Implementing a curriculum for preschool classrooms can be incredibly challenging to do effectively. As a busy teacher, you have countless pressures on you on top of delivering an outstanding curriculum. In addition, you’ll have to keep your classroom organized, manage the demands of parents, and handle the unique needs of each child in your class.
It is very important to be aware of some of the issues you may face before you start implementing your curriculum. In this blog post, we’re taking a look at these obstacles you should keep in mind:
Lack of Materials
You may not have all the materials or resources available to you to execute on the activities, games and crafts you have planned in your curriculum, which means you’ll have to get creative. Whether it’s a lack of funding or lack of access to the supplies you need, the curriculum you implement will have to reflect which materials are available to you.
Little Time
Preschool teachers are busy! Even if you’re not implementing a curriculum for preschoolers, there’s already a lot going on when it comes to your day to day job. From serving meals to tidying up, answering parent questions and simply keeping track of all the children in your care, finding the time to actually implement your programs can be tough.
A Need for Flexibility
As much as you may want to implement your preschool curriculum exactly as you planned it, you do have to ensure you are conducting activities and lessons that the children are interested in to keep them engaged. This will require you as a teacher to be flexible with your curriculum, even if this sometimes means you have to veer off in different directions based on the unique interests of your students.
Substantial Planning
For teachers following an emergent curriculum, you will also face obstacles when it comes to documenting your observations of your students’ learning and development for later reflection and next steps. You’ll have to plan your curriculum and schedule accordingly to incorporate time for this observation and reflection, as well as leave space open in your future curriculum to address areas you’ve identified for improvement or enhancement through your observations.
Time-Consuming Assessments
Over time, you may be required to conduct assessments of the children in your care. Even if regulations do not require periodic assessments, they make for excellent snapshots of a child’s abilities at a certain point in time that can be built upon in the future. However, these assessments can be difficult to complete and very time consuming, since most of the assessment is subjective and qualitative. This eats into your time that could be spent on developing a curriculum for your preschool.
Want more information on implementing a curriculum for your preschool? Learn more about HiMama’s child care app.
What are some of the obstacles you faced when implementing your preschool curriculum? Join the conversation at @HiMamaSocial and make sure to sign up for updates from our HiMama Blog for updates on similar content in the future!
