What is the creative curriculum program?

• “In early childhood, the creative arts curriculum typically includes music, movement, dramatic play, puppetry, and the visual arts-painting, sculpting, drawing, and use of other media. These activities invite children to invent, make discoveries, and explore ideas, objects, and materials. The creative arts allow children to experience the deep satisfaction that comes from making something new, and they support learning in all domains. This issue includes full-length articles, useful charts and checklists, and easy links to Web sites with pertinent information on encouraging young children to express themselves and learn through the creative arts.”

What centers should be included in the creative

curriculum? • Visual Arts

(crayons, chalk, collage, and paint)

• Music ( learning to sing, play with music, to move and listen)

• Drama (role-play, pretend, create characters or ideas)

Constructivist Theory• Children create knowledge

through interactions with the environment

• Piaget, Vygotsky, Bruner, Forman

Physical Social/emotional

Cognitive Other emphasis

Montessori Emphasis on f.m.

Focus on self-control

Emph. Indiv.; task choice

Respect for child work; teacher observers

Behaviorist Gives little attention

Self-esteem dev. As child gains cognitive competence

Lessons highly sequenced; focus on learning tasks

Controlled envir., emphasis on learning

Constructivist Focus on f.m. & g.m.

Social interactions crucial; peer learning/prob solving

Focus on skills needed at the time; teaching skills via projects

Knowledge constructed by learner; teacher is facilitator

* From class notes

What is developmentally appropriate practice for creative curriculum?

• Teacher`s role- the teacher needs to make sure to include centers (dramatic play, art, and music/ dance) in the classroom and provide the materials.

• Teachers should encourage students and ask open-ended questions.

Children should have the following art experiences:

• Graphic art- children draw with pencils, chalk, markers or crayons on blank paper. Coloring books should not be used because it is not produced by the child.

• Painting- at easels, on

• tables or using finger paints.

• Printing- sponge paint

with a variety of shapes

and colors.

• Sculpture- modeling clay, paper or glue with wood scraps.

• Collage- tissue paper, fabrics, seeds or any material that has a variety of texture.

• Sewing and Weaving- sewing on styroform, trays with yarn, and weaving paper.

• Combining techniques- creating puppets with paper or fabric or painting on fabric

• Viewing and talking about art- children share with the class, choose their favorite pieces and discus with the class.

How to make music meaningful? The teacher must

provide: • Instruments that

make a variety of sounds

• Songs- teacher should sing and dance with them

• Materials to dance with- streamers and ribbons

• Variety of different songs- records or tapes that the child can choose to listen to with different pitches, rhythms, subject.

Examples of music centers:

What to include in the dramatic play center?

The teacher must provide:

• Costumes• Kitchen area • Baby dolls • Accessories-

shoes, ties, wigs,

jewelry and hats

What is developmentally appropriate practice for

creative curriculum? • Children can choose their own

activity. • While in this activity they

decide how they will complete the activity- where to paint, what to paint, what colors to use and how long he/she want to paint.

What does it look like?• In a creative

curriculum classroom centers should be set up for the children’s use.

• Centers must include: an art table (easel, paper, paints, crayons, etc.), dramatic play area, and a music center

Works cited:• Brewer, J. (2007). Introducation to Early

Childhood Education. Boston, Massachusetts: Pearson Education, Inc..

• (2004, July). Young Children on the Web. National Association for the Education of Young Children, Retrieved April 22, 2008, from http://www.journal.naeyc.org/btj/200407/.