Outline early years curriculum models supporting children’s care, learning and development Essay

One model of early years curriculum was introduced in September 2008. The Foundation Phase consists of 7 essential areas of learning; †¢ Physical †¢ Personal †¢ Creative †¢ Numeracy †¢ Communication †¢ Welsh language †¢ knowledge of the world This was designed for children between birth and 5 and offers a developmentally suitable curriculum. Learning through play encourages creativity, imagination and makes learning more enjoyable and effective. It offers consistency at an extremely important developmental stage. It enables opportunity for a child to learn, grow and play at an equal rate as their peers. As each child has a right to the best start possible they are given this chance of reaching and achieving their potential through this experience. The Foundation Phase is a statutory framework and gives everyone, child, parent or career the confidence that their child’s education, health, and safety is fulfilled in a recognizable, measurable and achievable way. It allows early learning goals and talents to be recognized and reached. Early learning providers are given common principles, whether they are a private nursery, a childminder or a school, this ensures a reliable extensive range of knowledge throughout each child’s early years and provides an effective and strong foundation for their future. Another early year’s curriculum approach is the Reggio Emilia Approach. This approach was influenced by many different theorists focusing on their studies of cognitive development, the importance of play, social aspects of learning and many more. The result of various collective philosophies permits focuses on the child, as a whole, with family participation, the environment, self-image while educators are closely monitoring a child’s natural creativity, curiosity, and imagination. This allows a child to learn through self-investigation and performing tasks that interest them. This encourages communication and understanding of new found knowledge learned independently and not taught. It allows educators to build on the strengths and weaknesses shown by the individual. A few principles and features of this method are; 1. Each child is capable, curious and strong 2. Children learn best when accompanied by another 3. Educators document work and play to understand a child’s general way of thinking 4. Educators are able to ‘provoke’ a child’s way of learning and thinking 5. ‘The Hundred Languages’ of a child is shown through singing, acting, drawing, painting, and building†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 6. Children are grouped in mixed ages 7. Children grow with a sense of responsibility 8. There are continually written observations made By incorporating such methods allow children to continue contributing to their own learning, offers a negotiated curriculum which is specific for the individual, helps to document progress on a particular level, encourages planned spaces and less structured rooms, helps build effective teacher-parent relationships and produces many more positive outcomes. Curriculum Cymreig model As the National Curriculum has common Obligation to Curriculum Cymreig, ‘A Curriculum Cymreig is a school’s explanation of the obligations of their own curriculum and philosophy. Curriculum Cymreig gives followers an understanding of how to celebrate in the typical way of the Welsh and teaches about the importance of living in Wales and learning Welsh. This method gives a sensitive learning of what it’s like to live in Wales and learn about Welsh geography, history, and religious education. Working in such methods allows the continuous development of traditional principles to be used and shared in Wales. Key principles of A Curriculum Cymreig; †¢ Cultural – respecting other cultures but celebrating language, religion, and tradition †¢ Economic – the political and cultural way of Welsh industry roles which outline the Welsh appeal – learning past and present †¢ Environment – learning about past and present landscapes – alternate energy sources †¢ Historical – comparing past and present relationships with other parts of the world †¢ Linguistic – teaching through the medium of Welsh – learning the importance of the Welsh language This curriculum is specific to its towns and is very diverse by illustrating its proudness to welsh it allows children to appreciate and understand where they come from and how the country has developed over the decades, hoping it has a lasting effect on the future of the Welsh children.