Curriculum and Standards based instruction





By using an emergent curriculum, teachers carefully plan experiences, provocation and investigations based on children’s interests. By using the project approach, teachers create an in-depth study of something with the children. Evidence of children’s interests can be found in the classroom environment (in materials set up and provocations), in the teachers’ daily reflections and in the individual portfolios (the authentic assessment method used). After activities are completed each day, teachers reflect on the Ohio Early Learning and Development Standards and use back-mapping. This shows how the activities done in the classroom each day align to the standards.





During an investigation of color the children brought in things that were blue. When sharing these items there was a disagreement.
"That's not blue, that's teal!" -SB

"No, it's blue." -EM

"THIS is blue!" -AS


When this occurred, Ms. Jackie did not interject or quiet the children down. Instead, she listened to their words and began to write them down. Finally, she said, "It sounds like we need to investigate what blue IS!". From there, Ava said, "Blue is a primary color." This led to a discussion of what primary colors are. Finally, the day changed and Ms. Jackie prepared the art studio with white, black, and blue paint. The children were invited to try to mix as many different blues as they could!