Early Childhood Education Discussion - Essay Example

c Schools for example, states that a child in the Kindergarten is expected to be able to “identify and sort common words in basic categories (e.g., colors, shapes, foods)” (§1.17). Similarly, at 48 months of age at the preschool level, the vocabulary content required is for them to be able to “understand and use accepted words for objects, actions, and attributes encountered frequently in both real and symbolic contexts” (§2.1). Thus, the preschool curriculum though not as thorough or demanding as the Kindergarten curriculum, which is expected, is by no means ‘anti-content’.

It certainly includes content as a perusal of the document would show, but the curriculum is simply devised according to what is considered suitable for the preschool child’s age and needs. Each content standard is also accompanied by plenty of practical examples. So whilst the child is going about his exploratory playing, the teacher is well aware of the content standard that needs to be met. Packaged curriculum materials are specially designed for use with the curriculum in question. They are made with the content standards in mind so that these can be better met.

Students use these to enhance their own learning, and reinforce their skills. The materials are also age-appropriate for the child. Furthermore, the California State Board of Education has detailed specific criteria for evaluating instructional materials to ensure that the material is suitable for use. For example, it is stated, “Instructional materials include activities that relate directly to the learning objectives. Extraneous material is kept to a minimum” (p. 312). As the materials are directly linked to the curriculum, their strength is also dependent on how well these fit the instructional material requirements and the appropriateness of the content standards themselves.

Elkonin boxes are used as tools for teaching phonics. Whilst these can help in fixing phoneme-graphic correspondences in the