15 The Dynamic Process
Curriculum planning for young children is a dynamic process that takes into account children’s ideas and interests. As stated earlier, infant/toddler and preschool curriculum should reflect the unique context of each group of children, families, and teachers. The curriculum plan that works well for one group of children may generate little interest in another group of children.
Example
A group of children living near a large urban park may have the opportunity to experience several trips to check on a nest with eggs laid by one of the ducks living at the pond nearby. The ducks, their habitat, and the eggs become the object of study for several weeks, as the children discuss, tell stories, plan ways to protect the eggs from danger, and count the days of waiting. The teachers did not anticipate this curriculum prior to the discovery of the duck nest, yet the duck nest became part of their curriculum plans. Another group of three- and four-year-olds in a different program in the same city might be developing the same emerging skills and learning the same concepts yet be focused on their classroom pet—a tree frog—exploring his food likes and discovering how to maintain his habitat in a way that keeps him healthy and thriving. Like most journeys, early childhood curriculum follows a course that is unique for each group of children, with unpredictable content from group to group and from setting to setting.
What is constant and predictable in a dynamically generated curriculum is the foundation of concepts and skills that teachers support as children pursue ideas and topics of interest. Through professional preparation, teachers who work with young children understand how to recognize the concepts and skills described in California’s early learning foundations. Teachers look for opportunities to engage the minds of young children in meaningful play, interaction, conversation, and investigation—creating curriculum that nurtures the inquisitive minds of the children and connects with their experiences and developing knowledge and skills. Dynamic curriculum emerges throughout the year and changes each year as teachers respond to the unique teaching opportunities that present themselves
Co-Constructed Curriculum
Early childhood curriculum is co-constructed with input from family members, teachers, and the children themselves. Teachers and families observe and reflect together on children’s experiences and generate many possible ideas for what new experiences or materials might extend and render more complex and coherent children’s thoughts, feelings, and ideas. In volume 2 of the California Preschool Curriculum Framework (CDE 2011b), the story of children’s investigation of fresh food from the garden illustrates the dynamic and co-constructed nature of early childhood curriculum. In this excerpt from a vignette in volume 2 (CDE 2011b, 17), the teachers describe how they generate possibilities for exploring this topic with a group of