Kindergarten curriculum and Scope.

Kindergarten curriculum and Scope.

Being an educationist and presently in Canada on a vacation,I was curious to understand the conceptual teaching practiced in Canada. I noticed that irrespective of any country a child belongs, the child picks up the language and fluency in reading books very quickly. I was  impressed to observe, a lower kindergarten child  identified letters and joined to  form words.

No books are carried by the children except for their lunch box and water bottle in the school bag. Weekly twice, worksheets which is done in the class is sent home.  Mostly colouring, art work and tracing.

The kindergarten program and the activities go hand-in-hand.
Here are  highlights of  the features of system adopted by district schools in Canada.

The Kindergarten program is a child-centred, developmentally appropriate, integrated program of learning for four- and five-year-old children.

The purpose of the program is to establish a strong foundation for learning in the early years, and to do so in a safe and caring, play-based environment that promotes the physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development of all children.

The primary goals of the Kindergarten program are:
• to establish a strong foundation for learning in the early years;
• to help children make a smooth transition from home, child care, or preschool settings to school settings;
• to allow children to reap the many proven benefits of learning through relationships, and through play and inquiry;
• to set children on a path of lifelong learning and nurture competencies that they will need to thrive in the world of today and tomorrow. [taken from the curriculum]

Following are some of the facts observed.
1. Creating  a learning environment that allows all children to feel comfortable in applying their unique ways of thinking and learning;
2. Engaging  ongoing dialogue with families about their children’s learning and development.
3. Maintaining class strength of 15 with a teacher along with an early childhood educator.
4. Making a weekly plan and intimate the same the children as and when required.
5. More of Indoor and outdoor activities instead of  making child to write.
6. Designing the activities to cater different level of children, where all the children are comfortable in doing his/her own activity with ease.[ every child is given an activity according to the capability and ability ]
7. Learning through exploration, play, and inquiry – which  helps the children to develop many of the skills and competencies like the ability to engage in innovative and complex problem-solving and critical and creative thinking; to work collaboratively with others; and to take what is learned and apply it in new situations in a constantly changing world.
8. Teachers becoming  co-learners with the children by acknowledging a reciprocal relationship.
9. In play-based learning, teachers honour every child’s views, ideas, and theories; imagination and creativity; and interests and experiences.  A child interested in teaching poses as a teacher and does all the activities related.
10.  Through the activity , every child learns to write his/her name before learning to write and identify the alphabets. Many activities related to a particular alphabet is given. For example pasting the thread to from a letter, identifying the letter in a sentence and colour., trace the letter, apply glitter on the letter, walking on the formed letter on the sand. Draw the letter on the sand. So on.[many activities done for a particular letter makes the child understand the formation of the letter and identifies easily.
11. Children having liberty to choose the kind of play interested in, which is the best starting points for the co-construction of learning with the child.
12.Teachers responding to, challenging and extending children’s learning in play and inquiry by observing and listening to them. Teachers question,provoke them to know more about the learning concept. They also engage in reciprocal communication  and sustained conversation.
13. Providing ample of space indoors and outdoors with proper equipments which are safe to use are taken care. [children move about in the space, talk to each other and share their views with the peers. Teachers constantly make observations and make a note of important changes or behaviour or learning outcome and is shared with their parents.
14. Issuing library books to the children to take home and read with parent’s help.
15. Assessment in play-based learning is documented and reflected on what the child says, does, and represents in play and inquiry.

The complete curriculum is based on the four frameworks
1. Belonging and Contributing,
2. Self-Regulation and Well-Being,
3. Demonstrating Literacy and Mathematics Behaviours,
4. Problem Solving and Innovating
Belonging and Contributing. This frame encompasses children’s learning and development with respect to:
• their sense of connectedness to others;
• their relationships with others, and their contributions as part of a group, a community, and the natural world;
• their understanding of relationships and community, and of the ways in which people contribute to the world around them.
The learning encompassed by this frame also relates to children’s early development of the attributes and attitudes that inform citizenship, through their sense of personal connectedness to various communities.

5. Self-Regulation and Well-Being.
This frame encompasses children’s learning and development with respect to:
• their own thinking and feelings, and their recognition of and respect for differences in the thinking and feelings of others;
• regulating their emotions, adapting to distractions, and assessing consequences of actions in a way that enables them to engage in learning;
• their physical and mental health and wellness. In connection with this frame, it is important for educators to consider:
• the interrelatedness of children’s self-awareness, sense of self, and ability to self-regulate;
• the role of the learning environment in helping children to be calm, focused, and alert so they are better able to learn.
What children learn in connection with this frame allows them to focus, to learn, to respect themselves and others, and to promote well-being in themselves and others.

6. Demonstrating Literacy and Mathematics Behaviours.
This frame encompasses children’s learning and development with respect to:
• communicating thoughts and feelings – through gestures, physical movements, words, symbols, and representations, as well as through the use of a variety of materials;
• literacy behaviours, evident in the various ways they use language, images, and materials to express and think critically about ideas and emotions, as they listen and speak, view and represent, and begin to read and write;
• mathematics behaviours, evident in the various ways they use concepts of number and pattern during play and inquiry; access, manage, create, and evaluate information; and experience an emergent understanding of mathematical relationships, concepts, skills, and processes;
• an active engagement in learning and a developing love of learning, which can instil the habit of learning for life.
What children learn in connection with this frame develops their capacity to think critically, to understand and respect many different perspectives, and to process various kinds of information.
Problem Solving and Innovating. This frame encompasses children’s learning and development with respect to:
• exploring the world through natural curiosity, in ways that engage the mind, the senses, and the body;
• making meaning of their world by asking questions, testing theories, solving problems, and engaging in creative and analytical thinking;
• the innovative ways of thinking about and doing things that arise naturally with an active curiosity, and applying those ideas in relationships with others, with materials, and with the environment.

[list of activities done will be given in next paper]