Any reviews on "Creative Curriculum"

[Anonymous]

We are looking at preschools in NOVA for our DC. Alot of them have told us they use the "Creative Curriculum" model. However, they don't do a great job of explaining what this means. Anyone out there have their child in a preschool that uses this curriculum and can tell me if your child was ready for public schools in kindergarten/first grade? What advantages/disadvantages did you see to this type of curriculum?

[Anonymous]

My child's daycare uses Creative Curriculum. In practice, it seems like the week is organized by a theme and they have use that theme throughout their lesson planning for that week. i.e. a week about summer would include things like using beach balls for math lessons; focusing on the letters in the word summer for literacy; reading books about summer; painting suns, watermelons and the like for art projects. The only disadvantage I'd say is if your child is less into the week's theme they might not be as excited about the activities/lessons? My child is 3, so I don't have experience with the transition to K, but can't imagine having any issue.

[Anonymous]

CC is a play-based curriculum that is thematic and relies on a center environment approach. it is highly used in many centers and is often referred to as the "bible of ECE" by many in the field. There is a great deal of information in the books about developmentally appropriate activities and what teachers should expect from children at various stages. There is a companion assessment system that can be done online and incorporates "authentic assessment" as well as portfolios.

It generally a very good tool. The only downside is how the curriculum is implemented and how well the teachers are trained in its usage. Things you should look for or ask the Center Director:

- Are you using the assessment tool for CC? How often do you have parent conferences to discuss the developmental milestones? Can I see an example of some children's portfolios from the class my child will be in?

- What kind of training have your teachers had on the curriculum? Have your teachers been trained the assessment tool? Have they learned how to recognize an event to document for an assessment? How do they document the events and milestones? Do they get annual training on specific sections? What other types of training do they get?


Thats probably enough to blow any CDs mind. If they dont have good answers to those questions then they are probably not really running the curriculum correctly

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much. That is more info than I got Anywhere else. PP it sounds like you are a teacher who is very familiar with this program. I wish the directors we spoke to could be this insightful.

[Anonymous]

17:35's comments are spot-on. We're at a center that uses CC. On paper, it sounds great, but it's all in the implementation. I don't think our caregivers have been trained as well as they should have been about the curriculum and tools. The care is very good, but could be even better.

And there are pretty extensive books on CC - your center should be able to produce them if asked.

[Anonymous]

I've heard the term a lot, too, including a few schools that talk about being a cross between Creative Curriculum and Reggio. I did a little bit of research and for my own purposes, figured it was a way to distinguish from a Montessori or an academic preschool. That is, they are play-based, try to do units and themes that interest the children and give them exposure to everything from basic pre-reading and math skills to art projects and imaginative play and time outdoors. At the time we were touring, I didn't have enough insight into the elements of CC that the PP described in depth.

We chose a preschool that describes themselves with this blend. I may pick up a book on each just to be more aware of the possibilities of how my child's environment might unfold.

[Anonymous]

I teach Pre-K in the District and we use CC too. We don't just pick and choose parts of the program; we use all of it including the assessment tools. Although I find the lesson planning template a bit constrictive, it's good for inputting the basic framework for thematic units. I can always branch out/change it later. As I mentioned, we also use the Assessment tool with developmental checkpoints and I find that useful. Here is the CC website (Teaching Strategies):

https://www.teachingstrategies.com/

It will allow you to browse around/check things out but if you want more access you must be a member. Hope this is informative.

[Anonymous]

bump

[Anonymous]

bump

[Anonymous]

My DD went to MCCA where they used Creative Curriculum. It worked well for us. But, we did supplement at home - taught DD how to read/write letters to ensure she was ready for K. I liked the fact that they were really just 'playing' at preschool.

DD is in first grade now and doing well.

[Anonymous]

Our daycare uses CC. Each week has a theme and many of the activies are related to the theme. Let's say the theme is transportation one week--they will read books like Little Blue Truck and The Little Engine that Could, sing Row, Row Your Boat and the Wheels on the Bus, paint a picture by dipping a toy car's wheels in paint and rolling it over the paper, etc.

I like that it's play-based, because I think kids that age should mostly be playing, but there is some "content" and there is lots of learning going on in an age-appropriate way.

[Anonymous]

The research foundation: http://teachingstrategies.com/content/pageDocs/Research-Foundation-Creative-Curriculum.pdf

[Anonymous]

The Institute for Education Sciences (a branch of the U.S. Dept. of Education) has evaluated research of the fourth edition of the Creative Curriculum and found it to have " no discernible effects on oral language, print knowledge, phonological processing, or math for preschool children."

http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/interventionreport.aspx?sid=512

The Creative Curriculum is now on its 5th (I think) edition so it is possible that there have been some changes that might show more effects. But generally, I would look at preschools that tout this as simply describing how they organize themselves. As has been mentioned, implementation can vary so widely. But the strongest research on the program (that is, research that was done by an entity other than the program's creators) find it neither harmful nor particularly helpful for a child's development. There are other curricula that have shown through research to have stronger positive effects.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Institute for Education Sciences (a branch of the U.S. Dept. of Education) has evaluated research of the fourth edition of the Creative Curriculum and found it to have " no discernible effects on oral language, print knowledge, phonological processing, or math for preschool children."

http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/interventionreport.aspx?sid=512

The Creative Curriculum is now on its 5th (I think) edition so it is possible that there have been some changes that might show more effects. But generally, I would look at preschools that tout this as simply describing how they organize themselves. As has been mentioned, implementation can vary so widely. But the strongest research on the program (that is, research that was done by an entity other than the program's creators) find it neither harmful nor particularly helpful for a child's development. There are other curricula that have shown through research to have stronger positive effects.

Very interesting--can you name a few so that I can look into them?

[Anonymous]

All the previous posters provided good information. In general, most daycares will say they have a curriculum but it's all about how it's implemented and whether it's used. CC is a standard, "catch all" type of curriculum that could be good if followed, but is implemented pretty haphazardly across most centers. The unfortunate thing is that you're probably not going to find anything much better anywhere, particularly for infants/toddlers. Having teachers with early childhood training, developmental knowledge, and doing activities with intentionality is probably going to get you the best environment. Asking the directors the questions some others suggested is a great idea - and if we all start doing this maybe we can at least move the bar on infant/toddler care...