Masters Early Childhood Curriculum: Key Elements and Aspects

Masters Early Childhood Curriculum
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Table of Contents
Key Elements in Each of the Various Aspects of the Curriculum......................................................................3
The Relationships (if any) Among the Elements and/or Aspects......................................................................7
The Changes (to be) Made.............................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................................13
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Key Elements in Each of the Various Aspects of the Curriculum
When discussing about the aspects of curriculum it is essential to understand that not all curriculum are
same and that their change could change based on the age of the student(s), the learning environment, the
subject, etc (Barrow, 2015).
Figure 1: Aspects of Curriculum
Source: (Barrow, 2015)
While teaching English at early childhood level (18-30 months) it is necessary to take into consideration the
level at which the students are already in, which in turn could prove helpful in identifying a starting point
for teaching. The key elements of each of the aspects of the curriculum could be stated as following:
Developing communication: Language and communication development during early childhood includes
three main components:
 Understanding language
 Speaking to communicate with others
 Developing early literacy skills required for reading and writing (Piaget & Inhelder, 2015)
From sensory motor stage children start developing their communication skills through multiple informal
ways. Hence, during their education it is essential that the teachers should speak about their daily routines,
objects around them, their feeling, etc. In other words, therefore, what is most essential is encouraging the
students to communicate effectively with their peers, parents, teachers, known adults, etc. Hence, the
adoption of formal and non- formal curriculum could be helpful in achieving this aim. The curriculum that
has been selected has the quality of infusing formal elements like text books, picture books, picture stories,
rhyming verses, etc along with the usage of non- formal or hidden ways, which might get amalgamated
with the formal once in the form of play methods, storytelling, role play, drama, etc (Ord, 2016).
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The philosophy that underpinned this element of the curriculum is to encourage students to be engaged
not only with peers and teachers but also with their parents at home. Moreover, for the development of
language and communication, it is essential to listen and understand others’ language, which in turn could
motivate children to respond. In the curriculum selected, the teacher has planned everyday lesson in such a
way that it involves lots of talking and listening. For instance, reciting poems, greeting children, asking
children questions, etc. This strategy of formal and non- formal ways of communication could help in the
development of communication in children.
Gross Motor Skill Development: Children in their early childhood days (18-30 years) develop new physical
health and motor development- both gross and fine (Berk, 2017). Motor development could be referred to
as “movements of large muscles (gross motor) and small muscles (fine motor)”. The motor skills
development affects children’s cognitive and social development. Hence, a curriculum for 18-30 years
children requires the involvement of lots of activities ranging from simple running and jumping to dancing
and others. The curriculum selected here has the above stated essential aspects, as it provides scope for
children to dance on rhyme “If you happy and you know it...” collecting toys, crawl, hop, walk, etc. The
visible elements in this case are the text books, which have been used to recite poems, the toys, etc.
However, the invisible element could be the classroom environment that has been created for safety,
recapping the previous day’s lesson, informal mode of teaching via classroom display, etc.
Fine Motor Skill Development: Along with gaining gross motor skills, every curriculum for early literacy
needs to have the elements that encourage the development of fine- motor skill like pincer grip, clapping,
zipping/ unzipping buttons, etc (Berk, 2017). This aspect of the curriculum development has been covered
in the selected curriculum in the form of motivating children to fix the “face puzzle”, finger printing, etc.
Such activities not only helped in the development of fine motor skills but also the development of eye-
hand coordination, small muscle control, recognition of the usage of different tools and actions on objects,
etc. Some of the factors mentioned above could be stated as visible elements of the curriculum like
teaching poem, words, fine motor skill development, etc. However, its hidden aspects include the
development muscle control eye- hand coordination, etc.
Cognitive Development: As per Piaget’s theory, children learn through the process of assimilation,
accommodation and equilibration, which in simpler terms mean using the existing schema to have an
understanding of the new object or situation, changing previously gained knowledge till deal with the new
situation or object and having a sense if balance with the newly acquired schema (Piaget, 2015). Therefore,
at pre- operational stage children, to facilitate cognitive development, it is necessary for the inclusion of
new experiences in the curriculum, which can be formal as well as non- formal. At sensory motor stage
children think symbolically but gain the ability to make one object stand for something other than itself
(Piaget & Inhelder, 2015). Nonetheless, children at this stage still do not develop the understanding of
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