Early Childhood Education and Care Using an integrated curriculum approach

Running head: Early Childhood Education and Care
Early Childhood Education and Care
Name of the Student
Name of the university
Author’s note

1Early Childhood Education and Care
Rationale of using an integrated curriculum approach
An integrated curriculum approach enables the children to pursue learning in a holistic
way, without any restrictions imposed by the subject boundaries. An integrated curriculum
indicates learning that is developed across the traditional subjects and the experiences of learning
developed to be reinforcing for both the teacher and the student (Saracho, 2013). According to
the researchers, this approach has been considered to be an approach that is compatible to the
cognitive status of children as it is most likely to grasp the information, when experienced in
reality. The brain experiences higher levels of inferences ad more connections are made to it.
Importance and the application of integrated curriculum and DAP
The integrated curriculum approach is extremely useful as it is the reflection of how the
human brain functions. It promotes depth in learning by establishing connection and making
sense (Saracho, 2013). The curriculum is integrated such that the learning of the children occurs
via projects, themes, or the topics that reflect the interest and suggestions of the children. Themes
and projects are valuable instructional tools that helps in the accommodation of all the learners in
the classroom (White, 2013). An integrated curriculum in the classroom should include
experiences for developing the children’s skills, attitudes and the knowledge for assisting them in
making connections across the curriculum.
Developmentally appropriate practice is important for a pre-schoolers as it lays the
foundation of the wellbeing and future of a child. It helps in the development of the physical,
social, cognitive, and emotional and the language areas of a child (Cervetti et al., 2013). DAP
approaches involve effective teaching approaches and practices, as each student have different

2Early Childhood Education and Care
learning styles. For example, initiating sensory play activities for developing the sensory
activation of the children. Play environment supporting the language development, such as story
telling activities. Physical development can again be facilitated by adopting appropriate
physical activities. For example, climbing a tree three steps higher and then returning
successfully might boost up the confidence in the toddler.
DAP is informed by the three core concepts, that critical for making decisions for the
child. They are:-
 Child development appropriateness
The development of the child follows a general and sequential pattern and is interrelate across
the cognitive, physical, social and the emotional domains. It is important to understand the
various developmental milestones and use those information for the planning and identification
of the various activities and the environment that can be used to promote growth and learning
(Gestwicki, 2013).
 Individual appropriateness – The developmental pattern of each of the child is different. It is
necessary to understand the child’s abilities strength, needs, interest, temperament and the
approaches to learning, which can be done by using an integrated approach to learning
(Saracho, 2013).
 Social and cultural appropriateness- It is necessary to ensure that the teaching or the
experience given to the children are culturally safe (Ritblatt et al., 2014). Hence, it necessary
to have a knowledge of each of the child’s family and cultural background, the unique family
values, languages, life style and the beliefs.

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Subject web
Numeracy
 1-2—3 farmyard math game
 Counting the number of flying animals,
aquatic creatures, terrestrial creatures
 Addition by the counting the number of
ducks
 Dressing the raccoons and counting figures
Language and literacy
 Matching the word cards to the animals
 Story telling “two little bears”
 Number of herbivores and carnivores
present
 Asking the students to spell the names of
the animals
Discovery of science
 Sorting out different types of animals
 Sorting out the nature of the habitat.
 Audio-visual display: National geography
 Matching the animals with their mode of
nutrition
Zoo animals identification (4 years)
Aesthetic and Creative expression
 Coloring the animals in the picture
book.
 Singing “ there was a crocodile” song
 Clapping with the rhythm.
 Dressed up in clothes with different
animal prints
Physical development
 Motor skills- collecting the cutouts
and matching the cutouts
 painting different animals
 Gross motor skills– Dancing with the
animal song
 Mountain climbing, where each
children will have to reach the point,
where an animal has been placed.
Social development:
 Singing together “here was a
crocodile”.
 Dividing the class in to groups to enact
the animal drama with attires
representing different materials.
 Drawing the cartoon of a mother bear,
father bear and the baby bear
 Asking the each of the children about
the type of animal they love.

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Concept web
Zoo Animals
(4 years)
Name of the animals
 Fishes
 Amphibian
s
 Birds
Natural habitat of wild
animals:
 Jungle
 Grassland
 Desert
Similar looking animals:
 Rabbits vs hares
 Sheep vs mountain goats
 Crocodiles vs alligators
 Leopards vs jaguars
Size of the animals:
 Huge
 Medium
 small
Lifespan of the animals:
 10-20 years
 20-30 years
 30-40 years
4 basic needs of the
animals:
 Food
 Shelter
 Space
 water
Animals found in Polar
Regions:
 Polar bear
 Penguins
 Seals
Animals found in
deserts:
 Camel
 Rock hopper
penguin
Animals found in
grasslands:
 Bison
 Coyote
 Swift fox
Animals found in
forests:
 Tiger
 Lion
 Bears

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Lesson plan using the integrated curriculum approach
Title of the activity: Zoo animals identification activity
Age group of children: 4years
Time duration: 40-45 minutes
Learning objectives:
 To impart identification skills in children
 To increase the discovery of science skills in the student and help them identify wild
animals, and their habitat.
Materials/Equipment:
 Animal figurines found in zoo
 Wild animal picture books
 Paper cut outs of animals and their names that are usually found in zoo
 Paper cut outs of different animal habitat
 A paper to give points
Procedures:
Tuning in
 Before the main activity, each of the children will be provided with a plain paper, a
wild animal picture book, animal and habitat cutout sets.
 Each of the students will come and initiate the main activity by sitting down before the
main activity began and listening to the teacher represent each animal cutout with a
figurine and stating their natural habitat.
 The children will then identify the cutout and match it with the figurine in the hands of
the teacher and would find the animal in the book. This would alert the children and
help them learn identification skills.

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Main Activity
The teacher will begin the activity by asking the students sit down in a circle and separate their
animal cutouts. The teacher will then ask each child to pick the first cutout and stand up
showing the cutout to the class, to which the teacher will loudly speak out the name of the
animal. The next child will then stand up with the second cut out and the activity will continue
until all the cutouts have been identified and named. Then the teacher will again call out
children one by one to come up and speak out the name of the cutout loudly to which she will
help them identify the natural habitat for. After all the habitats and names of the wild animals
have been identified, a small fun match the match activity will be carried out to check the
memory, identification and perception skills of the children. The activity will not only bring
about fun for the preschoolers but the children would be able to recognize the animals
instantly with their natural habitat.
Closure:
After the activity has been completed, feedbacks would be taken from the children about
whether they have enjoyed the activities. Short home identification assignments can be given
to evaluate their knowledge.

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Animal figurines
Knowledge and theories based on child development related to the activity
Theorists like Vygotsky and Piaget had considered play to be an important part of
childhood in the path of the childhood learning. Vygotsky has suggested that in a play, a child
deals with the things that has some meanings (Nilsson & Ferholt, 2014). The word meanings
replace the objects and hence the emancipation of the word from the object occurs (Holzman,
2016). Vygotsky has again stated that play is the source of development in a child and hence
creates a zone of proximal development (ZPD). In this stage children seeks help from MKO.
MKO can be referred to as anyone having a better understanding with respect to a particular task.
In this case the MKO is a teacher. Children makes the interactions by construction of their own
skills and experience from the world around them. Applying the zone of proximal development
assists the teachers to guide the children in small steps, to a task that a child is already able to do
independently. In most of the integrated learning for the preschoolers, play plays a crucial tool
to connect the learning experience and real life incidents (Holzman, 2016). Integrated learning
through play encourages the holistic development of the child as the play terms incorporate
several subjects and topics. Development of the numeracy skills on a play based environment has

8Early Childhood Education and Care
been found to be successful. In terms of the social development, learning through play helps in
the development of the learning predisposition, motivation, engagement, motivation and positive
social interaction (Hoorn, Scales & Nourot, 2014). According to Piaget, children build on their
fine motor and cognitive skills during the play. Hence, the above mentioned play can be helpful
in teaching numeracy skills to the preschoolers.
Roles of the teacher in children learning
The preschool educators plays an important role in building the success of a child in the
first years of the school. A preschool teacher should participate in the learning process with the
children rather than just teaching them to understand their state of minds and form close
connections with the children to improve the teaching (Sette, Spinrad & Baumgartner, 2013).
Young children often needs to follow strict routines, like , going to the washroom, washing
hands, participating in reading and the math and science activities. Hence, a teacher develops and
enforces routine. An early childhood teachers inspects the environment to ensure the safety
materials and the equipment (Hollingsworth & Winter, 2013). It is the role of the teachers to
build on the already existing scaffolds for developing the child’s zone of proximal development
(ZPD). Children tend to gain the experience shared by the MKO. He/she is accountable to
remove or discard anything that might pose harm to the children. A teacher stresses on the
connections between the previous knowledge of the learners with the everyday’s context with the
new task. They are responsible planning and implementing age appropriate lessons for the
preschoolers. The lessons are planned allowing a teacher initiate and teacher initiated
exploration. A teacher observes a child’s behavior, makes notes and communicates with the
children and their families to understand the unmet needs (Morris, Denham, Bassett & Curby,
2013).

9Early Childhood Education and Care
Importance of including parents and the community in your center’s integrated
programme for young children
Schools, parents and the community should work together to promote health, wellbeing
and learning of the children. Family and the community involvement helps to foster partnership
among the schools, community groups and the individuals (Whalley, 2017). Centers collaborate
with the parents to understand the grievances of the child and seek suggestion regarding the
change in the curriculum design. Researches have shown that children , whose parents are
involve in education are more likely to adapt well to school, have better social skills, have better
relationships with the parents and the peers. Additionally linking community based activities to
the classroom improves school related behavior in children, positively impacts the academic
achievement and reduces the suspension rates in the children. Knowledge of the community
would allow the children to bond easier with people and also understand and know about their
traditions and roots as it is the foundation of any growing child.

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References
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of an integrated approach to science and literacy in elementary school classrooms. Wiley
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Gestwicki, C. (2013). Developmentally appropriate practice: Curriculum and development in
early education. Cengage Learning.
Hollingsworth, H. L., & Winter, M. K. (2013). Teacher beliefs and practices relating to
development in preschool: Importance placed on social–emotional behaviours and skills.
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Holzman, L. (2016). Vygotsky at work and play. Routledge.
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Morris, C. A., Denham, S. A., Bassett, H. H., & Curby, T. W. (2013). Relations among teachers’
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Nilsson, M., & Ferholt, B. (2014). Vygotsky's theories of play, imagination and creativity in
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11Early Childhood Education and Care
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Sharing Approach. Sage.
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experiences in the outdoor environment with children 3–7. Routledge.