Early Childhood Education: A Comprehensive Guide

Posted on Oct 13, 2024 in Social sciences

What is a Farce?

Farces are short, single-act plays with a folkloric atmosphere, often set in popular places like picnics or courtyards. They use popular comic language, including slang and dialectal expressions.

What is an Appetizer?

Appetizers are very short pieces performed between acts of a longer work. Their characters are typically everyday people like students, soldiers, or peasants, and the goal is to provoke laughter.

What is a Comedy?

Comedies present funny situations from daily life, starring ordinary characters of any class. They use humorous resources like witty phrases and absurd situations to amuse the audience.

Examples of Comedies

  • Don Juan Tenorio by José Zorrilla
  • La Celestina by Fernando de Rojas (15th century)
  • Cuentobecuna by Lope de Vega (16th century)

What is a Quotation?

Quotations are phrases enclosed in parentheses that help readers locate a specific passage in a text.

Difference Between Tragedy and Drama

In tragedies, the characters are gods, heroes, and nobles. In dramas, the characters are ordinary people.

Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Theoretical Justification
  3. Contextualized Learning Environment
    1. Environmental Characteristics
    2. Characteristics of the Center
    3. Characteristics of the Students
  4. Curriculum Development
    1. Objectives of Education for Children
    2. Objectives of the Three Areas and Content
    3. Basic Skills
    4. Sequencing of the Contents and Teaching Units
    5. Methodology, Activities, Resources, Materials, Space, etc.
    6. New Technologies in Early Childhood Education
    7. Evaluation Criteria and Instruments
    8. Pupils with Special Educational Needs
  5. Follow-up
  6. Schematic Planning of Teaching Units
  7. Summary and Conclusions
  8. References and Regulations

Introduction

With the enactment of Organic Law 2/2006 of May 3, on Education (LOE), early childhood education is recognized as an educational stage with its own identity, serving children from birth to age six. It is divided into two cycles: the first up to three years, and the second from three to six years, the cycle this didactic schedule addresses. This schedule should be used as a tool for pedagogical planning.

This educational program, referring to Early Childhood Education, specifically the second level of the second cycle, has been developed considering the current curriculum. This curriculum is established by Decree 183/2008, of July 29, which defines the curriculum for the 2nd cycle of Early Childhood Education in the Canary Islands. It develops, within the powers granted to the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands, RD 1630/2006, of December 29, which establishes the curricula for the 2nd cycle of early childhood education approved by the MEC. These list the objectives expressed in terms of capabilities, core competencies, content, methodological proposals, and evaluation criteria.

Theoretical Justification

The program aims to plan educational activities and make decisions before the teaching-learning process, based on the educational context. It provides a benchmark for designing a set of ordered and sequenced teaching units, based on psychological, educational foundations, and Early Childhood Education regulations.

Early childhood education is justified by three main aspects:

  1. Educational Appearance: Early Childhood Education centers provide students with enriching experiences for their physical, intellectual, emotional, and social development. They encourage experiences that promote personal development, as a starting point for a process that continues in primary education. Close coordination between the two stages ensures a smooth transition.
  2. Socio-familial Aspect: Early Childhood Education has gained significant importance in recent decades, becoming an educational stage with its own identity and defining characteristics. The State guarantees education from the early years, adapting to social changes and the growing demand for education for children under six. Early childhood education centers complement family action, establishing collaborative and family-centered communication.
  3. Compensatory Aspect: This stage considers the interests and needs of the students, respecting different developmental and learning rates. It addresses student diversity and counteracts inequalities through individualized and personalized education.

Pedagogical principles must also be considered.