Children and the Curriculum: The Kindergarten Program

Establishing Routines

Routines are firm, impersonal standards or guides for behaviour. They may take weeks to establish, but once mastered, they give children a feeling of security and they free them to become engaged in the exciting experiences of the Kindergarten day. Routines are efficient, saving both the teacher's and the children's time and energy for more important things.

Before establishing a routine, teachers should consider whether it is necessary for their situation. They should check to be sure it is something the children can do and, as much as possible, help them to understand why it is necessary. For example, children should know why it is better to carry a chair with the legs facing down or scissors with the points down.

Once teachers have decided a certain rule or routine is necessary and manageable, they should give an explanation and demonstrate. Then they should ask children to practice the routine, giving them support as required. It may sometimes be necessary to reteach the routine. The goal is for the children to assume responsibility for maintaining it.

Consistency is very important. Children find it very confusing if standards change from day to day. This does not mean, however, that when new situations arise the teacher and the children cannot work out new solutions to management problems. It is sometimes necessary to be flexible and to allow more latitude for one child than others. Children can accept the fact that an individual is not yet ready to do all that the others do. Such cases, however, are exceptional, rather than the rule.

Respect for the rights and properties of others, the growth of standards, and acceptance as a member of a group develop through involvement in the social activities of the classroom. Within this setting, children learn to assume responsibility for such things as watering the plants, feeding the guinea-pigs, setting the tables for lunch, wiping the tables, cleaning up after painting, and putting equipment and apparatus away on shelves. Thus, the Kindergarten program enables children to develop a sense of responsibility for themselves and for the orderly functioning of the group.

Learning Centres

Learning centres may be developed within activity centres for specific purposes. Learning centres are designated places which have carefully planned activities and materials for facilitating specific learning outcomes. Such a centre would be used for a short period of time rather than as a permanent part of the material in that activity centre.

Learning centres are a means of providing an active, self-selecting and problem-solving approach to learning. In addition to providing for independent and self-directed learning, learning centres enable teachers to plan activities at an appropriate level of difficulty for individual children. Learning centres are used to introduce, reinforce and extend new skills and concepts. They provide opportunities for children to use processes and develop concepts through concrete activities.

Steps involved in developing both activity areas and learning centres include the following:

• Identify which objectives of the Kindergarten program, the Required Areas of Study and the Common Essential Learnings are to be emphasized in a given area.
• Decide what materials are needed.
• Gather the necessary materials.
• Consider the sequence of difficulty inherent in the materials and decide which ones to include first.
• Match the sequence of materials to the children's needs and interests.
• Arrange materials so that they are accessible and easily replaced by the child.
• Change materials when needs or interests change, being sure to provide for the security children need from repeating familiar activities.
• Devise a system for recording children's activities.

1. In the area designed for physical activity, a fitness learning centre could be set up. Appropriate activities could be diagrammed on cards or charts. These activities could include such things as hopping in a pattern laid out on the floor; following a pattern of stretching, bending and lifting exercises; copying movement patterns; practicing relaxing. A plan can be made for children to keep track of their own activity and measure results.
2. In an area designed for the development of sensory awareness, the teacher may want to focus on identifying different smells. Containers of spices and other materials could be prepared in pairs for children to match by smelling. Symbols on the bottoms of the containers enable children to check themselves to see if they have matched correctly. Similar materials can be made for matching sounds made by such things as rice, sugar and pebbles.