Sarah J. Royer

When I started thinking about building a Faith-based curriculum for the early childhood classroom; my goal was to create a curriculum that would catch the interest of children 0- Kindergarten.  See, I have worked in the early childhood classroom for almost two decades and while the goal is at the heart of the curriculum I have used; the interest it has sparked in our young ones is mild and dulled down, at best.  How can we best instill an excitement to learn in our young ones? By making the material and manipulatives hands- on and exciting! I don’t mean by reading a story and pulling out paper puppets on craft sticks, although this may be what some children like and want to explore.  What I mean is presenting values and morals in an explorative manner, in conjunction with developmentally appropriate learning standards that help engage your students in learning experiences while getting them excited!  Including stories and sensory materials, story buckets, role playing with dress up materials, including a variety of mixed media to spark your student’s interests is absolutely necessary.  Create an environment that appeals to learners of various ages, backgrounds, and learning styles!  Make your lesson times fun and interesting and your learners will gravitate back for more!