Preschool Curriculum Policy

Lovinda Junior Academy (LJA) will focus on seven areas of learning and development that must shape educational programmes in early years settings. All areas of learning and development are important and inter-connected.

However, there are three areas which are particularly crucial for igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, and for building their capacity to learn, form relationships and thrive. These three prime domains comprise of:

• Communication and Language
• Physical Development
• Personal, Social and Emotional Development

In addition to the above-mentioned prime areas of educational development, LJA will support children in four other specific areas, through which the three prime domains are strengthened and applied. The specific areas are:

• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the World
• Expressive Arts and Design

Our educational programmes will involve the following activities and experiences for children:

• Communication and language development focus on giving children the opportunities to experience a rich language environment and to develop their confidence and skills in expressing themselves. Children should also be able to speak and listen in a range of situations.

• Physical development comprises the provision of opportunities for young children to be active and interactive and to develop their co-ordination, control, and movement. Children should be helped to understand the importance of physical activity and to make healthy choices in relation to food.

• Personal, social, and emotional development entails helping children to develop a positive sense of themselves and others. Forming positive relationships and develop respect for others. Developing social skills and learning how to manage their feelings. Understanding appropriate behaviour in groups and to have confidence in their own abilities.

• Literacy development aims at encouraging children to link sounds and letters and to begin to read and write. Children must be given access to a wide range of reading materials such as books, poems, and other written materials to ignite their interest.

• Mathematics seeks to provide children with opportunities to develop and improve their skills in counting, understanding, and using numbers, calculating simple addition and subtraction problems and to describe shapes, spaces, and measure.

• Understanding the world seeks to guide children to make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology, and the environment

• Expressive arts and design enable children to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials, as well as providing opportunities and encouragement for sharing their thoughts, ideas and feelings through a variety of activities in art, music, movement, dance, role-play, and design and technology.

2.1 Communication and language

The early learning goals will be directed at three main areas such as:

• Listening and attention: children to listen attentively in a range of situations. They listen to stories, accurately anticipating key events and respond to what they hear with relevant comments, questions, or actions. They give their attention to what others say and respond appropriately, while engaged in another activity.

• Understanding: children to follow instructions involving several ideas or actions. They answer ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions about their experiences and in response to stories or events.

• Speaking: children to express themselves effectively, showing awareness of listeners’ needs. They use past, present, and future forms accurately when talking about events that have happened or are to happen in the future. They develop their own narratives and explanations by connecting ideas or events

2.2 Physical development

• Moving and handling: children to show good control and co-ordination in large and small movements. They move confidently in a range of ways, safely negotiating space. They handle equipment and tools effectively, including pencils for writing.

• Health and self-care: children to know the importance for good health of physical exercise, and a healthy diet, and talk about ways to keep healthy and safe. They manage their own basic hygiene and personal needs successfully, including dressing and going to the toilet independently

2.3 Physical Social and Emotional Development

• Self-confidence and self-awareness: children are confident to try new activities and say why they like some activities more than others. They are confident to speak in a familiar group, will talk about their ideas, and will choose the resources they need for their chosen activities. They say when they do or don’t need help.

• Managing feelings and behaviour: children to talk about how they and others show feelings, talk about their own and others’ behaviour, and its consequences, and know that some behaviour is unacceptable. They work as part of a group or class and understand and follow the rules. They adjust their behaviour to different situations and take changes of routine in their stride.

• Making relationships: children to play co-operatively, taking turns with others. They take account of one another’s ideas about how to organise their activity. They show sensitivity to others’ needs and feelings and form positive relationships with adults and other children.

2.4 Literacy

• Reading: children to read and understand simple sentences. They use phonic knowledge to decode regular words and read them aloud accurately. They also read some common irregular words. They demonstrate understanding when talking with others about what they have read.
• Writing: children to use their phonic knowledge to write words in ways which match their spoken sounds. They also write some irregular common words. They write simple sentences which can be read by themselves and others. Some words are spelt correctly, and others are phonetically plausible

2.5 Mathematics

• Numbers: children to count reliably with numbers from 1 to 20, place them in order and say which number is one more or one less than a given number. Using quantities and objects, they add and subtract two single-digit numbers and count on or back to find the answer. They solve problems, including doubling, halving and sharing.
• Shape, space and measures: children to use everyday language to talk about size, weight, capacity, position, distance, time and money to compare quantities and objects and to solve problems. They recognise, create and describe patterns. They explore characteristics of everyday objects and shapes and use mathematical language to describe them.

2.6 Understanding the world

• People and communities: children to talk about past and present events in their own lives and in the lives of family members. They know that other children don’t always enjoy the same things and are sensitive to this. They know about similarities and differences between themselves and others, and among families, communities and traditions.
• The world: children to know about similarities and differences in relation to places, objects, materials and living things. They talk about the features of their own immediate environment and how environments might vary from one another. They make observations of animals and plants and explain why some things occur and talk about changes.
• Technology: children to recognise that a range of technology is used in places such as homes and schools. They select and use technology for particular purposes.

2.7 Expressive arts and design

• Exploring and using media and materials: children to sing songs, make music and dance, and experiment with ways of changing them. They safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colours, design, texture, form and function.
• Being imaginative: children to use what they have learnt about media and materials in original ways, thinking about uses and purposes. They represent their own ideas, thoughts and feelings through design and technology, art, music, dance, role-play and stories.

• At LJA, we plan and guide children’s activities and mandate teachers and caregivers to reflect on the different ways that children learn and reflect these in their work approach. Three characteristics of effective teaching and learning at LJA are:

• Playing and exploring – children investigate and experience things and ‘have a go’
• Active learning – children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties and enjoy achievements
• Creating and thinking critically – children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas and develop strategies for doing things

• At LJA, we talk in a pleasant, calm voice using simple English and frequent eye contact while being responsive to the infant’s cues
• Teachers and caregivers should verbally label objects and events within children’s experience.
• Responding to sounds that children make, imitating their vocalisation
• Describe children’s and adults’ actions and events that occur in the child’s environment
• Respond to children’s attempts at language in supportive ways such as expending their utterances and answering their question and engaging in meaningful conversation about everyday experiences
• Ensure children are supportive, responsive and interactive with adults for the healthy development of self-regulation skills; attend to their interests and select activities that are enjoyable, while allowing children to determine how long to play

4.1 Communication and Language Development

• Use a growing number of words to express needs and ideas
• Learn the difference between similar-sounding words with rhyming games
• Ask and answer simple questions about stories in books
• Start to understand that drawing and writing are ways to communicate
• Engage in longer conversations with adults and other children using a greater variety of words
• Begin to identify the first sound in a word
• Identify and name five to ten letters and begin to know sounds for some
• Recognize his or her own name and begin to write it using both letters and letter-like shapes
• Describe familiar people, places, things, and events with detail
• Retell a familiar story with the beginning, middle, and end in order
• Write his or her name as well as many other letters
• Use writing to describe experiences or feelings, making drawings and letters

4.2 Physical Development

• Improve running skills and start to jump and hop
• Understand and follow basic health and safety routines
• Show increased control of hands and fingers
• Begin to help make food like washing fruit and mixing and pouring ingredients
• Begin to gallop while improving jumping and hopping skills
• Trace letters and simple shapes while also showing signs of a right- or left-hand preference
• Gain independence with self-care skills such as undressing to use the toilet and remembering to wash hands
• Identify healthy and unhealthy foods
• Coordinate different body movements to catch and throw a ball and move through obstacle courses
• Participate in physical activity for at least 2 hours daily
• Use scissors to cut simple shapes and writing utensils to trace letters and numbers with greater accuracy
• Discuss how exercise makes the body feel

4.3 Personal Social and Emotional Development

• Self-identity and sense of competence – making children to have a positive self-identity and feeling they are competent
• Children recognize, label and regulate their feelings
• Moral development – develop an internal sense of right and wrong
• Conflict resolution – children resolve social conflict
• Interact with new people and feel comfortable playing near them
• Share with other children and take turns
• Build an appreciation for diversity by seeing and talking about how people are the same and how they are different
• Complete activities with confidence and look for new challenges like putting on shoes and trying to tie them
• Build relationships with familiar adults, talking about thoughts and needs with them
• Seek out other children during play time and begin to build relationships with them
• Play with other children showing the ability to resolve disagreements with little help from adults
• Express a variety of emotions by incorporating emotions into pretend play
• Seek out interactions with a variety of adults, with both new and familiar people
• Routinely share, take turns, and interact with other children in a respectful and helpful manner

4.4 Literacy Development

• Build science knowledge including the difference between day and night and different types of weather
• Understand basic social studies like people’s roles within the community
• Engage in pretend play alone or with others by taking on roles and using props
• Participate in scientific experiments led by adults
• Understand history by discussing changes to the community
• Create simple patterns and arrange objects according to size
• Perform simple addition and subtraction
• Use knowledge and personal experiences to predict outcomes of scientific experiments
• Explore a variety of cultures by identifying ways people are alike and different

4.5 Mathematics

• Start to count, know numbers and basic shapes
• Explore simple addition and subtraction using songs
• Connect number words and numerals to the quantities they represent

4.6 Understanding the world

• Recognize and accept similarities and differences among people and showing an appreciation for diversity
• Demonstrate an ability to resolve conflicts using words
• Complete simple two-step tasks like finding and stacking red blocks when asked to build a red tower
• Start to follow rules independently like going to the sink to wash hands
• Stay focused for several minutes while attending to an activity
• Think creatively about new ways to play with a toy
• Take on simple activities independently like setting the table with cups and plates and continue until the task is done
• Pay attention to a person or activity for five to ten minutes
• Examine new objects or situations with deeper curiosity
• Control impulses with fewer adult reminders
• Remember information and thoughts from past experiences
• Help develop a plan for completing a multi-step project like building a community with blocks
• Complete challenging activities that require greater focus and persistence
• Recognize the feelings of others and respond appropriately like comforting a friend who is upset

4.6 Expressive Arts and Design

• Experiment with different art materials to create two- and three-dimensional artwork
• Use creative movement to demonstrate feelings
• Explore dress-up clothing and props during imaginary play
• Begin to use music to express feelings
• Create detailed artwork that includes people, animals, and things
• Play movement games that involve following directions as well as creating unique moves
• Play a character role in simple dramatic scenarios from books
• Repeat more complex melodies and rhythm patterns
• Craft detailed works of art using various materials like paint and modeling clay
• Move to a tempo, beat, or style of music
• Follow multi-step directions as stated in a song, like hopping or clapping
• Participate in a variety of musical experiences

Next review date is the earlier of September 2021 and new publications from the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education of Sierra Leone