Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment
ECE Learning Standards
The Southern Union early childhood education and care teacher goals and developmental performance standards for the growth of young children are applicable to infants through preschool age children. These standards and benchmarks provide teachers purposeful direction for creating meaningful experiences for the growth and progress of appropriate skill development in the rapidly changing young child.
Early Childhood Education Developmental Learning Standards
Birth through Pre-Kindergarten Curriculum
Pebbles: A Faith-based Early Childhood Curriculum is the officially adopted curriculum for Southern Union Conference early childhood education birth through pre-kindergarten children. This curriculum has been built on the 4MAT for ECE platform and requires training in the natural cycle of learning prior to implementation to ensure that all children’s learning styles will be honored. It is designed and created to meet the goals and developmental performance standards for and philosophy and objectives of Seventh-day Adventist Christian education and care. It is available for use in all Southern Union Conference Early Childhood Programs of birth through prekindergarten and schools with prekindergarten programs. It is to be used in both stand-alone and PreK-K combination classrooms as it has been aligned with the NAD’s kindergarten curriculum Stepping Stones.
For more information, contact the Early Childhood Education Department in the Southern Union Conference at elong@southernunion.com. For a sample of Pebbles: A Faith-based Early Childhood Curriculum, use these links:
Bible-Worship Week 1 Sample
Bible-Worship Week 2 Sample
Bible-Worship Week 3 Sample
Bible-Worship Week 4 Sample
October Module Sample
Domain chart
Deborah’s story
Paul’s story
Jesus’s story
Instruction
A variety of developmentally appropriate activities and materials should be utilized by the instructor that emphasize concrete experiential learning. Daily programing needs to show a balance of activities and experiences, and children should be taught to participate in routines and follow a daily schedule to foster self-discipline. Developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) in Pre-K and Pre-K / K combination classes necessitate integrating traditional subjects, and therefore schedules should show time periods for various learning experiences instead of periods for single subject area teaching. Additional helps can be found in the Southern Union Education Codebook sections 6024-6036.
Sample Daily Schedules for Pre-kindergarten and Pre-K/K Combination Classrooms
Assessment
PreKindergarten Assessment Tool Kits may be purchased by contacting the Early Childhood Education Department at the Southern Union at elong@southernunion.com
Every prekindergarten student in Southern Union schools should have his/her own Tool Kit.
Tool Kits include:
Progress Summary Instructions
Teacher & Parent Anecdotal Notes of Development and Progress
Quarterly Portrait
Teacher Observation
Skills Assessment
Teacher Letter
Parent Letter
Teacher Article 1: ” Assessing Young Children”
Teacher Article 2: ” A message for Teachers, Parents, and Administrators”
Teacher Article 3: “The Worksheet Dilemma: Benefits of Play-Based Curricula”
Parent Article 1: “How Children Learn in Preschool”
Parent Article 2: “Play in the Early Years: Key to School Success”
Parent Article 3: “What parents Should Know”