I always loved the lady in the insurance commercial who said, “That’s not how it works!” and that is exactly what I find myself saying when I visit some preschool classrooms. After 40 years in the business, I have figured out a number of things about what makes a program for children from birth to age five, worthy of recommendation – and what makes me sad to see happening (and not happening) in less worthy programs these days.                         

Good programs are based on a logical Curricular Continuum that explains the cyclical nature of the learning and teaching process and is founded on proven facts and reputable theories of child development and learning. Good teachers are those who are familiar with, trust in, and completely rely on these facts and theories so their program’s mission is accomplished with efficiency, enjoyment, and excellence. I think we can all agree that our mission is the optimal development of a Whole Child, healthy and able in Body, Mind, and Spirit.

Programs that do not follow a logical plan for education that is based on the factual evidence on child development and research on learning and the brain or do not follow this logical pattern from beginning to end are often not high quality programs.

My suggested Curricular Continuum shows the continuing process of teaching and learning in young children. Take a look:  wordpress-curriculum-continuum

It begins with belief in and total acceptance of the proven (and reproven) Evidence on child development and learning. It moves to the establishment of a set of Strength Expectations (standards, milestones, objectives, whatever) based on that evidence. Most public K-12 schools use the Common Core Standards, but early education programs use a variety of standards depending on their chosen curriculum. The system then proceeds to the establishment and maintenance of a safe physical, emotional, and educational Environment and the creation of specifically designed learning Experiences, Executed carefully with a strong dose of the Human Factor and Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP). The final step is a factual Evaluation of each child’s strengths and needs that mandates the use of his strengths to create a plan for meeting his needs and then begins the process again by returning to new evidence-based expectations for accomplishing the mission of optimal learning.

No matter what formal curriculum a program is using, it should include the elements of Eclecticism and Elasticity (designing your program around the best of the published curricula and changing it to match the needs of your families) and based on the pattern of this continuum. Each of my blogs will be based on aspects of these elements.

Evidence, Expectations, Environment, Experiences, Execution, and Evaluation are the Elements of Excellence in Early Education. This IS the way it works.

Next Blog: Evidence: Believe It or Leave It! Part 1