{"id":139,"date":"2026-07-02T04:47:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T04:47:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palomar.edu\/observationandassessment\/?post_type=part&#038;p=139"},"modified":"2026-07-03T21:36:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T21:36:27","slug":"chapter-15-planning-curriculum","status":"publish","type":"part","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palomar.edu\/observationandassessment\/part\/chapter-15-planning-curriculum\/","title":{"raw":"Chapter 6: Planning Curriculum","rendered":"Chapter 6: Planning Curriculum"},"content":{"raw":"<h2>Introduction<\/h2>\r\nOne of the highlights of being a preschool teacher was setting up my classroom environment at the beginning of each new school year. There was so much anticipation and excitement as I thoughtfully organized my classroom, stocked the learning centers with new materials, and planned curriculum activities. I especially enjoyed purchasing a new lesson plan book and writing up activity plans for each month. I gathered ideas from various teacher resource books that primarily focused on seasonal themes and kindergarten readiness skills \u2013 like language arts and math. As I carefully considered topics for each month, I planned for indoor and outdoor activities, music and movement activities, along with a variety of play opportunities. I thought about creative art projects and planned for engaging circle time discussions. I created quiet corners, learning centers, decorated the walls with store-bought posters, and strived to make the classroom environment safe and welcoming. Some twenty years later, as I write this text and reflect on my own experiences as a preschool teacher, there are a few questions that come to mind:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Who was I planning curriculum for \u2013 me, the children, their families or my program director?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>How could I possibly have planned meaningful curriculum if I didn\u2019t even know the children who were being placed in my care?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>How could I be intentional if I didn\u2019t even know the children\u2019s individual interests, abilities and needs?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nIn this chapter, we will examine how observation and documentation are used to develop effective curriculum. We will explore what curriculum is and we will discuss the benefits of planning developmentally appropriate curriculum. Additionally, the teacher\u2019s role will be examined. Lastly, we will discuss how to plan effective and meaningful curriculum using observation, documentation, interpretation, and reflection as best practices.\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n<h2>The Key To Intentional Teaching<\/h2>\r\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--key-takeaways\"><header class=\"textbox__header\">\r\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Key Takeaways<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\r\n\r\nWhat we will learn in this chapter:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>What is Curriculum?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Benefits of Implementing Meaningful Curriculum<\/li>\r\n \t<li>A Teacher\u2019s Role<\/li>\r\n \t<li>A Closer Look at the Curriculum Planning Cycle<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"<h2>Introduction<\/h2>\n<p>One of the highlights of being a preschool teacher was setting up my classroom environment at the beginning of each new school year. There was so much anticipation and excitement as I thoughtfully organized my classroom, stocked the learning centers with new materials, and planned curriculum activities. I especially enjoyed purchasing a new lesson plan book and writing up activity plans for each month. I gathered ideas from various teacher resource books that primarily focused on seasonal themes and kindergarten readiness skills \u2013 like language arts and math. As I carefully considered topics for each month, I planned for indoor and outdoor activities, music and movement activities, along with a variety of play opportunities. I thought about creative art projects and planned for engaging circle time discussions. I created quiet corners, learning centers, decorated the walls with store-bought posters, and strived to make the classroom environment safe and welcoming. Some twenty years later, as I write this text and reflect on my own experiences as a preschool teacher, there are a few questions that come to mind:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Who was I planning curriculum for \u2013 me, the children, their families or my program director?<\/li>\n<li>How could I possibly have planned meaningful curriculum if I didn\u2019t even know the children who were being placed in my care?<\/li>\n<li>How could I be intentional if I didn\u2019t even know the children\u2019s individual interests, abilities and needs?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In this chapter, we will examine how observation and documentation are used to develop effective curriculum. We will explore what curriculum is and we will discuss the benefits of planning developmentally appropriate curriculum. Additionally, the teacher\u2019s role will be examined. Lastly, we will discuss how to plan effective and meaningful curriculum using observation, documentation, interpretation, and reflection as best practices.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>The Key To Intentional Teaching<\/h2>\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--key-takeaways\">\n<header class=\"textbox__header\">\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Key Takeaways<\/p>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\n<p>What we will learn in this chapter:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What is Curriculum?<\/li>\n<li>Benefits of Implementing Meaningful Curriculum<\/li>\n<li>A Teacher\u2019s Role<\/li>\n<li>A Closer Look at the Curriculum Planning Cycle<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"parent":0,"menu_order":6,"template":"","meta":{"pb_part_invisible":false,"pb_part_invisible_string":""},"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-139","part","type-part","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palomar.edu\/observationandassessment\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palomar.edu\/observationandassessment\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palomar.edu\/observationandassessment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/part"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palomar.edu\/observationandassessment\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/139\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":345,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palomar.edu\/observationandassessment\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/139\/revisions\/345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palomar.edu\/observationandassessment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palomar.edu\/observationandassessment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=139"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palomar.edu\/observationandassessment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}