Kingfisher's Playschoolers

Emergent Curriculum

In an effort to make education enriching for all students the curriculum used in the playschool classroom is based on  the principles of emerigent curriculum.

In the traditional classroom curriculum is iniatied by the teacher who plans and implements activities based on themes and units. In observing the traditional class you would find students engaged in activities based on one theme (ex. apples) at one time. All games, center activities, art projects and stories would reflect that theme. You may even hear a teacher say, "Billy we can't read that story about dinosaurs now. We are learning about apples."

In a classroom that uses emergent curriculum, the "themes/units" are initiated by the children. It is spontaneous and responsive to the immediate interest's of each child. There are books provided on all topics, centers offer various materials to explore and all questions/ideas are valued. There may be one child actively playing and learning about dinosaurs, while another child is engrossed in the exploration of insects. You may even find the entire class "studying" the same topic if they are all interested in it. Planning is on going and changes rapidly. The top priority of an emergent curriculum classroom is to keep all students actviely engaged in their education.

The Power of Play

The playschooler is most actively engaged when playing and through play they are developing the skills they will need to be successful learners, teachers, readers, doctors, mathematicians, philosophers, scientisit, writers, leaders, etc. etc. later in life.