Press Room

Curriculum and Programming Ideas
by Z Sonia Worotynec

The World Wide Web can be a great resource for curriculum and programming ideas. E-mail lists (where subscribers post and respond to each others' messages) can be very useful for exchanging ideas and getting suggestions for activities related to a theme or project in which your group of children are involved. Many of the sites included below maintain e-mail lists. Take time to look at the sites and remember to check the links page on each site for more resources.

The Perpetual Preschool
www.perpetualpreschool.com

In its own words, The Perpetual Preschool site “was created to celebrate the creativity and dedication of all those who contribute to the perpetual education of young children.” The Perpetual Preschool maintains a large selection of pages including: "Year 'Round Holiday and Special Day Fun," "Bulletin Board Ideas," "Teacher Tips," "Home Visit Tips," "Working with Parents," "The Teachers Lounge" and "Professional Development." The site invites participation and feedback from visitors and includes an option for e-mail notification of additions. Parenting tips, on-line ECE courses and a bookstore are other features of this site.

Early Childhood Educators’ and Family Web Corner
www.nauticom.net/www/cokids/index.html

This site maintains a range of information, resources and ideas for early childhood educators as well as for parents. Click on the various links on the main page; "Teacher Pages" and "Family Pages" offer information on curriculum and programming.

National Network for Child Care Curriculum
www.exnet.iastate.edu/pages/families/nncc/Curriculum/cur.page.html

This site provides curriculum ideas under the headings of “Learning,” “Holidays” and "Activity” with suggestions for activities that promote cultural awareness, birthday parties, nature and outdoor activities, cooking with children and much more.

Trash to Treasure
http://daycare.miningco.com/library/weekly/bltrash.htm

From the standard paper mâché piñata to the jam-jar sun-catcher, this site offers practical suggestions on what to do with the cardboard paper rolls, egg cartons, juice jars, magazines, newspapers and shoe boxes that we ask parents to bring in.

Make Toys from Trash
www.angelfire.com/ny/DebbiesPage/Trashtoys.html

Also in the spirit of "beautiful junk," this site provides detailed instructions on how to make fun and useful art and toys from leftover materials in the home.

Games Kids Play
www.corpcomm.net/~gnieboer/gamehome.htm

Forgot the rules to Duck Duck Goose? Surf to this site and reacquaint yourself with the classic games and a few new ones. There are 250 games available. The site also includes interesting trivia and historic origins of games.

Earlychildhood.com
www.earlychildhood.com

This site has two relevant links to check out for curriculum and programming ideas: “Articles/Resources” and “Arts & Crafts.”

Early Childhood News: The Journal of Professional Development
www.Earlychildhoodnews.com

This is the site for the magazine Early Childhood News published six times a year by the Peter Li Education Group. The magazine has a readership of over 250,000. The website provides sample articles from the magazine including many on curriculum and programming.

Child & Family Canada
www.cfc-efc.ca

This bilingual website maintains a large collection (1,200 documents) of resources and information on young children and families and is always a good starting point when searching for Internet resources related to programming and curriculum ideas. Go to the "Information by Themes" Section and choose “Learning Activities.”

Early Childhood Education On-Line
www.ume.maine.edu/~cofed/eceol/welcome.shtml

Early Childhood Education On-Line (ECEOL) maintains a lively electronic mailing list. Subscribers post questions and responses for other early childhood educators, trainers and supporters. Issues are raised about building themes, developing activities, policies and programs. The site also maintains a listing of links related to topics such as “Curriculum and Environments” at <http://www.ume.maine.edu/~cofed/eceol/curr.html>.

The Teel Family World Wide Web Site
www.teelfamily.com/activities

This Alaska family homeschools their children and posts learning and art activities on their award-winning site. Intriguing links include the “Women in Alaska’s History” and “Animals of the Arctic.” This site is a "must see."

Z Sonia Worotynec is an ECE instructor with Canadian Mothercraft Society in Toronto, Ontario. You can reach her by e-mail at zso@interlog.com.