This thoroughly up-to-date and completely accessible book uses a socio-historical perspective to examine the major curriculum models of early childhood education. It examines the approaches of Montessori, Developmental-Interaction, Direct Instruction, Kamii-DeVries, High-Scope, and Reggio Emilia curriculum. Comprehensive coverage looks at each model in terms of purpose and function, impact on early childhood education, theoretical underpinnings, and current evaluat… More >>
#1 by Reginald Williams on July 2, 2010 - 4:06 pm
We know plenty about High/Scope, Montessori, Head Start, and Reggio Emilia,…
…but how much do we really know about Bank Street or DISTAR or Kamii/Devrie’s curriculum or the project approach? We can claim some understanding, but this book fleshes out these curriculum like I never seen before. Not only do we see the practical side, but also we see the historical and pedagogical side.
A microminor drawback is the lack of many pictures. This book is so wonderful, though, that it still requires a 5.
Rating: 5 / 5
#2 by M. Schuster on July 2, 2010 - 4:22 pm
This was a required text for my Master’s level class. I am used to some pretty complex reading, but for some reason found this text very hard to get a handle on. This was indeed very thorough information, but I had a lot of trouble grasping the big picture of what these curriculum models looked like, especially Developmental-Interaction Approach and Direct Instruction. I can’t be more helpful than that because I’m still trying to figure out why this text in particular was so difficult. For the approaches I was already familiar with, like Reggio and Montessori, it was helpful to get the history and details. If you have a firm grasp of curriculum models and are interested in the history, background, philosophy and justification this will probably be fine.
Rating: 3 / 5