STANDARDS INTEGRATED
"The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) states that a "good curriculum" provides opportunities for students and teachers to study important topics and skills in depth versus the inch deep and mile wide curriculum that is common in classrooms today (2004)".
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A common criticism of today's American educational system is that children are taught through a series of unrelated activities resulting in a broad curriculum that has little depth. For example, the U.S. mathematics curriculum has been characterized as broad but superficial and fragmented rather than coherent (Newton, 2007). In part to address this issue, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010) include a strong emphasis on integrating curriculum. Currently 45 new states now use the CCSS for curriculum planning (Garelick, 2012), and the impact on instruction in grades kindergarten through 12 is substantial. Preschool curriculum is also impacted because many states have aligned early learning content and development standards with the CCSS.
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Construction can be a topic that is worthy of study and it addresses the engineering component of a STEM curriculum.
Teachers plan and stage environments to inspire young children to play, to think, and to engage in inquiry.
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The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) states that a "good curriculum" provides opportunities for students and teachers to study important topics and skills in depth versus the inch deep and mile wide curriculum that is common in classrooms today (2004). A recent consensus statement developed by ASCD and other educational organizations have lobbied for funding for all discipline specific subjects as "the interrelationship among disciples enhances learning and understanding for each student."
THE IMPORTANCE OF DAILY ROUNTINES
Teachers using ACCESS are intentional about establishing daily routines and planning extended investigations that integrate content standards across all disciplines and development across all domains.
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DAILY ROUTINES INCLUDE:
-Meetings
-Meals/bottles -Diapering/toileting -Hand washing -Nap -Motor skills (Large/small-gym, outdoors, art, pre-writing, classroom) -Play/learning experiences (intentional & child-centered) To learn more about the importance of daily routines follow the link below.
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The hand washing routine is an important teachable moment for infants and toddlers.
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The need to integrate content standards with developmental skills, and sometimes IEP goals is not a hard concept if teachers are willing to step out of the traditional model and acknowledge to the children that they too have questions on topics of study such as, "do worms really eat through apples?" As a side note, the answer is no, unless the egg was laid in the bloom of the apple. Content standards from all areas can easily be included in investigations and experiences by first identifying what children know, using assessment data, and then identifying what children need to know. Data sheets in the form of check sheets, portfolio sheets or annotated check sheets can help teachers document what each child has mastered, as well as what has been addressed in the classroom setting as the year progresses.
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A prediction chart can be used with many investigations.
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