California Preschool Curriculum Framework - Schoolwires

Universal Design AdvisersThe following universal design expertsare gratefully acknowledged for theircontributions:Maurine Ballard-Rosa, California StateUniversity, SacramentoMeryl Berk, Vision Consultant, HOPEInfant Family Support Program,San Diego County Office of EducationLinda Brault, WestEdWestEd Center for Child andFamily Studies—Project Staffand AdvisersLinda BraultMelinda BrookshireCaroline Pietrangelo OwensTeresa RagsdaleAmy Schustz-AlvarezCharlotte TilsonRebeca ValdiviaAnn-Marie WieseOsnat ZurCalifornia Departmentof EducationThanks are also extended to the follow ing staff members: Gavin Payne, ChiefDeputy Superintendent; Rick Miller,Deputy Superintendent, P-16 Policy andInformation Branch; Camille Maben,Director, Child Development Division;Cecelia Fisher-Dahms, Administrator,Quality Improvement Office; and DesireeSoto, Consultant, Child DevelopmentDivision, for ongoing revisions and recommendations. During the lengthy development process, many staff members of theChild Development Division were involvedat various levels: Anthony Monreal,*Michael Jett,* Gwen Stephens,* GailBrodie, Sy Dang Nguyen, Mary Smithberger, Maria Trejo, and Charles Vail.*During the development of the framework, theseindividuals worked for the California Departmentof Education.viiiMeredith Cathcart, Consultant, SpecialEducation Division, contributed herexpertise.Early Childhood EducationStakeholder OrganizationsRepresentatives from many statewideorganizations provided perspectivesaffecting various aspects of the curriculumframework.Action Alliance for ChildrenAlliance for a Better CommunityAsian Pacific Islander CommunityAction NetworkAssociation of California SchoolAdministratorsBaccalaureate Pathways in EarlyChildhood Education (BPECE)Black Child Development Institute (BCDI),Sacramento AffiliateCalifornia Alliance Concerned withSchool-Age Parenting and PregnancyPrevention (CACSAP/Cal-SAFE)California Association for BilingualEducation (CABE)California Association for the Educationof Young Children (CAEYC)California Association of Family ChildCare (CAFCC)California Association of LatinoSuperintendents and Administrators(CALSA)California Child Care CoordinatorsAssociationCalifornia Child Care Resource andReferral Network (CCCRRN)California Child DevelopmentAdministrators Association (CCDAA)California Child Development CorpsCalifornia Commission for TeacherCredentialingCalifornia Community College EarlyChildhood Educators (CCCECE)California Community CollegesChancellor’s Office (CCCCO)California County SuperintendentsEducational Services Association(CCSESA)

California Early Reading First NetworkCalifornia Federation of Teachers (CFT)California Head Start Association (CHSA)California Kindergarten AssociationCalifornia National Even Start AssociationCalifornia Preschool Instructional NetworkCalifornia Professors of Early ChildhoodSpecial Education (CAPECSE)California School Boards AssociationCalifornia State Parent-TeacherAssociationCalifornia State University Office of theChancellorCalifornia Teachers AssociationCalifornia TomorrowCalifornians TogetherCampaign for High Quality Early LearningStandards in CaliforniaChild Development Policy InstituteChildren NowThe Children’s CollabriumCouncil for Exceptional Children/TheCalifornia Division for Early Childhood(Cal DEC)Council of CSU Campus Childcare(CCSUCC)Curriculum Alignment ProjectCurriculum & Instruction SteeringCommitteeEnglish Language Learners PreschoolCoalition (ELLPC)Fight Crime, Invest in Kids CaliforniaFirst 5 Association of CaliforniaFirst 5 California Children & FamiliesCommissionInfant Development Association ofCalifornia (IDA)Learning Disabilities Association ofCaliforniaLos Angeles Universal Preschool (LAUP)Mexican American Legal Defense andEducation Fund (MALDEF)Migrant Education Even Start (MEES)Migrant Head StartNational Council of La Raza (NCLR)Packard Foundation Children, Families,and Communities ProgramPreschool CaliforniaProfessional Association for ChildhoodEducation (PACE)Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA)OrganizationUniversity of California Child CareDirectorsUniversity of California Office of thePresident (UCOP)Voices for African-American Students, Inc.(VAAS)Zero to ThreePublic InputTen focus groups consisting of 147 mem bers gave valuable feedback, and othersoffered suggestions during a public reviewof the draft that was posted online.PhotographsMany photographers contributed to alarge pool of photographs taken over theyears and collected by WestEd. Specialthanks are extended to WestEd and thephotographers. The following child careagencies deserve thanks for allowing photo graphs to be taken of the staff, children,and families:Chandler Tripp Head Start and ChandlerTripp Preschool for the VisuallyImpaired, Santa Clara County Officeof Education, San JoseChild Development Center, American RiverCollege, Los Rios Community CollegeDistrict, SacramentoEl Jardín de los Niños, University Prepara tion School, at California State University, Channel IslandsFriends of Saint Francis Childcare Center,San FranciscoHoopa Child Development Program, HoopaSupporting Future Growth Child Development Center, Oaklandix

CHAPTER 1Introductionto the Framework1

INTRODUCTION TO THE FRAMEWORKYoung children enter preschool with a sense of wonder and a love oflearning. They have an insatiable appetite for knowledge when theyhave learning experiences that are engaging and enjoyable. Positiveexperiences in which children can make choices and explore help themfeel competent and confident. How can we offer them engaging and enjoyable learning experiences that fuel their intellectual engines and buildtheir confidence? How can we connect children’s fascination with learningin every domain and make the most of their time in preschool? With thesequestions in mind, the California Department of Education (CDE) developed this curriculum framework for preschool programs, which includeany early childhood setting where three- to five-year-old children receiveeducation and care.This curriculum framework providesan overall approach for teachersa tosupport children’s learning through environments and experiences that are: developmentally appropriate, reflective of thoughtful observation andintentional planning, individually and culturally meaningful,and inclusive of children with disabilities orother special needs.The framework presents ways of settingup environments, encouraging and building upon children’s self-initiated play,selecting appropriate materials, and planning and implementing teacher-guidedlearning activities.As much as possible, the writers of thisdocument have used everyday language todescribe curriculum concepts and strategies. However, technical termi no logy doesappear in the text. The use of technicalIn this document, a teacher is considered an adultwith education and care responsibilities in an earlychildhood setting. Teachers include adults who interact directly with young children in preschool programs and family child care home settings, as wellas those who provide special education services.In family child care, teachers may be referred to ascaregivers.a terms reflects the need for precision oflanguage and offers the reader the opportunity to connect practice to theory andabstract ideas. To aid the reader, technical words that are highlighted in boldfaceare defined in the Glossary.What children learn during the preschool years is presented in the Califor nia Preschool Learning Foundations,Volume 1.1 As preschool teachers planlearning environments and experiences,the foundations provide the backgroundinformation to: understand children’s developingknowledge and skills and consider appropriate ways to supportchildren’s learning and development.In essence, curriculum planningshould offer children learning opportunities that are attuned to their developingabilities and connected with their experiences at home and in their communities.In the National Association for theEducation of Young Children’s accreditation criteria, it is stated that a curriculumincludes the goals for the knowledge andskills to be acquired by children and theplans for learning experiences throughwhich such knowledge and skills willbe acquired.2 A preschool curriculum

INTRODUCTION TO THE FRAMEWORKtypically defines a sequence of integratedexperiences, interactions, and activitiesto help young children reach specificlearning goals. A curriculum frameworkprovides general guidance on planninglearning environments and experiencesfor young children. Thus, as a curriculumframework, this document provides: principles for supporting young children’s learning; an overview of key components of curriculum planning for young children,including observation, documentation,and reflection; descriptions of routines, environments,and materials that engage children inlearning; and sample strategies for building on children’s knowledge, skills, and interests.Four domains are the focus of Volume 1of the CDE’s preschool learning founda tions: social-emotional development,language and literacy, English-languagedevelopment, and mathematics.California’s PreschoolChildrenis their early experiences with language.Language and literacy development contributes to young children’s learning andlong-range success in many differentways. Children who enter preschool withcompetence in a language other thanEnglish rely on their home language asthey learn English. Building competencein English, while continuing to build competence in their home language, allowschildren to draw on all their knowledgeand skills as they engage in learning inevery domain. In response to the need tosupport children with diverse early language and literacy experiences, the CDEhas developed Preschool English Learners:Principles and Practices to Promote Lan guage, Literacy, and Learning3 (hereafterreferred to as the PEL Resource Guide)and preschool English-language development foundations. This curriculumframework offers strategies aligned tothose foundations and the content of thePEL Resource Guide.Socioeconomic diversity is anothertrend that merits attention. The percen tage of children living in low-incomehomes is high; almost 20 percent livebelow the poverty level.4 At the same time,the benefits of appropriate or high-qualityAfundamental consideration inplanning curriculum for individualchildren is being responsive to the competencies, experiences, interests, andneeds each child brings to the preschoolclassroom. The state’s preschool population includes children who are culturallydiverse, speak a language other than English, possess different abilities, and comefrom diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.When teachers and other program staffpartner with families, they make curriculum individually and culturallyrelevant.An increasingly prominent factorin the diversity of California’s children

INTRODUCTION TO THE FRAMEWORKpreschool are more pronounced for children from low-income backgrounds thanfor other population subgroups. Childrenfrom diverse socioeconomic backgroundsare more likely to benefit from preschoolwhen the curriculum is attuned to theirlearning strengths and needs.Children with disabilities or other special needs are another part of Cali fornia’spreschool population. Children with disabilities or other special needs benefitfrom learning in inclusive envi ron mentswith typically developing chil dren. Studies have shown that chil dren in inclusiveenvironments, with appropriate support and assistance, achieve more thanchildren in segregated environments.5Inclusive environments benefit not onlychildren with disabilities or other specialneeds, but also typically developing children.As the following information suggests,the diversity of young children meansthat every preschool program needs aflexible approach to curriculum in orderto be responsive to all children who enterits doors.DemographicsCompared with most other states,California has an extraordinarily diversepopulation of children, particularly thoseunder the age of five. Of the over six million children enrolled in California’s K–12schools in 2006-07, 48.1 percent were Latino, 29.4 percent were white, 8.1 percent were Asian, 7.6 percent were AfricanAmerican, and 2.6 percent were Filipino.6Similarly, among the 2.7 million childrenfrom birth to age five living in Californiaduring 2006-07, 50 percent were Latino,24 percent were white, 8 percent wereAsian American, and 5 percent were African American.7 This trend is anticipatedto continue over the next several decades.English learnersIn the 2008 California Report Card,Children Now estimates that 42 percentof five-year-old children in California areEnglish learners, a 3 percent increasefrom the previous year.8 Children Nowalso reports:The majority of California’s childrenliving in immigrant households, betweenthe ages of 5-17, speak a language otherthan English at home. Nearly 30 percentof these children live in linguisticallyisolated homes where the adults living inthe home do not speak English well.9In an earlier report, Children Nowand Preschool California indicated that“. . . young children living in linguistically isolated homes are less likely to beenrolled in preschool programs.”10The broad range of languages spokenby children in the state is clearly a significant factor in developing curriculumfor preschool children who are Englishlearners. During the 2006-07 school year,85.3 percent of California children in kindergarten through twelfth grade who wereEnglish learners spoke Spanish, followedby Vietnamese (2.2 percent), Filipino (1.4percent), Cantonese (1.4 percent), Hmong(1.3 percent), and Korean (1.1 percent).11Many families may come from similargeographic regions outside the UnitedStates but may not necessarily speakthe same language.12 Preschool offers animportant opportunity for children whose

INTRODUCTION TO THE FRAMEWORKfamilies speak a different language athome to learn English while continuingto learn their home language. Competence in two languages will allow childrento become adults who can contribute toboth the global economy and their localcommunities. Preschool programs canbest support young children by planningcurriculum that fosters English-languagedevelopment and keeps the children connected to the language of their families.Socioeconomic statusApproximately 20 percent of childrenin California under the ag

California Preschool Learning Foundations, Volume 1, this framework presents strate-gies and information to enrich learning and development opportunities for all of California’s preschool children. Like the first volume of the preschool learning foundations, this curriculum framework focuses on four learning domains: social-emotional development,