What is a “Rigorous” Preschool Curriculum?
March 7, 2013 by Irene Sege
Photo: Micaela Bedell for Strategies for Children
There have been some questions raised about the “rigorous curriculum” called for in PresidentObama’s proposal for universal access to preschool, starting with children from low- and moderate-income families. My own daughters went to a wonderful preschool with a “rigorous” curriculum that playfully and intentionally focused on children’s cognitive, social-emotional and physical development. And, as readers know, I’ve written about the subject often in this blog. With young children, play is the curriculum. With young children, a “rigorous” curriculum means a whole lot of learning going on while having a whole lot of fun.
This is the message in the Massachusetts pre-kindergarten curriculum standards in English language arts and math, which are aligned with K-12. The standards are “rigorous,” and they emphasize the importance of embedding curriculum in play and exploration.