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16: What Curriculum Looks Like for School-Age Children

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    Learning Objectives

    By the end of the chapter, you should be able to:

    • Connect the purpose of school-age care to important aspects of planning curriculum for school-aged children
    • Explain how the needs of school-aged children and desired outcomes are met through developmentally curriculum
    • Justify the importance of collaboration between educators and children, families, and communities
    • Examine the role of reflective practice in curriculum planning
    • Define what a holistic approach to curriculum is
    • Analyze the value of play in school-age care and curriculum
    • Identify ways to plan for the different types and aspects of play
    • Discuss the importance of intentionality
    • List considerations for planning the environment for school-aged children
    • Summarize the role of diversity and the importance of cultural competence in school-aged programs
    • Describe how quality curriculum planning meets the five outcomes
    • Relate each step of the curriculum planning process
    • Differentiate the different roles of the educator

    During the school-age years (kindergarten to grade 8), children may be cared for during out-of-school times in a variety of school-age programming. The focus, philosophy, staffing, and location of those programs will vary greatly. This chapter will briefly discuss some information that can be used to create high quality curriculum for children in school-age programming.

    But before we get to that, let’s look at what school-age children are like. Meet these school-aged children:

    This is Emily. She is 5 years old and in kindergarten. She enjoys hopping, skipping, and somersaulting. She is beginning to write and loves drawing figures. She counts to 10 and can tell you what money is. She speaks clearly and enjoys telling stories. She sings and dances. She enjoys spending time with her friends. And she is learning to follow rules.This is Antonio. He is in first grade and is 6 years old. He plays soccer and rides his bike with training wheels. He writes all his letters and numbers, but reverses a few. He is learning to tie his own shoes. He knows right from left most of the time. He has "bathroom" humor and is quite talkative. He doesn't like to lose and will cheat to win. He recently developed a fear of the dark.Mei is 7 years old and a second grader. She prefers sitting on the floor rather than on furniture. She is becoming more skilled with a paintbrush and writes neatly. She can tell time and read a calendar. She talks with her hands about her personal experiences and loves reading. She has a group of female playmates and while outgoing, worries about not being liked.This is Devon. He is 9 years old and in fourth grade. He plays basketball and gets better with every practice. He enjoys putting together Lego sets. He reads each night and enjoys math. He uses his words to express himself when upset, but finds it hard to calm down. He is quite the joke teller. He is anxious to please and thrives on positive attention.Dipa is 10 years old and in fifth grade. She enjoys jumping rope. She loves writing stories and illustrating them. She is voracious reader of chapter books. She corrects people's grammar, but pouts when she is corrected. She talks nonstop. She knows when she has broken rules of not met expectations. She still sees the world from her perspective.This is Taylor. They identify as genderqueer. Taylor is 12 years old and in sixth grade. They are going through a clumsy stage due to a growth spurt. They enjoy hiking and bike riding. They draw detailed pictures. They stay focused and make detailed plans. They have adult-like langauge, but continues to add to their vocabulary. They have signed up to take Chinese next year in school. They spend most of their free time with friends.

    Figure 16.1: [1] Image is in the public domain; image by marviikad is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0; image by Donna Cleveland is licensed under CC BY 2.0; image is in the public domain; image by GMR Akash is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO; image by Nicole Lilly on Pexels

    This page titled 16: What Curriculum Looks Like for School-Age Children is shared under a CC BY license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Jennifer Paris, Kristin Beeve, & Clint Springer.