PERFORMANCE CATEGORY—Curriculum

Final Draft Accreditation Performance Criteria

Approved June 15, 2004 by the Program Standards/Criteria Commission

Performance Category: Curriculum

Program Standard: The program implements a curriculum that is consistent with its goals for children and promotes learning and development in each of the following domains: aesthetic, cognitive, emotional, language, physical, and social.

Rationale: Curriculum that is goal-oriented and incorporates concepts and skills based on current research fosters children’s learning and development. When informed by teachers’ knowledge of individual children, a well-articulated curriculum guides teachers so they can provide children with experiences that foster growth across a broad range of developmental and content areas. It also brings intentionality to planning a daily schedule that incorporates time and materials for play, self-initiated learning, and creative expression, and provides opportunities for children to learn individually and in groups according to their developmental needs and interests.

Please note: When a state rule/regulation prohibits the performance expectation outlined in the draft criterion, the state rule/regulation takes precedence. When a state rule/regulation exceeds the performance expectation outlined in the criterion, the state rule/regulation again takes precedence. When state rules or regulations differ in other ways, or mandate a lower threshold of performance, NAEYC’s criteria take precedence.

NUMBER	STRAND	FINAL DRAFT CRITERIA
Curriculum: Essential Characteristics
2.1	U	The program has a written statement of philosophy and uses one or more written curricula or curriculum frameworks consistent with its philosophy that address central aspects of child development.
2.2	U	A clearly stated curriculum or curriculum framework provides a coherent focus for planning children’s experiences. It allows for adaptations and modifications to ensure access to the curriculum for all children.
2.3	U	Curriculum guides teachers’ development and intentional implementation of learning opportunities consistent with the program’s goals and objectives.
2.4	U	The curriculum can be implemented in a manner that reflects responsiveness to family home values, beliefs, language, and experiences.
2.5	U	Curriculum guides teachers to engage in attentive, responsive interactions throughout the day to facilitate the development of children's social competence and their ability to learn through interacting with others.
2.6	T-P-K	Curriculum guides teachers to incorporate content, concepts, and activities that foster aesthetic, cognitive, emotional, language, physical, and/or social development and that integrate multiple disciplines.
2.7	P-K	Curriculum guides teachers to plan for children’s engagement in play (including dramatic play and blocks) so it is linked to classroom topics of study.
2.8	U	Curriculum goals and objectives guide teachers’ ongoing assessment of children’s progress.
2.9	U	Curriculum guides teachers to integrate assessment information with curriculum goals to support individualized learning.
2.10	U	The daily schedule · is predictable yet flexible and responsive to individual needs of the children. · provides time and support for transitions. · includes both indoor and outdoor experiences. · is responsive to a child’s need to rest or be active. · incorporates time and materials for play, self-initiated learning, and creative expression. · includes time for large group, small group, and child-initiated activity.
2.11	P-K	The curriculum guides teachers to provide children learning opportunities, experiences, and/or projects that extend over the course of several days.
2.12	U	Materials and equipment used to implement the curriculum · reflect the lives of the children and families. · reflect the diversity found in society, including gender, age, language, and abilities. · provide for children’s safety while being appropriately challenging. · encourage exploration, experimentation, and discovery. · promote action and interaction. · are organized to support independent use. · are rotated to reflect changing curriculum and accommodate new interests and skill levels. · are rich in variety. · accommodate children’s special needs.
2.13	T-P-K	Active media that children can control, such as cameras, video cameras, audio recorders, and developmentally appropriate software may be used in the classroom as active learning materials. The use of passive media such as television, film, videotapes, and audiotapes should be limited to developmentally appropriate programming.
2.14	I-T	Materials and equipment used to implement the curriculum for infants and toddlers · encourage exploration, experimentation, and discovery. · support sensory motor learning. · encourage practice of their developing physical skills through self-initiated movement.
Social-Emotional Development
2.15	U	Curriculum guides teachers to help children learn to recognize and name their own and others’ feelings.
2.16	U	Children have varied opportunities to learn the skills needed to regulate their emotions, behavior, and attention.
2.17	U	Children have varied opportunities to develop a sense of competence and positive attitudes toward learning, such as persistence, engagement, curiosity, and sense of mastery.
2.18	T-P-K	Children have varied opportunities to develop skills for entering into social groups, developing friendships, learning to help, and other prosocial behaviors.
2.19	T-P-K	Children have varied opportunities to learn how to interact with others positively, respectfully, and cooperatively; how to learn from and with one another; and how to resolve conflicts in constructive ways.
2.20	T-P-K	Children have varied opportunities to learn to understand, empathize with, and take into account other people’s perspectives.
Language Development
2.21	P-K	Goals and objectives for children’s acquisition of language align with the program philosophy and consider family and community perspectives.
2.22	I-T	Curriculum guides teachers to support infants’ and toddlers’ communication in a language their family uses or understands.
2.23	U	Children have varied opportunities to develop competence in verbal and nonverbal communication by responding to questions; communicating needs, thoughts, and experiences; describing things and events.
2.24	T-P-K	Curriculum guides teachers to support alternative communication strategies for children who are nonverbal.
2.25	U	Children have varied opportunities to develop vocabulary through conversations, experiences, field trips, and books.
2.26	P-K	Children have varied opportunities and materials that encourage them to have discussions to solve problems that are both interpersonal and related to the physical world.
2.27	P-K	Children have varied opportunities and are provided materials that encourage them to engage in discussions with one another.
Early Literacy Development
2.28	P-K	Children have varied opportunities to · be read books in an engaging manner at least twice daily in full day programs and at least once daily in half-day programs in group or individualized settings. · be read to in individualized ways including one to one or in small groups of two to six children regularly. · explore books on their own and have places that are conducive to the quiet enjoyment of books. · have access to various types of books including storybooks, factual books, books with rhymes, alphabet books, and wordless books. · be read the same book on repeated occasions. · retell or reenact events in storybooks. · engage in conversations that help them understand the content of a book. · be assisted in linking books to other aspects of the curriculum. · identify the parts of books and differentiate print from pictures.
2.29	I	Foundations for early literacy are developed by building on infants’ enjoyment of songs, rhymes, routine games and books by · engaging infants in individualized play that includes simple rhymes, songs, and interactive games (e.g., peek-a-boo). · planning daily opportunities for each child to hear and respond to various types of books including picture books, wordless books, and books with rhymes. · making different types of durable books available for children’s independent exploration.
2.30	T	Foundations for early literacy are developed by building on toddlers’ enjoyment of books, songs, rhymes, and routine games by · engaging in these activities on an individualized basis. · planning daily opportunities for each child to hear and respond to various types of books including picture books, wordless books, and books with rhymes. · making different types of durable books available for children’s independent exploration. · providing opportunities and materials for toddlers to begin exploring and learning about painting, drawing, and scribbling. · helping toddlers understand that pictures represent real things in their environment. · engaging toddlers in individualized play that includes simple rhymes, songs, and sequences of gestures (e.g., finger plays, peek-a-boo, patty-cake, This Little Piggy).
2.31	T-P-K	Children have activities that allow them to become familiar with print: · Teachers help children recognize print and connect it to spoken words. · Children have opportunities to make sense of environmental print in their classroom. Some materials are labeled, and print is used to describe some rules and routines. Items belonging to a child are labeled with his or her name. Children are actively involved in making sense of print. · Children have opportunities to become familiar with, recognize, and use print that is accessible throughout the classroom.
2.32	K	Children have varied opportunities to learn to read familiar words, sentences, and simple books.
2.33	P-K	Children have multiple and varied opportunities to write: · Writing is embedded into art, dramatic play, and various center activities, and writing materials are readily available for use in these areas. · Children have daily opportunities to write or dictate their ideas. · Various types of writing are supported including scribbling, letter-like marks, and developmental spelling. · Children are given the support they need to write on their own including access to the alphabet (e.g., displayed at eye level or on laminated cards) and printed words about topics of current interest. · Children are provided needed assistance in writing the words and messages they are trying to communicate. · Children see teachers model functional use of writing and are helped to discuss the many ways writing is used in daily life.
2.34	K	Each child is encouraged to write independently each day.
2.35	P-K	Children are regularly provided multiple and varied opportunities to develop phonological awareness: · They are encouraged to play with the sounds of language including syllables, word families, and phonemes using rhymes, poems, songs, and finger plays. · Children are helped to identify letters and the sounds they represent. · They are helped to recognize and produce words that have the same beginning or ending sounds. · Children’s self-initiated efforts to write letters that represent the sounds of words are supported.
2.36	P-K	Children are given opportunities to recognize and write letters.
2.37	K	Children are encouraged to identify phonemes in words through varied activities including writing and games.
2.38	P-K	Books are displayed and writing is encouraged in one or more areas of the classroom.
Early Mathematics
2.39	T-P-K	Children are provided opportunities and materials to build understanding of numbers, number names, and their relationship to object quantities and to symbols.
2.40	K