Curriculum for a new centre

[hannahangelique]

Hello,

I'm currently in a developing country helping a local peace center open a learning centre for both local and international children. How should I go about writing a curriculum plan for a centre that hasn't opened yet? I've never been in a situation where there hasn't already been a plan in place.

Any ideas or help appreciated!

Thanks,
Hannah

[Lorina]

From what I understand when developing a curriculum plan, you will need to come up with "learning objectives" that support children in the learning. With these learning objectives, it enables teachers to assist children in achieving the objectives through a variety of experiences and activities which is guided by the curriculum. 

You mentioned  that you're doing this in a developing country...may I ask which one? 

I think you will probably have to look into whether or not there is some sort of curriculum already available for the specific country and work your way in adapting it from there..

I'm going to give you a few links which may help, however let me know which country and I see if I can find anything further out for you... 

http://www.psctas.org.au/wp-content/upl ... ckage1.pdf

http://www.turningpts.org/pdf/Curriculum.pdf

http://www.calepa.ca.gov/education/eei/ ... elPlan.pdf

,
L.A

[hannahangelique]

Hi,
Thanks for the reply!
I'm in Timor-Leste, I don't think there is a curriculum for children under the age of 5, if you find anything that would be amazing.
The concept of early learning is still very new here and play based learning is even newer, so I'm trying to put a real focus on that.
Also, the links you provided are a great help, thank you.

Best,
Hannah

[Lorina]

I think doing a play based curriculum is probably the best way to go... You can incorporate many aspects of this type of curriculum within the learning environment itself such as having different interest areas setup as well as provide opportunities for learning with small group sessions in between. It will also give the children an opportunity to maybe explore some activities that they haven't been able to so all in all it's a good way to go!

Interest Areas

When thinking about what type of curriculum to choose there is a lot out there... There is Reggio Emilia, emergent curriculum, EYLF etc. To get you started I think you should look into Walker Learning Approach. Its a play based learning curriculum based on developmental domains.. I think that it will be easier for you to follow something like this and maybe add your own ideas once you experiment with it. I'll add the link below where you can find further information about it.

http://walkerlearning.com.au/info/developmental-domains

If you need any help at all on curriculum ideas or documentation please feel free to let me know as we provide a service where we are able to customize documentation to suit your needs.

Online Programming And Planning Tools

This is definitely a great opportunity for you to support and encourage children's learning...

Good Luck!

,
L.A