5.2.6
Curriculum Planning
To plan a curriculum which will orient children with the learning environment, establish classroom expectations, demonstrate appropriate use of materials, teach schedules and routines, and build a sense of community.
30-day Turn-in Requirements
The 30-Day Turn In Documents list is a list of required documents that must be completed by 30 days into the school year. All document should be scanned to the Education folder within the first 30 days of each program year. Documents should be clearly marked with the center and classroom name.
- First 4 weeks of lesson plans:
- Pedestrian Safety activities
- Key (developmental domain/curriculum area) completed
- Required curriculum activities planned as needed
- Creative Curriculum Daily Resources (Physical development card weekly, Intentional Teaching cards, Mighty Minutes/Brain Builders, Read Aloud)
- Daily Schedule
- Changes to the daily schedule must be approved by Education
- 60-day trial before changes can be made
- Substantial Portion of the Day/Much of the Day
- Free Choice – 1 hour
- Minimal transitions
- Appropriate spacing of meals. Meal time changes need to be shared with the Food Service Coordinator.
- Behavior Crisis Intervention Plan (Refer to SOP Center/Classroom Environment Set Up)
- Classroom Rules and Consequences
- Framing Your Day
Pedestrian Safety Lessons for Head Start
There are four pedestrian safety lessons which are required to be completed within the first 30 days of school.
- Crossing the Street
- I always wear my seatbelt
- Pedestrian Safety Book
- Teacher choice from “Growing, Growing Strong – Safety” (book is onsite)
Planning Activities
For more information about these topics, see Planning Activities:
- Curriculum Planning – including Weekly Lesson Plans, Required Curriculum Checklists, Resource Materials Lists, Transportation Education Safety Curriculum, School Readiness Goals, Group Profile Activity
- Field trips – including request forms for field trip, transportation and food
Classroom Rules
Teachers should create classroom rules using these documents:
- Creative Curriculum for Preschool Volume 1: Foundation Developing Rules for a Classroom Community (p147)
- Creative Curriculum for Infants, Toddlers & Twos Volume 1: Using Positive Guidance Strategies (p114)
- Tips for Teachers: Creating Classroom Rules
- Learning Activity: Creating Classroom Rules
Picture Schedule
Using photos of children participating in daily routines, create a picture schedule that children can see and manipulate. Providing a picture schedule and referring to it throughout the day helps children take part in classroom routines and activities. The picture schedule can be used to support individual children or groups.
References
- Classroom Rules
- Tips for Teachers: Creating Classroom Rules – tip sheet for creating classroom rules.
- Learning Activity: Creating Classroom Rules – This is an opportunity to practice step four of the GUIDE process. Make sure to think about how to make consequences clear to children and how to acknowledge them for following the rules. Use this form to create a rough draft of consequences for your classroom. List classroom rules, the consequences for not following the rule and how you will teach these rules and consequences to the children.