Fundamentals of
Early Childhood
Education
1
LESSON ASSIGNMENTS
7
LESSON 1: FOUNDATIONS OF THE TEACHINGLEARNING PROCESS
9
LESSON 2: FOUNDATIONS OF CURRICULUM
35
LESSON 3: FOUNDATIONS FOR FORMAL EDUCATION
47
OBSERVATION REPORT PROJECT
53
SELF-CHECK ANSWERS
73
Contents
Contents
INSTRUCTION TO STUDENTS
iii
Welcome to Fundamentals of Early Childhood Education! We hope that this course will add to your knowledge and help you form new opinions about a subject in which you’re already interested—educating young children.
KNOW YOUR TEXTBOOK
Your textbook for this course is Foundations of Early
Childhood Education: Teaching Children in a Diverse Setting by Janet Gonzales-Mena. It’s important that you read the material in your textbook and study until it’s completely familiar to you. This is the material on which your examinations are based. The content of the textbook is divided into three sections:
Part 1—Foundations of the Teaching-Learning Process:
The Role of the Early Childhood Educator
Part 2—Foundations of Curriculum: Planning for
Learning
Part 3—Foundations for Formal Education: Planning for
Learning
As you read the chapters within those parts, you’ll discover the following features:
Chapter introductions, which provide overviews
Chapter outlines, which identify key topics
Sections titled “In This Chapter You’ll Discover,” which provide a list of things you should learn in the chapter
Marginal links that connect key content to the National
Association for the Education of Young Children early childhood program standards
Instructions
Instructions
YOUR COURSE
1
“Focus on Diversity” boxes, which allow readers to understand differences in new ways
Definitions of important concepts, highlighted in the margins “Point of View” boxes, which provide two sides of an idea or argument
“The Theory behind the Practice” boxes, which link content to supporting theory