Criterion 6
Learning Environments and Routines
The curriculum provides guidance on how to set up rich learning environments and developmentally appropriate routines. Rich learning environments are nurturing spaces that support the development of all young children. They offer developmentally appropriate schedules, routines, and indoor and outdoor opportunities for choice, play, exploration, and experimentation. Learning environments include age-appropriate equipment, materials, and supplies. They also reflect home cultures and are flexible enough to support the changing ages, interests, and characteristics of a group of children over time.
What do the ratings mean?
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Full Evidence
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Moderate Evidence
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Minimal Evidence
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No Evidence
Curriculum
Review
The Creative Curriculum® for Family Child Care, 3rd Edition
Full Review & Ratings Environment: Volumes 1 and 2 provide specific guidance on designing well-organized and engaging indoor and outdoor environments that promote active exploration and support all children's development. The curriculum offers guidance on including all children, especially those who are English language learners. Volume 1: The Foundation explains misunderstandings about DLLs and provides guidance on the stages of learning a second language. The curriculum includes guidelines for providers to set up their space and differentiate experiences for the children based on what is available and unique to each home. It also offers support for including all children and families of different cultures in communication.
Schedule and Routines: Volume 1: The Foundation provides guidelines on scheduling activities and routines and being responsive to the needs of individual children. It discusses the planning of schedules and routines in a way that pays attention to how behaviors and challenges are impacted by routines. It also addresses interacting with children based on their individual needs. This helps to ensure providers pay special attention to how individual children learn each day.
The Gee Whiz Curriculum for Family Child Care
Full Review & Ratings Environment: The Learning Environment & the Gee Whiz Curriculum provides general guidance on materials to have for children to explore in both indoor and outdoor environments. The User's Guide provides some guidance on labeling things in the language spoken by children, using photographs with words to help children who are DLLs connect objects with English words, and making sure the book area reflects a wide variety of families. General guidance is also provided for creating an engaging and accessible environment for children on diverse and differing abilities. For example, in Examining the Environment, the curriculum instructs providers to examine the learning environment: Is your sink easily accessible to all children? Do you have different types and sizes of paintbrushes in your art center? However, there is no support for designing indoor and outdoor environments. Additionally, the curriculum lacks consistent support for children who are DLLs. It offers little guidance for providers to embed developmental milestones within activities to support children's progress towards learning goals.
Schedule and Routines: The Gee Whiz Curriculum for Family Child Care addresses strategies for learning during routines. It does not connect with planned activities in monthly units or offer support for designing a daily schedule and routines.