Curriculum Strategy
Poor children have been faced with poverty as a risk factor in their success academically. Some children who come from poor backgrounds are affected in their school readiness. The poverty should not be an obstacle to the normal learning of a child from an early age. Children come from diverse backgrounds, with diverse cultures, this makes them unique and hence when performing an assessment to them one should be acknowledged. The adequate assessment and analysis of the activity of the child, the right chosen method for the child’s learning will help to avoid the problems in the future training and develop the maximum number of skills of a child, for his better future activity from primary school to college.
Objectives and Skills
The child I assessed, in this curriculum plan, is five years old and comes from a low-income family. However, despite his background, the child is very comprehensively developed. But there are some troubles with this child in the domain of personal and social development. The objective of my work is to define and describe three social skills that are not yet developed in child's habits, and then to create a plan of development and assessment to implement the lacking personal and social skills. These three indicators are: the self control indicator, that will help the child manage transition and to adapt to changes in routine; the approach to learning indicator, that will help the child to solve tasks with flexibility and inventiveness; the indicator of the interaction with others, that will help child to cooperate with familiar adults. The implementation of my curriculum plan will help this child to develop lacking personal and social skills that will help the child in future progress (Education.com, 2016).
Activities and Instruction
As is known, pre-school children learn and absorb information better during the game. Therefore, the best method for the development of the lacking skills in child is an activity in a playful manner. The activities presented in this paper can be easily combined with each other, as a result, they leave a complex result. The child gradually receives the skills such as adaptation to changes in routine, the ability to solve tasks with flexibility and inventiveness and the ability to cooperate with familiar adults. For this we use “Scouts” as the self-control activity, “Shifters” as the creative activity and “Touch the ” as the adaptive activity.
Activity 1.
Self-control is the most important condition for success in school, and even in the life of society. To learn well, the child must listen carefully to the end to what says not only a teacher, but also his peers, regardless of whether it is interesting for him or not if he already knows this stuff or does not. The child must not only know how to behave in the classroom, but also be able to do it (that is, to have the forces and patience to do it). For all that, are needed the randomness and developed volitional processes. A child, I examined, has not yet developed this skill. Therefore, we have chosen the structural theory of learning to improve the child’s skills.
According to structural theory, any learning requires mastering of one or more rules. In such theories under the rules are implied theoretical constructs, that are used for the presentation of various kinds of human knowledge. The rule includes an area or a plurality of encoded input, to which it is applied, a number or a plurality of decoded outputs which it supposedly allows generating and strict type of procedure that is applied to elements of this area. The development of the skills of self-control in children of this age (the examined child is five years old) is actively occurring in the game. Therefore, I propose a game that will help to cope with this difficult task, and at the same time will entertain both children and adults (Learning Theories, 2016).
This game is called “Scouts” and it is suitable for children from 5 years to any age. This game will help us to develop in the child the lacking skills like the observation, the ability to control his movements and emotional responses. The essence of the game is that the leading hides (puts or lays somewhere in a visible place) in the room some small object (a toy, for example), which players will be looking for. They can walk around and look at all the angles, but the cases do not need to be opened, as the object stays in a prominent position. Anyone who finds the toy should retain their discovery as a secret, without making any sound or laugh, without any hints. He just needs to sit down and quietly watch as others continue to search. The first player to find a hidden toy, hides it next time. In addition, while playing with the child, we should not try to yield to him all the time (at least, do not do it consistently and clearly). Thus, we can develop a child’s ability to manage transitions and to adapt to changes in routine, as well as to both lose and win adequately, that will be an indicator of the high level of self-control.
Activity 2.
Creative thinking is the ability to successfully cope with the new challenge in an unusual way. The unconventional thinking is important in achieving the objectives. In 5 years, the child can already make some fantasies in his mind, he can come up with unusual stories, fantastic animals, fairy tales and much more. At this age, the foundations of a creative imagination are beginning to be laid. Thus, adults must help the development of this unique ability in every child, without which the future life in the modern world cannot be successful. In the boy, whom we are examining, this creative ability is poorly expressed, therefore, to improve it and to make the full realization of creative potential, we use the learning theory of learning.
The theoretical basis of learning theory for behavioral therapy, says that neurotic behavior is the end result of an erroneous, maladaptive learning, and therefore, can be changed by retraining techniques and can develop adequate skills in a child, which we are considering. Theorists argue that a set of learning theoretical reasoning, trying to explain how the experience gained in a particular stage of development, impact on subsequent mental and behavioral activities. This theory includes approaches such as behaviorism, cognitive concepts of conditioning, learning by observation, which is very useful in our case. Thus, here is a game that will help to cope with this problem (Atherton, 2016).
The game is called “Shifters” and match up for children from 4 years and older. The aim of the game is to teach the child to create images of objects, on the basis of the perception of schematic images of individual parts of these items in his imagination. The gist of the game is that the child is distributed with the sets of 4 identical cards, with the schematic abstract images. The task is to turn each card into any picture. The child should stick the card onto a sheet of paper and draw with crayons, anything he wants to obtain a picture. Then he takes another card, sticks to the following list, draw again, but on the other side of the card, that is, turn a figure into another image. The child can turn a card and a piece of paper while drawing just as he wants. Thus, the card can be the same figure in the different images to transform. The game lasts until all the children have finished drawing their figures. Then the children talk about their drawings. Thus, we can develop the child’s creative thinking, which will help him in the future to generate new and useful ideas and help to develop flexibility and inventiveness of mind.
Activity 3.
In the older preschool age of 5-6 years (our child is 5), there is an intensive development of the intellectual, moral, volitional and emotional areas of the child’s personality. The senior group is associated with mutations in the psychological position of the child, he begins to feel like the oldest among the other children in the kindergarten. In this case, the child, which we are examining, does not have any difficulties in adapting with peers, but his adaptation of adults is extremely low. In addition, the normal social adaptation is essential in the formation of a broader and more significant skill as the socialization, that the child will need as he will mature. Based on all this, we have chosen a social theory of learning to establish the child’s contact with familiar adults.
According to the social learning theory, there are three main provisions of the theory of teaching. The first is the idea, that people can learn by observation. The next proclaims, that the internal mental state is a necessary part of the learning process. Finally, the theory recognizes, that even if something has been learned, it does not mean that the gained knowledge will cause a change in a child’s behavior. To date, both teachers and parents recognize the importance of the formation of the child’s adaptation, especially with familiar adults, so this theory is the best suited to achieve our objectives. Thereby, I suggest a game that will help to cope with adaptation of the child (McLeod, 2016).
The game is called “Touch the” and is offered for children aged 5 years and older. The target of the game is to teach the child to come into contact with familiar adults and to adapt better to the society. The content of the game is that all people who are playing are differently dressed. The leading shouts: “Touch the blue” and everyone should instantly navigate, find participants dressed in something blue and touch this color. The colors periodically change, who did not advance would lead. The particularity of this activity is that the teacher or any other adult, also participates in the game, that will help to reconcile the child with an adult, and to overcome the social distance that exists. Thus, we can develop a normal child’s ability to social adaptation, not only with his peers but also with the familiar adults.
The curriculum plan for implementation of the tasks should consist of these three exercises, each of which should take place twice a week, for 30 minutes each. Thus, while applying the complex of these three approaches to learning (structural, training and social) we will develop in the child skills and abilities that will be a good base, and help the child in his further proper and successful development. Due to the structural theory, we develop in the child skills that he will manage transitions and will adapt to changes in routine. Through the learning theory, the child will approach tasks with flexibility and inventiveness. Thanks to the social theories, he will interact easily with familiar adults.
The main principle of our evaluation was an opportunity to find out the set learning objectives have been achieved. It gave us the information about what the child is trained and how he is learning at the moment, as well as about the extent to which set learning objectives have been realized. But the full force of the possibility of estimation was implemented only to give the child feedback. This feedback has worked on improving the quality of learning because we have identified not only the level at which the child must possess communication skills to his end of kindergarten, but also the extent to which it is developing in the course of his studies at the primary school (Center for Teaching, 2016).
Our evaluation was centered on the child, it focused the attention of teacher on improving the communication and personal skills. So, thanks to the use of all three activities, we have achieved significant results in the development of the child. After two weeks of combinative classes (each activity 2 times a week), occurred the first positive results. The child became more confident, he mastered self-control, which helped him to perform routine tasks in the classroom. Furthermore, while using our assessment we have developed creative thinking in the child. The child became interested in drawing different pictures. As for improving the contact with familiar adults, the results are not so good so far. However, the positive dynamics are present, now the child can sometimes allow adults to play with him, but it’s happening if the other children are participating. Thus, the implementation of this plan has proved to be a good side. But for greater efficiency should be continued the observation and a partial correction of the course, the new plan or amendments every month (Learning Sciences, 2016).
Personal reflections
Through this experience, I learned a lot of new information and made some important conclusions. I realized that the game in the preschool years is the leading activity. Therefore, it is most effective to conduct classes in a playful manner. I noticed, that a class should be interesting for children and in the active form, it helps to make contact with all children. If the classes are interesting to the child, he will actively take part in them, and thus, the knowledge and skills will be absorbed faster, as in the case of a child, I have examined. Not least in the work with kids was visibility principle. The child perceives the information better and faster when he is shown something.
This experience was very important for my future work. I realized, that I should pay more attention to the sequence of work as this is a key factor to successful improvements. Training should be consistent, that is, the knowledge should be given from simple to complex. And the most important thing, that I have learned in the course of this work was that the knowledge and skills should be given to the child while taking into account his age and individual characteristics. Through compliance with these principles, I can help any child to develop harmoniously and effectively, that is a priority for me.
Conclusion
The learning process carried out in kindergarten is an integral part of the upbringing and education process and is aimed at the overall development of the child’s personality. While creating a preschool education program, it is necessary to require a close relationship with all areas of development and education of preschool children. To carry out any activity is necessary the knowledge, to be more exact - a body of knowledge, including knowledge of how to work. However, to cope with an average activity one knowledge is not enough. It should be further development of elements of social experience that are purposefully beginning in the preschool educational institution. This training, organized and carried out by kindergarten teachers, helps the child in the present, as well as in his further development and progress. A child’s individual plan helps to assess and improve the quality of the lacking skills of the child.
References
Education.com (2016). “Theories of Learning | Education.com”. Retrieved 26 March 2016, from http://www.education.com/reference/article/theories-of-learning/
Learning Theories (2016). “Instructional design: Structural Learning”. Teorije-ucenja.zesoi.fer.hr. Retrieved 26 March 2016, from http://teorije-ucenja.zesoi.fer.hr/doku.php?id=instructional_design:structural_learning
Atherton, J. S. (2016). “Theories of Learning”. Learningandteaching.info. Retrieved 26 March 2016, from http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/theories.htm
McLeod, S. (2016). “Social Learning Theory | Simply Psychology”. Simplypsychology.org. Retrieved 26 March 2016, from http://www.simplypsychology.org/bandura.html
Center for Teaching (2016). “Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) | Vanderbilt University”. Cft.vanderbilt.edu. Retrieved 26 March 2016, from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/cats
Learning Sciences (2016). “Methods of Assessment | Learningsciences”. Utexas.edu. Retrieved 26 March 2016, from https://learningsciences.utexas.edu/teaching/assess-learning/methods-overview
