Themes for Curriculum in the Early Childhood Education
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Theme-based learning is widely adopted in many Early Childhood classrooms because this method of teaching and learning benefits children in multiple ways:
Interesting themes encourage a love of learning and active learners
It allows children to make deeper connections
It enables children to learn about the world
It makes learning becomes meaningful
A theme-based curriculum supports different learning needs
Integrating these themes across subject areas, creates a fundamentally well-rounded interdisciplinary curriculum, moving away from the traditional, subject-centered approach, into a more holistic approach, because it links the disciplines by emphasizing relationships and connections. According to an article by Pedagogy In Action, which explores the importance of teaching with an interdisciplinary approach, stated that "engaging students and helping them to develop knowledge, insights, problem solving skills, self-confidence, self-efficacy, and a passion for learning are common goals that educators bring to the classroom..." and highlights that, "interdisciplinary instruction and exploration promotes realization of these objectives". This approach helps advance critical thinking and cognitive development, which includes brain-based skills and mental processes that are needed to carry out tasks.
In this blog post, I will explore two ideas, [1] All About Me and [2] Eric Carle (books), and explain how these inform the themes of Cultural, Social, Global vs. Local, Play, and Inquiry can be utilised for the EC curriculum, and how they benefit students.
ALL ABOUT ME: Cultural / Social + Global vs. Local
Much like adults, children love to talk about themselves. within this theme, children can learn about their own identity, features/attributes, culture and even their community or country. You can teach about individuality and differences as well. You can teach about- and empower children to share their ideas, likes, dislikes, skills, culture, and help them see how we are all different yet unique in our own way - to essentially shape how they perceive "different' in more positive and open-minded ways. It supports their growing levels of self-awareness and confidence.
Within English and Literacy, you can incorporate letters, name recognition and activities with tracing, free-hand, colouring and crafts, etc. For English, you can explore general vocabulary, aspects of their identity such as name, age, birthday (month), grade, and simple traits of likes, favourites, dislikes, skills, etc. this opens up opportunities for students to get to know each other and for teachers to learn about their students. For Literacy, activities related to their name or the onset letters for younger age groups. For circle and/or story time, there's an array of resources to choose from, such as, I Like Myself by Karen Beaumont, I can Be Anything by Jerry Spinelli, or Marvelous me by Lisa Ballard, and many more. These books can be used to teach socio-emotional learning (SEL) as well.
For Math, you could incorporate measurement activities about their height e.g. by feet, by string, blocks, etc., and making comparisons with their peers. For Counting, you could have them count their family members or letters in their name, and additionally, have them graph it as a class or in groups. Or even use this fun running Math game. For Science, utilise 'Science Like Me' type-worksheets, create activities from the 'I like Me by Karen Beaumont' book, or even have students make their fingerprints (linked to highlighting their uniqueness).
For Art, using clay, paint, or multiple crafts, students could make a physical model of themselves (like a doll) or make their face. For Music and Movement, you can utilise songs about 'Me' by Wormhole English, Super Simple Songs or Kids Academy that make it interactive and reinforce the theme and general learning ideas and objectives. For Building/Engineering (within STEM or STEAM), students can build their home or apartment using materials from both within the classroom and other raw materials. You could also incorporate this into aspects of a PBL wherein some of their collected data from activities can be used again at the end of the school year to contrast, and showcase their growth, whether it be their picture from the first day of that grade to their last, their height, and (fine/gross) skill development. And there is so much more you can teach within this topic across themes and across subject areas.
The benefit to students results from how it helps children to realize that every person is unique and special. Furthermore, they also learn that every child's thoughts and ideas are important and no one person is more or less important than another. Thus, overall the activities in this theme help students get to know themselves, each other, their families and friends. It helps them gain confidence, create a classroom community, and develop positive relationships with each other. It's also a wonderful opportunity to teach about kindness.
In addition this theme could lead into an extension with a curriculum that explores other continents and their countries as well. This supports students becoming global citizens as they gain more knowledge about the world on a larger scale, using interdisciplinary teaching (including geography, food classes, etc.) and creates space for children to both, learn and value others' culture, traditions and people.
Earth Day: Environmental + Global
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines environmental education as “a process that allows individuals to explore environmental issues, engage in problem-solving, and take action to improve the environment.” Within Environmental education, especially on a global level, learners are encouraged to explore, examine how and why things happen, and form their own opinions on complex issues rather than just being told information. It promotes critical and creative thinking skills and inspires kids to become more engaged with their communities and the world around them. It helps kids understand why the environment is important and provides them with the building blocks they need to live eco-friendly and sustainable lives.
Following the 'environmental' theme, there are a number of topical themes one can follow, such as 'Growing Flowers', 'Earth Day', 'Ocean Life', or anything related to animals. You can teach about waste management, recycling, not littering, conservation of resources and energy, animal protection and ethical practices, or even the importance of farming and planting, For this blog, I'll focus on Earth day.
For the theme of Earth day, since the focus is about raising awareness about the importance of protecting our planet and taking action - it provides students with an opportunity to explore a range of subjects, whether science-based investigations, thematic reading, or creative arts projects. You can teach your students about: the importance of trees and the many benefits to this planet; about the three Rs: reduce waste, reuse resources and recycle materials;Energy conservation, e.g. switching off all appliances and lights when not in use, and ensure taps are properly closed after use, and to use water sparingly, etc. It has the added benefit of having a global component for two reasons, the long-term effects it has on the planet (local: their community) and over 1 billion people take part in this every year.
We spend a lot of time teaching children to keep their toys, books, and selves clean. So, of course, it makes sense to them that we should also keep our planet clean. For Circle, Story or English classes, we can use mini ideas to showcase the main ideas about Earth day or show the ways we can help the planet. Alternatively, we could explore this topic with books such as 'Thank You Earth', 'The Earth Gives More', 'Earth Day every day', 'I Love the Earth' or 'Saving the Planet', and so many more. We could teach the sequencing of planting a tree and steps to recycle, With this you can build an awareness with young children and use this to lead into practical activities and actions that they can do to contribute. For Science, they can learn how to plant a tree and then plant a real one; or make earth coloured slime. For Art, students could create a craft from recycled plastic or other recycle materials. For Literacy, students could use sand to make the letter E for earth, or create varying sensory bins that incorporate earth elements. or even make their own, earth day (reader) books.
For Math, students could bring in from home, and sort different recycle materials into their correct bins, and even count how many are in each. Or sort colours. These can be donated to recycle corporations and money raised can be used to buy materials to mini plant trees. Students could even make tree patterns following ABAB or ABBA, or do a beans and flower pots counting activity, or an apple tree counting activity. Take students outside on a nature walk to examine different trees and include discussions about trees their usefulness, which can be tied into a PBL project as well where students give a presentation, make a poster or model related to Earth day to be displayed within the school. There are multiple songs we can use to reinforce these ideas and that are engaging and interactive for students. This theme of environmentalism can be tied into the topic of animals (general and the impact of pollution, climate change, etc.) and (the importance of ) animal conservation.
The benefits of Environmentalism / Earth day within a curriculum accumulates a multitude of benefits. Nature offers children the freedom to be 'children' - they explore, run, shout, and laugh; climb up trees: invent games and fictional worlds. These activities let students take risks, discover things, question, and experiment. This self-expression is invaluable to their development and allows learners to discover themselves while interacting with their natural surrounding. Education can further support and encourage this. It teaches students about environmental challenges, to be responsible and instils a respect for nature, which in turn encourages students to form sustainable habits, and can help raise eco-friendly consumers,
In conclusion:
Theme-based curriculums allows students to contexualise what they learn and provides multiple opportunities for them to apply it in real life or in practice. This is supported by the use of an interdisciplinary approach because expands what students learn by allowing them to tackle problems that don't fit neatly into one subject. It also changes how students learn by asking them to synthesize multiple perspectives. It provides teachers with multiple streams of innovative strategies and tools, and encourages creativity to support learning with more fun, engaging and interactive activities.
References
Natural Beach Living: All about Me activities for Preschool and Kindergarten
Pockets of Preschool: All About Me Activities
Books and Giggles: Earth Day Literacy Activities
Stress Free Math for Kids: Math for Earth day
Rubicon: Why environmental Education is Important for Kids
GVI Planet: How to Cultivate Environmental Awareness in Schools
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