The Creative Curriculum for Preschool: Interest Areas, Vol. 2

Was supposed to be The Foundation. It is Literacy. No idea how to return.

This book is a college textbook for me, but because our state requires all early childhood centers to use this curriculum, I am keeping this book. It has great ideas on how to stop children from biting, to how to get children more involved in the activity centers that you plan daily. If you need a nice comprehensive resource this is definitely one you want to look into.

This curriculum book manages to cram as much information into its 530 pages as possible. It starts with an overview of child development in chapter one, entitled "How Children Deveop and Learn". Chapter one also introduces and explains what I consider the most exciting aspect of the Creative Curriculum program- the developmental continuum as a tool for tracking children's progress and identifying areas for the program to focus attention. The continuum states a program goal, let's say "knowledge of the alphabet" and then proceeds to state specific examples to help teachers assess how far a child has acheived in meeting that goal, ranging from forerunner skills (child points out that there are letters on their cubby and those letters mean this is the child's cubby) and listing 2 more examples of growing understanding, then ending with a high (for preschool) level of understanding (makes sound-letter connections and demonstrates it by writing a D on a picture they state they want to give to dad). The Creative Curriculum continuum has 50 stated goals coverng all domains of development. I find this tool extremely helpful in general program planning, individualization to meet specific needs of a specific child, and in communicating with parents. The book also has informative chapters regarding setting up the classroom environment and the family-school partnership. This book continues with a chapter on each learning center typically found in an ECE classroom such as the book corner, blocks, and water table. It states items found in that area with suggestions on how to use them and highligting what content areas (literacy, math skills, social skills, etc.)are addressed. The other thing I am also particularly pleased with this book is how it repeatedly reinforces how Early Childhood Educators assist children in furthering their understanding through teacher-child discussions,teacher modeling, and posing open questions such as "I wonder what will happen if you...?" Children are not just left to their own devises in a "safe and interesting environment." The majority of learning occurs with people interacting with each other. I even find the planning forms helpful, and I usually prefer to make up my own things like that. Overall, a comprehensive and developmentally appropriate approach to teaching small children. Highly Recommended.

Every preschool or early childhood classroom teacher should have this book on hand to help incorporate DAP into all children's lives. Don't forget to buy 3rd edition that has other information in it as well.

We use this book for Head Start Program.. A very good reference book.

Although I already had the Creative Curriculum 3rd edition, I was compelled to buy this newer version, the 4th edition, when I heard there was new information. I was not disappointed. The Creative Curriculum is a guide for early childhood classrooms which addresses the environment and learning centers, as well as the role of the teacher. It is compatible with other known practices in early childhood, including the project approach, Reggio Emilia, and emergent curriculum. The book describes the setup and rationale for learning centers from Blocks to Library to outdoors. There are letters and information for parents, assessment and documentation sections. I can't say enough good things about this book!!