ED430735 PS027712
Title: Another Look at What Young Children Should Be Learning. ERIC
Digest.
Author(s): Katz, Lilian G.
Author Affiliation: ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood
Education, Champaign, IL.(BBB34257)
Pages: 4
Publication Date: June 1999
Sponsoring Agency: Office of Educational Research and Improvement
(ED), Washington, DC. (EDD00036)
Contract No: ED-99-CO-0020
Report No: EDO-PS-99-5
Available from: EDRS Price MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.
Language: English
Document Type: ERIC digests in full text (073)
Geographic Source: U.S.; Illinois
Journal Announcement: RIEOCT1999
This Digest
addresses the question of what young children should be learning
that will best serve their development and learning in the long
term. Two major dimensions of development--normative and dynamic--are
explored, and four categories of learning goals are discussed: (1)
knowledge; (2) skills; (3) dispositions; and (4) feelings. The view
that children learn most effectively when they are engaged in interaction
rather than in receptive or passive activities is presented. The
digest also discusses the risks of early academic instruction and
the need for a variety of teaching methods and informal learning
environments. An intellectually oriented approach in which children
work together in small groups to explore their environment is recommended.
(LPP)
Descriptors: *Child Development; *Early Childhood Education;
Elementary School Curriculum; Experiential Learning; Learning Activities;
Learning Strategies; Preschool Curriculum; Small Group Instruction;
Student Projects; Teaching Methods; Young Children
Identifiers: Academic Pressure; ERIC Digests; Project Approach
(Katz and Chard)
