CONTEXTUALIZING THE KINDERGARTEN CURRICULUM AND MORE… A VISION WITHIN OUR REACH

MARIANNE D. PINEDA

The Kindergarten Curriculum Framework (KCF) of the Department of Education (DepEd) are founded on constructivism, integrative, thematic, collaborative, inquiry-based, and reflective teaching in play-based approaches with application of Developmentally Appropriated Practices (DAP). Under the DAP, the learning environment must be age-appropriate, individually appropriate, and socio-culturally appropriate.

The Kindergarten curriculum always begin the individual well-being of the kindergartener. This is because the curricular themes of Kindergarten follow Brofenbrenner’s Bio-ecological theory: (1) myself; (2) my family; (3) my school; (4) my community; and (5) more things around me.

Holistic Development. The kindergarten curriculum adheres to the holistic development of the learner. There should be a balance between academic and non-academic learning environment. It should be learner-centered where the teacher is the facilitator of the learning process and the pupils are discoverers of knowledge through cooperative learning, exploration, and observation. That is why, it is important that activities are age-appropriate. They must be both challenging and attainable by five-year old learners.

Differentiated Instruction and Assessment. Diversified learning is also promoted in kindergarten curriculum. Activities must be varied to suit the individualappropriateness of the tasks that cater to the different needs of the learners. Differentiated instruction and assessment provides different opportunities to learning regardless of differences in ability which reflect the performance of the students and their potential in different areas.

Inclusive Environment. Providing an inclusive environment for learning provides for varied requirements of learners particularly those with special needs and/ or have specific cultural background and ensures that all learners have equal access to educational opportunities (www2.uwe.ac.uk/ services/ Marketing/ about-us/ cas/ CDA_Inclusive_Curriculum.pdf). No one will be left-out in the classroom and each and everyone will have the opportunity to flourish.

Localized and Contextualized Curriculum. Children must be allowed to make sense of world around them through the learning environment that is most familiar to them to acquaint themselves with important concepts through meaningful learning experiences. One way of doing this is to use the community as a learning laboratory through localization and contextualization. As stated in Deped Order No. 51 series 2014, localization and contextualization related curriculum content and competencies to the social and educational context of the communities being served. Before exposing kindergarteners with the bigger world, they should be trained with “learning how to learn” through the use of MTB-MLE in accordance with the socio-cultural appropriateness of DAP. This willencouragethemtothinkandanalyzemoredeeplywithouthavingtotranslateittotheirsecondand/orthirdlanguages.

The kindergarten curriculum upholds the holistic development of every learner. A caring atmosphere that allows for exploration and discovery must at all times be present. It upholds a classroom environment enriched with play-based activities and social and emotional support. It provides a learning platform that develops cognitive skills and encourages learners to collaborate and engage experientially. With this curriculum each child will have a strong sense of self and of the environment around him/ her.