Michelle Ong CHD 298 Ann-Marie Lanius February 22, 2014 Standard 5 The National Association for the

Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Professional Standard 5 addresses curriculum and the content of what we teach. It is crucial to know the guidelines or standards that we are using to teach. Whether it is the Milestones of Childhood Development, the Foundation Blocks, or the Virginia Standards of Learning, we need to follow the continuum. Educators need to understand the continuum and know the forerunning skills as well as the next level because we will always have children who may not be meeting the standard or who are learning beyond the standards for their age and stage of development. The content of what we teach cannot go beyond a childs ability nor should it limit those who are developmentally ready for higher level learning. Exploring Green, from my CHD145, Art, Music, and Music course, is the artifact I chose as a representation of my knowledge and understanding of this standard. I developed strategies to teach essential concepts by using art, music, and movement in the curriculum. This is a comprehensive lesson plan that crosses over all developmental domains while providing a meaningful, fun, and hands on learning experience. This is important when developing a curriculum for early childhood. Additionally, I demonstrated the skills and awareness to adapt the activities based on the observations of the students performing the tasks. I provided information on the strategies and how academic goals were met during the activities. Individual creativity was encouraged and the activities involved challenges that allowed for the students to build on current knowledge. All developmental domains and academic concepts were integrated into this lesson. In reviewing this classroom artifact and understanding the goal of the assignment, I was able to meet the developmental guidelines set forth by the Milestones of Child Development. I provided meaningful experiences to the students which is a key component of NAEYCs standard #5. From my early childhood courses, I understand how easy it is to incorporate all developmental domains in the classroom curriculum, provide various strategies to implement the curriculum, and provide various forms of inquiry and discovery. I also understand that age and stage of development is essential in considering the content and tools used for teaching. For example, providing art, music, and movement enhances a childs experiences and allows me to teach all core subject areas. This particular course has provided me a foundation of how to include more social studies in music and art. Additionally, incorporating culture can be done easily in this lesson by learning counting songs or rhyming activities of other cultures. This class had a significant impact on me, and because of it, my curriculum includes a variety of music, freely accessible art materials, multi-cultural music and instruments, and dramatic play experiences daily to provide appropriate and meaningful content.