More to come… 2024
The CSDE said that in the near future, it expects the State Board of Education to adopt a
new Elementary and Secondary Social Studies Standards
for kindergarten through 12th grade. Once those standards are adopted, CSDE said the department will design and develop its model social studies curricula for kindergarten through eighth grade.
Per state statute, the combined K-8 model curriculum is due in January. The model, which boards of education may adopt for their students, must include instruction on Native American studies, Asian American and Pacific Islander studies, LGBTQ+ and gender identity studies; climate change, personal financial management and financial literacy, the military service and experience of American veterans, civics and citizenship, social-emotional learning, racism, cursive writing and world languages.
Starting with the 20242025 school year, state law will require boards of education to provide daily play-based learning in kindergarten and preschool. The law also states that boards must allow playbased learning for students in first through fifth grade.
Kate Dias, the president of the Connecticut Education Association said play-based learning was a “key piece of legislation” for educators this session.
“The focus on play-based learning as an approved pedagogy and an encouraged pedagogy, particularly in those early years, is really an effort to shift away from the standardization of those experiences that have fallen flat with our kids and really embrace the notion that children learn best when they are fully engaged and it is playful and it is joyful,” Dias said.
Play-based instruction must be “predominately” free from the use of mobile electronic devices and must meet the needs of students through games, free play and guided play.
The law defines free play as “unstructured, voluntary, child-initiated activities that are performed by a child for self-amusement and have behavioral, social and psychomotor rewards,” adding that it “may be structured to promote activities that are child-directed, joyful and spontaneous.”
Guided play places a “focus on learning outcomes and adult guidance” while including the “child-directed nature of free play.”
The statute identifies the “pedagogical approach” of play-based learning as one that “emphasizes play in promoting learning and includes developmentally appropriate strategies that can be integrated with existing learning standards.”