Posted: March 20, 2023
It's spring! Lots of things are "emerging"—bulbs are sending green shoots up through the mulch in flower beds, insects are hatching, and birds are migrating and nesting. It's a great time of discovery.
Butterfly transforming from a caterpillar to a chrysalis, and emerging as a monarch.
Another thing that has "emerged" is a new BKC course, "Find Fun and Meet Standards in Emergent Curriculum." Many early care and education (ECE)/out-of-school time (OST) educators know in their hearts and minds that the best learning experiences are linked to observations of children that spring from interests and intrigue in the young child's mind. But they may not have the confidence or permission from administration to pursue a schedule of learning experiences that is heavily influenced by the daily conversations and ideas of the children.
This course invites ECE staff to experiment with "child-originated, teacher-framed" learning. It invites teachers to rediscover the joy of their work, the fascination with children, and the things that will build a lifelong love of learning. With an emergent curriculum, children have agency, or control, over their own learning. As teachers experiment with the concepts of emergent curriculum, they may find themselves less tied to the clock and the schedule and more open to the cues that the children are giving. An emergent curriculum blossoms when there are unhurried blocks of time for play and discovery.
If this sounds appealing to you, you might start by thinking with your co-teachers about the children who currently come to your room and play in your space. What excites them? What distracts them? How can you use those interests to inspire some classroom materials and plans for this coming week? This "Children's interest inventory form" can help you take notes as you and your co-workers talk or help you make notes for spring parent-teacher conferences.
Or you may find this "Connecting with children form" helpful to connect observed children's interests or community events to required subject areas or learning domains. If you find yourself longing for more joy and energy for the children in your care, treat yourself to an inspiring two hours and get caught up in the stories, images, and videos of other providers who are finding ways to have fun with children in their work.
Read the "Find Fun and Meet Standards in Emergent Curriculum" course description and objectives.
