NAEYC Standard 5

NAEYC Standard:  STANDARD 5. USING CONTENT KNOWLEDGE TO BUILD MEANINGFUL CURRICULUM Candidates prepared in early childhood degree programs a) use their knowledge of academic disciplines to design, implement, and evaluate experiences that promote positive development and learning for each and every young child. Candidates understand the importance of developmental domains and academic (or content) disciplines in early childhood curriculum. They b) know the essential concepts, inquiry tools, and structure of content areas, including academic subjects, and can identify resources to deepen their understanding. Candidates c) use their own knowledge and other resources to design, implement, and evaluate meaningful, challenging curriculum that promotes comprehensive developmental and learning outcomes for every young child (NAEYC, 2011).

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Brief Description of Evidence:

During the spring semester of 2021 as part of my ECED 103- Early Childhood Curriculum course, I worked collaboratively with classmates in order to each choose an individual prop box theme and unit framework for the semester. The prop box was to be filled with developmentally appropriate dramatic play and learning materials. Once, the theme was chosen we used the semester to learn what it meant to have developmentally appropriate practices, what the NAEYC standards and the Indiana Early Learning Foundations were. These were prerequisites to creating a diverse, challenging and meaningful curriculum.

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Analysis of What I Learned:

Through the process of creating this prop box and unit framework, I learned the importance and depth of creating a diverse, meaningful and challenging activity for children. The prop box itself took a lot of planning, time and money to create. I also learned how to use resources such as peers and mentors to expand my ideas and add to my curriculum. I learned the importance of the Indiana Early Learning Foundations and how they can frame a lesson plan and activity.

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How This Artifact Demonstrates my Competence on the NAEYC Standard:

Early in the semester our class focused on learning what the NAEYC standards and practices were. We studied the Indiana Early Learning Foundations and implemented these foundations into every assignment. Having this knowledge helped me to understand how to build a meaningful, diverse and developmentally appropriate curriculum. Locating the NAEYC Standards and Indiana Early Learning Foundations was simple and assigning these to my project was stress-free because we have studied these important subjects and I have become familiar with these standards and foundations. I feel competent and proficient in my demonstration of not only NAEYC Standard 5, but also the Indiana Early Learning Foundations.