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A: The curriculum branch of the Ministry of Education has developed a draft curriculum document for use in the new full day programs. A parallel program for the extended day component will be released later this spring. There are some key points to understand:
- The expectations from the Kindergarten Program 2006 are basically the same expectations that will inform the new document.
- The new document will build on the developmental continuum and the play-based learning focus as outlined in the Early Learning for Every Child Today (ELECT) document. This document was developed for the Best Start programs, both school and child care settings. It was written to complement the Kindergarten Program 2006 and to offer guidance on appropriate programming for young children.
- The curriculum will be reviewed during the 2010-2011 school year and completed by September 2012.
- Schools in the ELP will use this new curriculum. As schools come on stream throughout the five-year phase-in they will be expected to base their program on this new revised curriculum.
- There is no reason why a teacher in a regular kindergarten class couldn't use the new ELP document as a resource.
- The basic premise of the new program is that good programming for young children is based on solid social and emotional development and should be play-based. Although the Kindergarten Program 2006 refers to play, this aspect has often been neglected or ignored in the pursuit of academic standards. The same expectations are now to be approached in a way that is more appropriate to the developmental needs of young children.
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A: The ELP program document will be considered to be in draft form for the 2010-2011 school year. Once the program document is finalized next spring, a provincial Kindergarten report card will be released based on the curriculum document. | 2 |
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A: Through the ELP program, the Ministry of Education is respecting what the research says about the most developmentally-appropriate program for kindergarten-aged children. Furthermore, the research on brain development and social and emotional development points to the importance of young children learning to self-regulate so they have control over their attention-span, their ability to focus, and their ability to get along with their peers. Without this self-regulation children will not acquire the learning skills they need to be successful learners in Grade 1 and beyond. An intentional play-based program builds higher level thinking skills in children and allows them to learn according to their developmental stage. | 3 |
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A: The ELP program reinforces that assessment in kindergarten should be based on observation and authentic assessment practices. | 4 |
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A: The curriculum expectations remain unchanged; the full-day allows for deeper exploration and understanding through the play-based curriculum. | 5 |
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A: Children eligible for JK programs are already attending full-day, alternate day and full-day, every-day programs in school boards across the province. (In English public boards alone, there are currently more than 50 full-day, every day JK/SK programs in place.) In addition, thousands of Ontario children are enrolled in full-day child care programs from the age of six weeks and they would include those enrolled in half-time kindergarten programs.
The ELP program is designed to accommodate the needs of young learners and may need to include a scheduled rest time for some or all children enrolled in a particular class. The program is based on the importance of reducing the number of transitions kindergarten-aged children experience during the day. | 6 |
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A: While school boards have, and will continue to have, the option of separating JK students from the older SK students, Ontario’s Kindergarten Program (Revised 2006) was written with combined JK/SK classes in mind. It’s the intention of the curriculum to allow kindergarten students two years to reach the stated expectations. Through developmentally-appropriate teaching strategies, teachers should be able to accommodate the range of knowledge, experiences, and skill levels of the children enrolled in the program. The research on child development supports this approach.
The ELP program will be play-based. Therefore, teachers assigned to the program should not be under pressure to ensure their students achieve a discreet set of academic skills by the time they complete their SK program. Through the play-based program, students will develop a deeper understanding of broader literacy and numeracy concepts, among others. | 7 |
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A: Compulsory school attendance does not begin until Grade 1. A parent with a child enrolled in an ELP class would be able to voluntarily withdraw that child from the classroom at any time.
Some school boards have indicated that parents who prefer part-time enrolment for their kindergarten-aged children should register them at a school that has not been selected for the ELP in Year 1. (This option would not be available in small rural communities.)
It should be noted that where school boards have offered full-day, every-day kindergarten, the vast majority of parents ultimately opt for the full-day because their children tend to want to be with their peers. | 8 |
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A: Despite its earlier Primary Class Size initiative, for the new program the government has adopted a class size average of 26. The government cites cost reasons and the fact that supervision of the 26 students will be shared by two educators. Full-time teachers in the new program, for example, will have 26 report cards to complete rather than 40 for two half-day regular kindergarten classes.
An average class size of 26 means that, in practice, some classes will be larger than that. Some early projections by individual boards have even included classes as large as 31. ETFO believes that even class sizes of 26 are problematic for both programming and for the physical space required for activity-based learning. ETFO has been lobbying the government on this issue and will continue to do so. | 9 |