New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum

The Young Child

Young children have increasing capacities for language and inquiry, increasing ability to understand another point of view, and are developing interests in representation and symbols, such as pictures, numbers, and words. An early childhood programme for young children should provide a rich bank of experiences from which the children can learn to make sense of their world and the world around them. Children in this older age group are still likely to swing back and forth in development, depending on their moods and the context, but they have a growing capacity for coping with unpredictability and change, especially if they are anchored by emotional support, respect, and acceptance. The children's increasing abilities to plan and monitor their activities are evident in their developing awareness of themselves as learners. 

Some special characteristics of the young child
Young children can recognise a wide range of patterns and regularities in the world around them. This encourages them to question when things are puzzling and different from what they expect and to respond to “nonsense” and humour. Young children have an increasing ability to see the family, home, or early childhood education setting in the perspective of the wider world. 

Young children have new capacities for symbolising and representation, creating art, music, and dance, as well as developing abilities with words and numbers. Young children's developing literacy and numeracy skills include new purposes for language and cognition, such as reasoning, verbal exploration, puzzling, and finding out about both their social and physical world. 

Young children's greater working memory contributes to their capacity for telling stories, for more complex problem-solving strategies, for longer periods of focused attention, and for more persistent curiosity. Young children are developing social skills for establishing and maintaining friendships and are beginning to be able to see another person's point of view. 

Young children are consolidating and refining their physical skills. 

Young children are developing their awareness of themselves as learners by planning, checking, questioning, and reflecting on activities and tasks. 

Young children use their imaginations to explore their own and others' identities. 

Key curriculum requirements for the young child
It is important to make opportunities for the young child to experience new challenges, co-operative ventures, and longer term projects. These experiences also help to meet their expanding capabilities and provide a smooth transition to school. 
Young children need:
adults and environments to provide resources, challenges, and support for their widening interests and problem-solving capacities; 

opportunities for unfamiliar routines, new and self-directed challenges, co-operative ventures, and sustained projects;
adults who can encourage sustained conversations, queries, and complex thinking, including concepts of fairness, difference, and similarity; 

opportunities to use language to explore and to direct thinking and learning tasks;
a widening range of resources for creative expression, symbolising, and representation;
recognition of their developing sense of humour, which springs from new understandings about how things “ought” to be; 

challenging opportunities which keep pace with their physical co-ordination and development. 

WELL-BEING
Children experience an environment where: their health is promoted; their emotional well-being is nurtured; they are kept safe from harm. All children have a right to health, to protection 

Goal 1
Children experience an environment where their health is promoted. 

WELL-BEING Learning outcomes:
knowledge, skills, and attitudes Children develop:
increasing understanding of their bodies and how they function;
knowledge about how to keep themselves healthy;
self-help and self-care skills for eating, drinking, food preparation, toileting, resting, sleeping, washing, and dressing;
positive attitudes towards eating, sleeping, and toileting. 

WELL-BEING
Goal 2
Children experience an environment where their emotional well-being is nurtured. 

For example, children developn a sense of personal worth, and knowledge that personal worth does not depend on today's behaviour or ability; 

WELL-BEING
Goal 3
Children experience an environment where they are kept safe from harm.
Learning outcomes:
knowledge, skills, and attitudes 

For example children develop an increasing sense of responsibility for protecting others from injury and from physical and emotional abuse; 

Strand 2- Belonging
Goals
Children and their families experience an environment where:
connecting links with the family and the wider world are affirmed and extended;
they know that they have a place;
they feel comfortable with the routines, customs, and regular events;
they know the limits and boundaries of acceptable behaviour. 

Belonging Goal 1
Children and their families experience an environment where connecting links with the family and the wider world are affirmed and extended. 

Learning outcomes:
knowledge, skills, and attitudes For example, Children develop:
interest and pleasure in discovering an unfamiliar wider world where the people, images, objects, languages, sounds, smells, and tastes are different from those at home; 

BELONGING
Goal 2
Children and their families experience an environment where they know that they have a place.
Learning outcomes:
knowledge, skills, and attitudes Children develop:
a feeling of belonging, and having a right to belong, in the early childhood setting;
an ability to take on different roles in different contexts. 

BELONGING
Goal 3
Children and their families experience an environment where they feel comfortable with the routines, customs, and regular events. 

Learning outcomes:
knowledge, skills, and attitudes
Children develop:
an understanding of the routines, customs, and regular events of the early childhood education setting;
an understanding that these routines, customs, and events can be different in other settings;
capacities to predict and plan from the patterns and regular events that make up the day or the session;
nenjoyment of and interest in a moderate degree of change;
constructive strategies for coping with change. 

BELONGING
Goal 4
Children and their families experience an environment where they know the limits and boundaries of acceptable behaviour.
Learning outcomes:
knowledge, skills, and attitudes
Children develop:
the capacity to discuss and negotiate rules, rights, and fairness;
an understanding of the rules of the early childhood education setting, of the reasons for them, and of which rules will be different in other settings;
an understanding that the early childhood education setting is fair for all;
an understanding of the consequences of stepping beyond the limits of acceptable behaviour;
an increasing ability to take responsibility for their own actions;
the ability to disagree and state a conflicting opinion assertively and appropriately. 

STRAND 3 – CONTRIBUTION
Opportunities for learning are equitable and each child's contribution is valued. 

Goals
Children experience an environment where:
there are equitable opportunities for learning, irrespective of gender, ability, age, ethnicity, or background;
they are affirmed as individuals;
they are encouraged to learn with and alongside others.

Children's development occurs through active participation in activities. Collaboration with adults and with other children plays a central role in this development.

The programme should recognise, acknowledge, and build on each child's special strengths and allow each to make a contribution or to “make his or her mark”, acknowledging that each child has the right to active and equitable participation in the community. Making a contribution includes developing satisfying relationships with adults and peers. The early development of social confidence has long-term effects, and adults in early childhood education settings play a significant role in helping children to initiate and maintain relationships with peers. Through interactions with others, children learn to take another's point of view, to empathise with others, to ask for help, to see themselves as a help for others, and to discuss or explain their ideas to adults or to other children. 

Continuity Between Early
Childhood Education and School
Children moving from early childhood settings to the early years of school are likely to:
need to perceive that their families are welcome and valued;
respect, and enjoy working with, children who are different in some way;
feel positive about their own gender and ethnicity, about the opposite gender, and about other ethnic groups;
have some understanding of equity and some ability to identify and challenge bias, prejudice, and negative stereotyping;
be confident that their interests, strengths, knowledge, abilities, and experiences will be recognised and built on in the learning programme;
be familiar with working co-operatively;
be able to see that others have different points of view and be able to understand, to some extent, others' feelings and attitudes;
express their own needs and feelings and recognise some needs of others. 

CONTRIBUTION
Goal 1
Children experience an environment where there are equitable opportunities for learning, irrespective of gender, ability, age, ethnicity, or background.
Learning outcomes:
knowledge, skills, and attitudes Children develop:
an understanding of their own rights and those of others;
the ability to recognise discriminatory practices and behaviour and to respond appropriately;
some early concepts of the value of appreciating diversity and fairness; the self-confidence to stand up for themselves and others against biased ideas and discriminatory behaviour; positive judgments on their own gender and the opposite gender;
positive judgments on their own ethnic group and other ethnic groups;
confidence that their family background is viewed positively within the early childhood education setting;
respect for children who are different from themselves and ease of interaction with them. 

CONTRIBUTION
Goal 2
Children experience an environment where they are affirmed as individuals.
Learning outcomes:
knowledge, skills, and attitudes
Children develop:
a sense of “who they are”, their place in the wider world of relationships, and the ways in which these are valued;
a realistic perception of what they know and of what they can and cannot yet do;
a perception of themselves as capable of acquiring new interests and abilities;
abilities and interests in a range of domains – spatial, visual, linguistic, physical, musical, logical or mathematical, personal, and social – which build on the children's strengths;
awareness of their own special strengths, and confidence that these are recognised and valued. 

Goal 3
Children experience an environment where they are encouraged to learn with and alongside others. 

CONTRIBUTION
Learning outcomes:
knowledge, skills, and attitudes
Children develop:
n strategies and skills for initiating, maintaining, and enjoying a relationship with other children – including taking turns, problem solving, negotiating, taking another's point of view, supporting others, and understanding other people's attitudes and feelings – in a variety of contexts;
a range of strategies for solving conflicts in peaceful ways, and a perception that peaceful ways are best;
n positive and constructive attitudes to competition;
an increasing ability to take another's point of view and to empathise with others;
a sense of responsibility and respect for the needs and well-being of the group, including taking responsibility for group decisions;
an appreciation of the ways in which they can make contributions to groups and to group well-being;
ways to enjoy solitary play when they choose to be alone. 

STRAND 4 – COMMUNICATION
The languages and symbols of their own and other cultures are promoted and protected. 

Goals
Children experience an environment where:
they develop non-verbal communication skills for a range of purposes;
they develop verbal communication skills for a range of purposes;
they experience the stories and symbols of their own and other cultures;
they discover and develop different ways to be creative and expressive. Language is a vital part of communication. In early childhood, one of the major cultural tasks for children is to develop competence in and understanding of language. Language does not consist only of words, sentences, and stories: it includes the language of images, art, dance, drama, mathematics, movement, rhythm, and music. During these early years, children are learning to communicate their experience in many ways, and they are also learning to interpret the ways in which others communicate and represent experience. They are developing increasing competence in symbolic, abstract, imaginative, and creative thinking. Language grows and develops in meaningful contexts when children have a need to know and a reason to communicate. Adults should understand and encourage both verbal and non-verbal communication styles. 

Continuity Between Early
Childhood Education and School
Children moving from early childhood settings to the early years of school are likely to:
have language skills for a range of purposes;
have had considerable experience with books and be rapidly developing secure vocabulary, grammar, and syntax;
enjoy returning to favourite books and recognising the distinctive characteristics of book language and be ready to consolidate concepts about print, such as directionality, how words are made up, and the correspondence between written and spoken words;
have had opportunities to hear and use Màori;
have some awareness of other community languages;
enjoy writing and be keen to play with language and to hear and use new language;
have some practical concepts about numbers, counting, numerical symbols and applications of numbers, and have used mathematical understandings for everyday purposes, such as sorting, labelling, perceiving patterns, and establishing “fair shares”;
have developed a repertoire of expressive body movements for communication, especially in dance and drama; have developed some techniques for expressing themselves in music, art, crafts, and design;
enjoy and experience music as an expression of mood, situation, and culture;
enjoy making music, and be developing a feeling for rhythm, singing, and improvisation. 

COMMUNICATION
Goal 1
Children experience an environment where they develop non-verbal communication skills for a range of purposes. Learning outcomes:
knowledge, skills, and attitudes Children develop:
responsive and reciprocal skills, such as turn-taking and offering;
non-verbal ways of expressing and communicating imaginative ideas;
an increasingly elaborate repertoire of gesture and expressive body movement for communication, including ways to make requests non-verbally and appropriately;
an increasing understanding of nonverbal messages, including an ability to attend to the non-verbal requests and suggestions of others;
n an ability to express their feelings and emotions in a range of appropriate nonverbal ways. 

COMMUNICATION
Goal 2
Children experience an environment where they develop verbal communication skills for a range of purposes. Learning outcomes:
knowledge, skills, and attitudes Children develop:
language skills in real, play, and problemsolving contexts as well as in more structured language contexts, for example, through books;
language skills for increasingly complex purposes, such as stating and asking others about intentions; expressing feelings and attitudes and asking others about feelings and attitudes; negotiating, predicting, planning, reasoning, guessing, story-telling; and using the language of probability, including words such as “might”, “can't”, “always”, “never”, and “sometimes”;
a playful interest in repetitive sounds and words, aspects of language such as rhythm, rhyme, and alliteration, and an enjoyment of nonsense stories and rhymes;
an increasing knowledge and skill, in both syntax and meaning, in at least one language;
an appreciation of te reo as a living and relevant language;
confidence that their first language is valued;
the expectation that verbal communication will be a source of delight, comfort, and amusement and that it can be used to effectively communicate ideas and information and solve problems;
the inclination and ability to listen attentively and respond appropriately to speakers. 

Communication
Goal 3
Children experience an environment where they experience the stories and symbols of their own and other cultures. 

Learning outcomes:
knowledge, skills, and attitudes Children develop:
an understanding that symbols can be “read” by others and that thoughts, experiences, and ideas can be represented through words, pictures, print, numbers, sounds, shapes, models, and photographs;
familiarity with print and its uses by exploring and observing the use of print in activities that have meaning and purpose for children;
familiarity with an appropriate selection of the stories and literature valued by the cultures in their community;
an expectation that words and books can amuse, delight, comfort, illuminate, inform, and excite;
familiarity with numbers and their uses by exploring and observing the use of numbers in activities that have meaning and purpose for children;
skill in using the counting system and mathematical symbols and concepts, such as numbers, length, weight, volume, shape, and pattern, for meaningful and increasingly complex purposes;
the expectation that numbers can amuse, delight, illuminate, inform, and excite; experience with some of the technology and resources for mathematics, reading, and writing;
experience with creating stories and symbols. 

COMMUNICATION
Goal 4
Children experience an environment where they discover and develop different ways to be creative and expressive.
Learning outcomes:
knowledge, skills, and attitudes Children develop:
familiarity with the properties and character of the materials and technology used in the creative and expressive arts;
skill and confidence with the processes of art and craft, such as cutting, drawing, collage, painting, print-making, weaving, stitching, carving, and constructing;
skills with media that can be used for expressing a mood or a feeling or for representing information, such as crayons, pencils, paint, blocks, wood, musical instruments, and movement skills;
an ability to be creative and expressive through a variety of activities, such as pretend play, carpentry, story-telling, drama, and making music;
confidence to sing songs, including songs of their own, and to experiment with chants and pitch patterns;
an increasing ability to keep a steady beat through speech, chants, dances, or movement to simple rhythmic patterns;
an increasing familiarity with a selection of the art, craft, songs, music, and stories which are valued by the cultures in the community;
an expectation that music, art, drama, and dance can amuse, delight, comfort, illuminate, inform, and excite;
familiarity with a variety of types of music, art, dance, and drama as expressions of feeling, mood, situation, occasion, and culture. 

STRAND 5 – EXPLORATION
The child learns through active exploration of the environment.

Goals
Children experience an environment where:
their play is valued as meaningful learning and the importance of spontaneous play is recognised;
they gain confidence in and control of their bodies;
they learn strategies for active exploration, thinking, and reasoning;
they develop working theories for making sense of the natural, social, physical, and material worlds. All aspects of the environment – the natural, social, physical, and material worlds – are part of the context of learning. This strand incorporates some of the strategies which enable infants, toddlers, and young children to explore, learn from, and make sense of the world. Implicit in the concept of the child as explorer is the importance of respect for the environment. Children learn through play – by doing, by asking questions, by interacting with others, by setting up theories or ideas about how things work and trying them out, and by the purposeful use of resources. They also learn by making links with their previous experiences. The attitudes and expectations that are formed at an early age will continue to influence a child's learning throughout life. In early childhood education, as in later learning and development, exploration will be guided, supported, and challenged by adults and other children. 

Continuity Between Early
Childhood Education and School
Children moving from early childhood settings to the early years of school are likely to:
have extensive prior learning and experiences which provide starting points for further learning;
enjoy and be able to participate in adventurous and creative thinking through role-play, film-making, projects, and investigations;
have experience in making choices and decisions, setting their own goals, and using their initiative;
continue to develop their locomotor, nonlocomotor, and manipulative skills in a variety of settings;
have some skills in using a range of equipment safely;
n be able to share responsibility for the class and school environment;
be able to use discovery, invention, innovation, imagination, experimentation, and exploration as means of learning;
demonstrate flexibility and creativity in applying mathematical ideas and techniques to new problems;
be able to observe, compare, classify, and group objects;
have developed some initial strategies of active exploration in the wider context of the biological, physical, and technological worlds;
have begun to make sense of the living world by observing, identifying, and describing animals and plants and by investigating changes over time;
be ready to make sense of the physical world, for instance, by describing the properties of everyday materials and by investigating changes in different physical conditions;
have initial strategies for exploring observable features of Earth and beyond and appreciate their environment and its changes over time. 

EXPLORATION
Goal 1
Children experience an environment where their play is valued as meaningful learning and the importance of spontaneous play is recognised.
Learning outcomes:
knowledge, skills, and attitudes Children develop:
the ability to make decisions, choose their own materials, and set their own problems;
the attitude that not knowing and being uncertain are part of the process of being a good learner;
an expectation that they take responsibility for their own learning;
the knowledge that trying things out, exploration, and curiosity are important and valued ways of learning;
increasing confidence and a repertoire for symbolic, pretend, or dramatic play;
the knowledge that playing with ideas and materials, with no objective in mind, can be an enjoyable, creative, and valid approach to learning. 

EXPLORATION
Goal 2
Children experience an environment where they gain confidence in and control of their bodies.
Learning outcomes:
knowledge, skills, and attitudes Children develop:
increasing knowledge about how to keep physically healthy;
increasing control over their bodies, including development of locomotor skills, non-locomotor skills, manipulative skills and increasing agility, co-ordination, and balance;
strategies for actively exploring and making sense of the world by using their bodies, including active exploration with all the senses, and the use of tools, materials, and equipment to extend skills;
confidence with moving in space, moving to rhythm, and playing near and with others. 

EXPLORATION
Goal 3
Children experience an environment where they learn strategies for active exploration, thinking, and reasoning.
Learning outcomes:
knowledge, skills, and attitudes Children develop:
confidence in using a variety of strategies for exploring and making sense of the world, such as in setting and solving problems, looking for patterns, classifying things for a purpose, guessing, using trial and error, thinking logically and making comparisons, asking questions, explaining to others, listening to others, participating in reflective discussion, planning, observing, and listening to stories; the ability to identify and use information from a range of sources, including using books for reference;
a perception of themselves as “explorers” – competent, confident learners who ask questions and make discoveries;
the confidence to choose and experiment with materials, to play around with ideas, and to explore actively with all the senses;
the ability to represent their discoveries, using creative and expressive media and the technology associated with them. 

EXPLORATION
Goal 4
Children experience an environment where they develop working theories for making sense of the natural, social, physical, and material worlds.

Learning outcomes:
knowledge, skills, and attitudes Children develop:
the ability to enquire, research, explore, generate, and modify their own working theories about the natural, social, physical, and material worlds;
an understanding of the nature and properties of a range of substances, such as sand, water, ice, bubbles, blocks, and paper;
spatial understandings, including an awareness of how two- and threedimensional objects can be fitted together and moved in space and ways in which spatial information can be represented, such as in maps, diagrams, photographs, and drawings;
familiarity with stories from different cultures about the living world, including myths and legends and oral, nonfictional, and fictional forms;
working theories about Planet Earth and beyond;
a knowledge of features of the land which are of local significance, such as the local river or mountain;
theories about social relationships and social concepts, such as friendship, authority, and social rules and understandings;
a relationship with the natural environment and a knowledge of their own place in the environment;
respect and a developing sense of responsibility for the well-being of both the living and the non-living environment; working theories about the living world and knowledge of how to care for it;
a growing recognition and enjoyment of “nonsense” explanations.