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14.5: Integrated Curriculum / Themes

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    It is common for many programs to integrate many aspects of learning with the use of “themes” as a way to weave learning together for children. For some learners, the connection of several learning experiences all related to a common concept can support deeper learning. The most successful themes are those that emerge out of the children’s interest (often called “emergent curriculum” ). Common themes include:

    • My family
    • Friendship and caring
    • Community Helpers
    • Animals
    • Activities (camping, …)
    • Transportation
    • Locations (oceans, mountains, farms,…)

    image9.png

    Pause to Reflect

    What other themes can you think of?

    Often when planning a theme, teachers will use the concept of a curriculum “web” to begin to plan their ideas. Like a list, but in a different format, a web allows teachers to brainstorm related ideas and then to choose the ones that make the most sense to more thoroughly plan for. This process uses both a teacher’s divergent and convergent thinking skills.

    A basic web diagram will look like this:

    image4.png

    Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Basic web diagram

    Here is a sample of a curriculum web using this format. Can you think of activities to add?

    image7.png

    Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\): Sample curriculum web

    image9.png

    Pause to Reflect

    What advantages can you find in creating a planning web? How might you incorporate children into helping you web ideas?

    As can be seen, there is much to consider when planning, implementing, and evaluating curriculum for early childhood programs. At the core of quality curriculum is the notion of Developmentally Appropriate Practices, including observing and understanding the individual children in your care, developing and maintaining positive relationships and interactions, effectively communicating, valuing the role of play in learning, and understanding that children’s behavior is a part of the learning process.

    This page has been edited by Alice Hale of Chabot College using the Libretexts remixing tool.

    This page titled 14.5: Integrated Curriculum / Themes is shared under a CC BY license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Cindy Stephens, Gina Peterson, Sharon Eyrich, & Jennifer Paris (College of the Canyons) .