Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/reflections-on-curriculum-4-assumptions-5-goals/5016976/
I have been a director of a school for children of ages three to seven years (comprising preschool to first grade) for the past 30 years. Although we have been conversant with the various written curriculum models and have learned from them, we have never followed one curriculum model or strictly adhered to one way to approach any program or assessment. We do, however, have a belief system based on assumptions we have made about how children learn best, and it has successfully guided us these many years. It is also predicated on the belief that teachers are intelligent and have integrity and the child also has intelligence and unique gifts to share. These are the assumptions we feel we need to make:ASSUMPTIONS
• Children learn best when they are actively engaged in the learning �" when they have a voice and opportunity for choices and opportunity to act on ideas and objects in their environment.
• Children learn best when they have a rich variety of materials available. Materials to transform through their own actions, alone or with others and through which they may express their ideas, represent their thinking, and communicate their ideas while having opportunities to follow their own visions.
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