t comprehend mental operations of concrete logic, such as those dealing with conservation. Knowing our kids capabilities is important because we know their capabilities and can guide them accurately to achieving them, rather than underestimating or misunderstanding them.
Our goal is to sharpen our children’s current logic and provide a bridge to cross over to a higher level of thinking. The first skill to be sharpened is spatial awareness, which DeLoache proved 3-4 year olds already have. We strengthen this skill by cultivating an understanding of position through the use of vocabulary. For example, kids would describe positions of objects in relation to each other through such vocabulary as “above, under, near, top, bottom, left, right, first, last, etc.” Next, we encourage children to classify and organize objects in a sequence they can understand through their understanding of common characteristics. For example, they would arrange blocks from longest to shortest. By doing so, the child performs mental operations they can grasp at this early stage. Finally, kids are capable of counting, as seen even in the earlier sensorimotor stage. We assist kids in their counting by giving them tasks to count objects, and even the right number of assignments or snacks to distribute to their classmates.
Area 3: Language development Perhaps one of the most important tasks of our 3 and 4 year olds is learning our language. Here at Sunnyside, we speak English. This language is revealed to our children through words represented by images, such as with picture books, and through games/activities that give understanding to the meaning of what’s being said, such as Simon Says, Legos (when directions are given to make something), and group and one-on-one discussions on books (“what color was the frog?”, etc.). Our goal is to make our kids interested in reading, which is a daily activity in class. In addition to exposing kids to the language and gauging their understanding, Sunnyside’s preschoolers are encouraged to communicate their own thoughts by speaking and writing. Speaking encourages curiosity in a controlled setting, where respect for others when they’re talking is also enforced. In writing, we teach the alphabet, through song and practice, and encourage kids to put their own thoughts and ideas on to paper through drawing. Eventually, the goal is to get them to write full words. The curiosity, understanding, and communication skills we cultivate here at Sunnyside are sure to assist our preschoolers’ further education down the road.
Curriculum Goals:
1) Show ability to reason, question, and remember (schemas/logic)
2) Engage in mental operations (problem solving)
3) Learn to uselanguage to communicate and understand
Area 1: learning skills - reasoning, questioning, and remembering
Kids make sense of this world through schemas, which are concepts, or framework, that organize and interpret information. Assimilation allows a child to interpret new experiences with his or her current understanding (i.e. their current schemas). Accommodation adapts and refines a current schema to include new information provided from new experiences.
Our goal is to shape our children’s schemas to encompass an understanding of the basics of counting, the alphabet and writing, objects and animals, and more by guiding them to assimilate and accommodate by encouraging discussions (asking questions), reading, exploration, experimentation and prediction, and sorting/classifying objects into groups (through criteria, comparing and contrasting, recognizing patterns, and ordering objects in a pattern that makes sense [shortest to tallest]). By having our well-trained teachers guide the children to make these associations and observations on their own through such activities, rather than simply feeding them the information, the children remember the information and schemas, which are correct with the help of the teachers, much better. While doing so, the children develop important learning skills. Through predicting during experimentations or reading, children practice reasoning. When predicting what will happen in a book, the children are able to practice their newly developed theory of mind, which is the ability to read intentions and form ideas about others’ mental states. Being encouraged to look through the eyes of the character in the book, our preschoolers also are guided to take another person’s point of view, which helps them ease out of their egocentric perspective. Next, by encouraging questioning, they cultivate a curious attitude towards learning. Also, asking children to recall what they learned through a book or experimentation during the afterwards discussions, the children practice their memory. Each skill is essential for the child’s further education.
Area 2: thinking skills – mental operations/problem solving
As young as three years old, kids are able to perform mental operations. Judy DeLoache proved this when her experiment found that three year olds could think of a model as a symbol for a room in order to find something. It is important to take into consideration that kids do not have the same reasoning as adults. They have intuitive, not logical, reasoning and can’t comprehend mental operations of concrete logic, such as those dealing with conservation. Knowing our kids capabilities is important because we know their capabilities and can guide them accurately to achieving them, rather than underestimating or misunderstanding them.
Our goal is to sharpen our children’s current logic and provide a bridge to cross over to a higher level of thinking. The first skill to be sharpened is spatial awareness, which DeLoache proved 3-4 year olds already have. We strengthen this skill by cultivating an understanding of position through the use of vocabulary. For example, kids would describe positions of objects in relation to each other through such vocabulary as “above, under, near, top, bottom, left, right, first, last, etc.” Next, we encourage children to classify and organize objects in a sequence they can understand through their understanding of common characteristics. For example, they would arrange blocks from longest to shortest. By doing so, the child performs mental operations they can grasp at this early stage. Finally, kids are capable of counting, as seen even in the earlier sensorimotor stage. We assist kids in their counting by giving them tasks to count objects, and even the right number of assignments or snacks to distribute to their classmates.
Area 3: Language development
Perhaps one of the most important tasks of our 3 and 4 year olds is learning our language. Here at Sunnyside, we speak English. This language is revealed to our children through words represented by images, such as with picture books, and through games/activities that give understanding to the meaning of what’s being said, such as Simon Says, Legos (when directions are given to make something), and group and one-on-one discussions on books (“what color was the frog?”, etc.). Our goal is to make our kids interested in reading, which is a daily activity in class. In addition to exposing kids to the language and gauging their understanding, Sunnyside’s preschoolers are encouraged to communicate their own thoughts by speaking and writing. Speaking encourages curiosity in a controlled setting, where respect for others when they’re talking is also enforced. In writing, we teach the alphabet, through song and practice, and encourage kids to put their own thoughts and ideas on to paper through drawing. Eventually, the goal is to get them to write full words. The curiosity, understanding, and communication skills we cultivate here at Sunnyside are sure to assist our preschoolers’ further education down the road.
Sources:
Myers. (2009). Psychology In Modules, 9th Edition. New York: Worth Publishers. [retrieved] 10/25/12, from http://www.coursesmart.com/9781429245951/firstsection#
The Connecticut State Department of Education. (2006). Preschool Curriculum Framework. Retrieved from http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/lib/sde/PDF/DEPS/Early/Preschool_framework.pdf