Jody Britten of the Early Learning Alliance Network points out that curriculum standards may no longer be developmentally appropriate for the young learners that will be coming to us next fall. In recent USA Today article she commented, “Our (school) systems are moving forward with the status quo, but we’re not heading into five years of status quo.”
As educators plan for next fall, they are already considering how to best plan instruction to meet the needs of PreK and K students coming to school in the fall who have not been in a learning environment this year. These children may need more time to develop emergent literacy skills through shared reading, listening and speaking, and developing phonemic and phonological awareness. Multi-sensory learning experiences will help build on their prior knowledge and experiences. They may need to develop fine motor skills and emergent writing. Most importantly, teachers must be sensitive to their social-emotional needs, providing a fun, engaging, safe and secure environment that builds their students’ confidence. Read more about developmentally appropriate practices for early learning in this whitepaper.