The Charlotte Jewish News - January 2016 - Page 21
Learn from, Grow with ... and Connect
to Our Curriculum
By Brooke Amo, Director of Edu
cation
How does one go about finding
an all-in-one eurrieulum that is so
dynamie that it fits their sehool,
teaehers, students, philosophy,
and mission statement? How do
you take the beautiful moments
that the ehildren experienee in
eaeh day and fit them into a little
box or teaeher manual? The truth
is you ean’t. In early ehildhood
edueation, eurrieulum involves
and integrates eaeh aspeet of the
ehild’s day. Eaeh experienee,
whether it is eompletely organie
or purposely designed by a
teaeher, ean be used to aehieve
learning goals. Although so mueh
of what ehildren learn ean some
times “just happen,” it is essential
to have an edueational framework
to use as a guide. This will help
eaeh ehild eonstruet knowledge
and lead them towards reaehing
their potential.
Currieulum development is a
proeess that is ever ehanging.
Staying up on eurrent researeh,
trends, and praetiees is important
to ensure ehildren reeeive a qual
ity balaneed edueation. The
proeess to ereate and implement
effeetive eurrieulum begins with
theory, then planning, followed by
implementing/exeeution, and
lastly assessment and refieetion.
The theoretieal aspeet of eur
rieulum mostly examines intelli-
genee, theory, and eurrieular
eon tent (Hirsh, 5). Intelligenee
has been defined by many, how
ever Howard Gardner best ex
plains it as “a biopsyehologieal
potential to proeess information
that ean be aetivated in a eultural
setting to solve problems or ereate
produets that are of value in a eul-
ture.” (Gardner, 1999, p. 34)
Gardner sees intelligenee as vari
ous entities: soeial, linguistie,
kinesthetie, artistie, mathematieal,
body, and musieal. At CJP, we
embraee this theory as well as
many others to ereate a well-bal-
aneed environment that fosters the
growth of the whole ehild. We
know that ehildren not only learn
differently, but at different sehed-
ules. We base a lot of our daily
strueture around Gardner’s theory.
Our teaehers know the importanee
of providing an environment that
faeilitates all of the students’ in-
telligenees. Areas in our elass-
room are designed to faeilitate the
multiple intelligenee experienee.
Eaeh day ehildren experienee een-
ters that are artistie, eognitive,
kinesthetie, mathematieal, ete.
These areas are student-eentered
and provide ehildren with learn
ing opportunities that are engag
ing and multi-diseiplinary to
reaeh the whole ehild.
Our eontent is organized into
nine domains: soeial, emotional,
physieal, literaey, language, math-
ematies, seienee, eognition, and
Judaiea. Within eaeh of these
learning domains, there are spe-
eifie learning goals that help
teaehers guide their students and
set them up for learning.
How do we get there? Creativ
ity, hard work, eareful planning,
and engaging exeeution is what it
takes. Every teaehing team at CJP
has a planning session onee a
month with our Direetor of Edu
eation. We eome together with all
of our knowledge and ideas to
share best praetiees and marry
them to developmentally appro
priate and stimulating aetivities.
This kind of regular planning pro
motes eonsisteney and teamwork
throughout the sehool. Teaehers
take the goals and skills that they
need to teaeh and weave those
skills into our themes.
CJP uses thematie units for
many reasons. A eommon theme
keeps student learning foeused on
a broader eoneept while touehing
on speeifie goals and skills
throughout. Teaehing thematieally
is motivational for both ehildren
and teaehers. A eommon theme
allows both teaehers and ehildren
to delve into a eontent area, mak
ing it more exeiting for teaehers to
teaeh and students to learn. Our
delivery through themes inte
grates eontent areas in ways that
make sense to ehildren. This in
turn provides them with a more
Charlotte Jewish
Preschool
rieh understanding of a subjeet
and has more meaning. Further
more, teaehing thematieally hits a
student’s multiple intelligenees,
linguistie, logieal-mathematieal,
naturalist, spatial, bodily-kines-
thetie, musieal, and interpersonal.
Teaehers are given the opportu
nity to showease their natural abil
ity to differentiate their instruetion
for the elass. This approaeh en
sures we provide an optimal way
to help all ehildren reaeh their po
tential and have a meaningful im-
paet on their learning.
(Continued on page 24)
Meg D. Goldstein
Attorney-At-Law
Estate Planning,
Estate and Trust Administration,
Pre-Marital Agreements,
Charitable Planning and Entities,
General Corporate and Tax Law,
Business Succession Planning
5960 Fairview Road, Suite 400
Charlotte, North Carolina 28210
Tel: 704.523.2202 ♦ Fax: 704.496.2716
MG0LDSTEIN@MG0LDLAW.COM ♦ WWW.MGOLDLAW.COM
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Hebrew Cemetery
of Greater Charlotte
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