Welcome to the Auburn University Early Learning Center
Curriculum
The curriculum at AUELC is based on research that shows that children
learn best by "doing" and re-creating their understanding of the world. The role
of the teacher is to help children increase their understandings by supporting
their explorations and gently challenging their misconceptions.
Helping the child develop social skills is of prime importance.
Research shows that children who do not acquire adequate social skills by the
age of five have an extremely difficult time developing them later. Children are
encouraged to take leadership as well as follower roles. They are supported in
their efforts to solve their social conflicts independently.
Children are offered
many opportunities to read, write, count, reason, create and use their muscles
during the day within the context of play. Activities are set up
to allow children of many different developmental levels find success and satisfaction.
For example, restaurant dramatic play may allow children to read menus, write
menus and take orders, count cookies or money, try on the roles of patron, cook
and server. Children are encouraged to act as independently as possible.
The daily schedule allows for periods of active involvement and quiet reflection. Children are encouraged to make choices throughout the day. The day begins with a "center time" where several interesting activities and choices are offered. These choices may include activities such as art, cooking, language and writing experiences, reading, science exploration, math games, blocks, dramatic play, woodworking, and manipulative activities eg. Legos, tinkertoys, etc. After "center time" the children gather for a group time which may include music, dance and movement, stories, games and/or discussion depending on the age and interests of the children. Children sit together to have snack which they usually have prepared themselves during center time. Outside time follows on one of our three playareas. A separate story time is often included following outside play. The day generally ends with table activities that may include journal writing, table games, small toys, or art.
Teachers are encouraged to be flexible in their planning to take advantage of serendipities that come along and to adjust their plans to the changing interests and abilities of the children. Walking field trips are taken to areas of interest around campus. Parents drive for field trips to locations further afield, with car seats and safely issues being a prime consideration.
Play is
Learning!
WHEN
CHILDREN BUILD WITH BLOCKS
THEY:
v
learn about geometry and physics: sizes and shapes, weights
and
balances, height and depth, smoothness and
roughness.
v
learn to use their imagination to create
something from
their own thinking.
v
make decisions and choices
v
experiments with the material.
v
use materials that can be arranged and rearranged over and over.
v
have the satisfaction of being able to make something.
v
use both fine and large motor skills.
v
learn to play with others, increasing social and language skills.
WHEN
CHILDREN
PAINT
AND USE OTHER ART MATERIAL THEY:
v
often are more concerned with the process they are going through than with a
final product.
v
learn about colors and how can use them.
v
learn to use their imagination and transfer their ideas to paper.
v
are empowered to make symbols of their own invention.
v
gets emotional satisfaction from being able to express themselves. Art provides
a release for both positive and negative emotions.
v
learn small muscle coordination by using scissors, hole punches, writing and
drawing tools.
v
learn how to make choices and decisions
v
learn how to use paste, glue and tape and understand their properties.
v
learn about shapes, sizes, colors, and textures.
v
learn to experiment with materials, to take risks.
v
become aware of aesthetics in their environment-color, line, space and texture.
WHEN
CHILDREN PLAY ON THE
OUTDOOR
EQUIPMENT THEY:
v
learn how to use their bodies effectively as they work on skills such as
balance, strength, body awareness in space, and coordination
v
learn the limitations of their bodies and test and extend those limits over
time.
v
experience joy in achieving a skill.
v
have fun and enjoy the relaxation found in bodily movement.
v
learn safety and caution, challenge and courage.
v
learn to take turns and to share a piece of equipment.
v
have the opportunity for dramatic play in an outdoor setting.
WHEN
CHILDREN PLAY IN THE
HOMELIVING AND DRAMATIC PLAY AREA THEY:
v
learn about the roles of mothers, fathers, children, males and females.
v
understand what it feels like to play at being somebody other than themselves,
giving them the
opportunity to take the perspective of someone else.
v
learn how to use their imagination.
v
learn how to cooperate and share with other children.
v
learn to take both leadership and follower roles.
v
have the opportunity to incorporate math and literacy in “real life” settings.
v
have the opportunity to work through the emotions both positive and negative
associated with various roles.
v
have the opportunity for shared experiences which encourages friendships.
WHEN
CHILDREN PLAY IN
SAND
AND WATER THEY:
v
have the opportunity to play alone or with others.
v
learn about space, size, volume and measurement.
v
learn problem solving and creative thinking as they experiment with various
tools and media.
v
learn which kinds of things float and sink in water.
v
have
the opportunity to participate in a calming self-soothing activity.
v
develop sensory awareness.
v
stimulate and use all five senses.
v
develop large muscle and eye-hand coordination skills through pouring, sifting and dumping.
WHEN
CHILDREN WORK WITH
PUZZLES
THEY:
v
learn figure/ground, part/whole, shape and color skills.
 v
have
an opportunity to work alone or together with other children.
v
gain satisfaction in completing a puzzle and builds their self-confidence.
v
learn persistence.
v
improve their eye-hand coordination.
v
can repeat the same puzzle many times. This repetition helps reinforce skills
they are learning.
WHEN
CHILDREN USE
MANIPULATIVE ACTIVITIES THEY:
v
explore new concepts, practices emerging skills, and reinforce skills already
mastered.
v
develop fine motor skills.
v
learn about classifying, sorting, predicting, problem solving, and analyzing
results.
v
develop their knowledge of the world around them using real objects and concrete
examples.
WHEN
CHILDREN
COOK
THEY:
v
learn
to follow verbal and written directions.
v
stimulate and use all five senses.
v
learn to recognize colors, shapes and textures from different kinds of foods and
kitchen utensils.
v
learn about amounts and volume.
v
count the number of cups or spoonfuls.
v
learn about the chemical changes that take place while cooking-the effects of
yeast, creation of mixtures, the effects of hot and cold.
v
have an opportunity to use different tools and equipment to improve small muscle
coordination.
v
use social skills as they wait for their turn, shares and chats with others
while cooking.
v
learn delayed gratification.
v
gain
practice in reading and writing.
v
learn about good nutrition.
v
increase their vocabulary.
WHEN
CHILDREN
LISTEN
OR MAKE
MUSIC, SING OR DANCE THEY:
v
learn to appreciate music from different countries, cultures, and time periods.
v
learn to express themselves and their ideas through movement, rhythm, songs, and
instruments.
v
increase their vocabulary.
v
gain satisfaction from participating in an activity that is fun, physical, and
enriching.
v
develop a feeling for and a sense of rhythm.
v
work with their small and large muscles
v
strengthen auditory discrimination skills.
v
learn the concepts soft, loud, fast, slow, hard, gentle.
WHEN
CHILDREN USE
TECHNOLOGY AND/OR COMPUTERS  THEY:
v
learn to control the machine and to make choices in its use.
v
practice
eye-hand coordination, using the mouse.
v
learn
to wait their turn.
v
teach others what they have discovered or learned.
v
choose skills that they wish to work on.
WHEN
CHILDREN PLAY WITH
PUPPETS
THEY:
v
are able to verbalize their feelings using words.
v
can
begin to understand the feelings of others.
v
can role-play and perhaps find solutions to situations that may disturb
them.
v
stretch
their imagination.
v
have
another outlet for storytelling.
WHEN
CHILDREN
EXPERIMENT WITH MATERIALS THEY:
v
learn to hypothesize and test their theory.
v
learn to take risks.
v
learn how to fail and try again.
v
learn about physical changes.
v
learn patience.
v
learn social skills as they wait for their turn or for the use of materials.
WHEN
CHILDREN
WORK ON
GROUP PROJECTS THEY:
v
learn
to be a leader
v
learn
to be a follower.
v
learn to verbalize their ideas and share them.
v
learn to compromise.
v
learn to take risks, experiment with materials, to fail and try again.
v
learn to listen to others.
v
learn to take someone else’s idea and improve on it.
v
learn to represent their knowledge to be shared with others.
v
learn to cooperate.
v
learn
to share.
v
learn
to speak before the group.
WHEN
CHILDREN
WRITE
THEY:
v
begin to make connections between what is said and what is written.
v
begin to make connections between letters and sounds.
v
strengthen their fine motor skills.
v
increase their understanding of what writing is.
v
view
writing as a useful doable activity.
v
develop understandings about how writing works-left to right and top to bottom.
v
begin
to copy and form letters and numbers.
WHEN
CHILDREN ARE
READ TO
OR READ TO US THEY:
v
learn
to value good literature.
v
begin to make connections between what is said
and what is 
written.
v
begin to make connections between letters and sounds.
v
begin to value reading as an activity.
v
develop understandings about how reading works-left to right and top to bottom.
v
learn to value story time as a social activity.
v
begin to work on reading skills such as reading pictures and using context
clues,
rhyming, and sounding out words (depending on the developmental level of the
child).
v
increase their vocabulary.
v
learn to use books as a resource for ideas and knowledge.
v
learn
to value good artwork and the connection between art and words.
WHEN
CHILDREN
JOIN IN
GROUP TIME THEY:
v
learn to become part of a group.
v
learn
to listen and respond to directions given to the group
rather than individually.
v
learn to take turns talking and listening to others.
vlearn
to stay on topic in discussions.
v
share experiences that can be discussed together at a later date. This aids
memory, concept and friendship development.
v
increase their attention spans.
v
learn to value what their peers as well as teachers have to say.
v
learn cooperation and working together.
v
gain pleasure and an understanding of the power of unified voices (in songs,
chants and fingerplays) as opposed to solo voices.
v
are able to go on field trips and have visitors come to share interesting ideas
and things.
WHEN
CHILDREN GRAPH,
PLAY BOARD GAMES AND OTHER
MATH
ACTIVITIES THEY:
v
count meaningful objects.
v
match
and compare sets.
v
create understandings and vocabulary for how much, how many, more, less, same,
size, and shape.
v
work
on beginning addition skills such as adding on, one to one correspondence.
v
explore geometric shapes.
v
explore ways to record and read numerals and number.
WHEN
CHILDREN
GO ON
FIELD TRIPS THEY:
v
recall what they have seen once back in the classroom and may represent their
experiences through thank you notes, art, and/or group projects.
v
learn specific information about a specific topic.
v
relate what is happening in the classroom to what is happening in the world and
visa versa.
v
learn how to act in a group setting in a public place.
v
expand their understanding of the world around them.
v
have the opportunity to learn from someone other than parent or teacher.
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