COURSE DESCRIPTION:

CD 221: Early Childhood Program and Curriculum Planning Lab. 1 hour credit. Prerequisite: None. Taken concurrently with Early Childhood Program and Curriculum Planning. Students participate in various activity centers in a child care facility, document 50 contact hours with children, and administer The Creative Curriculum Development and Learning Checklist.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

At the completion of this course, the student will be able to:

1. Establish and maintain a safe, healthy learning environment.
2. Advance physical and intellectual competence.
3. Support social and emotional development and provide positive guidance.
4. Establish positive and productive relationships with families.
5. Ensure a well-run, purposeful program responsive to participant needs.
6. Maintain a commitment to professionalism.

TOPICAL OUTLINE OF UNITS:

I. Maintaining a Safe Classroom

The student will be able to:

A. Promote common safety practices within each activity area

B. Stop or redirect unsafe child behavior

II. Maintaining a Healthy Classroom

The student will be able to:

A. Provide and use materials to insure children’s health, nutrition and cleanliness

B. Recognize unusual behavior or symptoms of children who may be ill and provide for them

III. Establishing a Learning Environment

The student will be able to:

A. Establish appropriate interest areas

B. Identify problems related to room arrangement

C. Arrange equipment and materials so children can make choices easily and independently

IV. Advancing Physical Skills

The student will be able to:

A. Assess physical needs of individual children and make appropriate plans to promote their development

B. Provide equipment and activities to promote large and small motor skills

V. Advancing Cognitive Skills

The student will be able to:

A. Help children use all of their senses to explore their world

B. Help children develop such concepts as shape, color, size, classification, seriation and number

C. Interact with children in ways that encourage them to think and solve problems

VI. Advancing Communication Skills

The student will be able to:

A. Interact with children in ways to encourage them to communicate their thoughts and feelings verbally

B. Provide materials and activities to promote language development

C. Use books and stories with children to motivate listening and speaking

VII. Advancing Creative Skills

The student will be able to:

A. Arrange a variety of art materials for children to explore on their own

B. Accept children’s creative products without placing a value judgment on them

C. Give children the opportunity to have fun with music

VIII. Building a Positive Self-Concept

The student will be able to:

A. Use a positive attitude and behavior to help children improve their self concept

B. Help children accept and appreciate themselves and each other

C. Provide activities for children to experience success

IX. Promoting Social Skills

The student will be able to:

A. Help children learn to get along with others

B. Provide opportunities for children to work and play cooperatively

C. Help the shy child to interact with others

D. Provide experiences that help children respect the rights and understand the feelings of others

X. Providing Guidance

The student will be able to:

A. Use positive prevention and intervention methods to help children control their negative behavior

B. Use positive reinforcement techniques to help children learn appropriate behavior

XI. Promoting Family Involvement

The student will be able to:

A. Involve parents in participating in children’s program

B. Recognize and support families of different make-ups

C. Support families and children under stress

XII. Providing Program Management

The student will be able to:

A. Use a team approach to plan a flexible classroom schedule

B. Use transitions and small group activities effectively

C. Plan for individual needs based on child observation and interpretation

XIII. Promoting Professionalism

The student will be able to:

A. Behave ethically toward children and their families

B. Take opportunities to improve professional growth

METHODS OF INSTRUCTION:

Instructor observation critiques and suggestions on site.

MEHTODS OF EVALUTATION:

Grading is based on:

1. Completion of 50 hours in child care observing and participating in teaching.
2. Quality of teaching skills and amount of preparation required.
3. Teacher evaluation using Teacher’s skill checklist.
4. Completion of The Creative Curriculum Development did Learning Checklist.