TOPIC 4

PROGRAMME
MODELS

Dr Loo Fung Lan

 Learning Outcomes
1. Explain the basic principles of Montessori, Reggio
Emilia, HighScope and Waldorf programme models
2. Compare the four models of Early Childhood Care and
Education (ECCE) programme
3. Discuss the strength and weaknesses of each model
and how it can be implemented in Malaysia
4. Discuss how these four models support children
development
 Introduction
• There are a number of models of early childhood
programmes that are good references when it comes to
implementing theories and principles of how children
learn into curriculums.
• These models can be seen as exemplary approaches to
early childhood education and can serve as a guide for
best practices.
• In this topic, we will study the four models of early
childhood programmes that are used worldwide as early
childhood curriculum which are, Montessori High/Scope,
Reggio Emilia and Waldorf models.
 THE MONTESSORI MODEL
• Based on Dr. Maria Montessori’s (1870–1952) ideas about early childhood
education, the key goals highlighted by the well-known Montessori Method
are:
i. The facilitation of the development of each child’s unique personality
ii. The emotional and social adjustment of the child to promote and
support development into a psychologically strong and happy person
iii. To create possibilities for the child to develop his full intellectual
capacity
• Montessori believed that the child is the architect of the adult and has an
inbuilt capacity and tendency to seek out learning by himself.
• She was of the opinion that children below the age of six have the most
receptive and powerful minds that provides them a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity to learn.
• She called the mind of a child aged between three to six years
old the Absorbent Mind because it is during this period that a
child literally absorbs everything surrounding her through
sensorial exploration.
• This being so, the Montessori Method encourages children to
learn about the world around them through exploration and
they are allowed the freedom to move around, manipulate and
touch.
 The Montessori Curriculum
a) Practical Life Skills or Motor Education
• Aligning to the goal that education is the parent of the child’s
character, this portion of practical life or motor education is
designed to teach children life skills.
• These include activities that would help children function as
independent individuals. They include dressing oneself, as
well as cleaning and caring for oneself and one’s
surroundings.
• For example, children would learn how to sweep the floor,
dress themselves or pour water from a teapot into a cup.
When they see adults doing these activities, they are
instinctively drawn to perform such actions themselves.
• In this prepared environment, all the paraphernalia and
furniture would be child-sized so the children can use them
easily and effectively.
• Following are the practical life exercises that are appropriate
to children age group.
– Practical life exercises fall into four main groups, namely:
– Exercises for the care of the person
– Exercises for the care of the environment
– Exercises for social relations
– Exercises for analysis and control of movement
• Each group comprises a set of exercises that progress from
the relatively easy to more difficult ones that involve longer
and more complex patterns of movement.
b) Sensory Education

• For sensory education, the range of manipulative or

didactic materials that are used includes numerous
sets of materials that promote seriation,
classification and conservation activities through a
variety of media.
• These sensorial materials include a set of cylinders
that vary in dimension and height, the cube tower,
broad stairs, long rods, colour tablets, binomial and
trinomial cubes and constructive triangle
c) Language or Intellectual Education
• The Montessori programme provides children with ample
opportunities to speak and practice new words they learn
to listen and hear language in all of its stirring forms.
• During lessons about the use of concepts or materials, the
teacher consistently uses words which describe physical
dimensions such as large, small, thick, thin using the
didactic materials provided.
• Montessori programmes also have materials which can be
used for the teaching and learning of reading and writing
and these include items such as sandpaper, alphabet
letters, movable alphabets for spelling and others.
Montessori
Apple
Activities to
Love!
In implementing the curriculum, Montessori
Method incorporates the following four main
elements:

a)Respect for the Child

• The goal of the Montessori classroom is always
to develop independence in a child and enable
him to do things for himself.
• Towards this, children are provided numerous
opportunities to move, to dress themselves, to
choose what they want to do and to help the
adults with tasks.
b) The Absorbent Mind

• This concept suggests that children under the age of

three years old do not need actual lessons per se to
learn things – they simply absorb everything in the
environment like a sponge merely by experiencing it
and being a part of it.

• Therefore it is imperative the environment is a good

and positive one as the child will absorb what he
experiences involuntarily.

• Children also will pick up the language and words

used around them, so caution must be exercised
when speaking around impressionable young minds.
c)Sensitive Period

• So to help children learn about sounds, Maria

Montessori created a set of boxes. Although the
boxes look alike, each contains a different material
which produces its own unique sound when shaken.

• The sound made by the different boxes can be

compared to each other and the boxes could be
arranged according to the volume of the sound.

• The sounds could also be matched with boxes in

another set. She devised similar activities to train and
develop the other senses of touch, sight, smell, and
taste. In this instance, the role of the teacher would
be to use observation to detect times of sensitivity
and provide the setting for optimum fulfilment.
d) The Prepared Environment
• Children learn best in a prepared environment, in a
place where they are allowed to do things for
themselves.
• Freedom is the essential characteristic in this
environment. With its carefully chosen materials, this
prepared environment makes available learning
materials that can be used in an orderly fashion.
• Every activity has its own set of materials which are to
be used in specific ways. These materials are all clearly
defined and ready for use.
• Children are taught to return the materials for the use of
others when they are done with them. They are also
encouraged to use the self- correction materials
independently.
 The Teacher’s Role in the
Montessori Classroom
• A Montessori teacher often takes a step back when children
are working, giving them space and allowing them to learn
from their own discoveries and draw their own conclusions.
• Instead of supplying children with answers, they encourage
them to think about how they would solve the problem, thus
actively engaging children in the learning process and
enhancing critical thinking skills.
• Montessori teachers are trained to focus on the child as a
person rather than place priority on the daily lesson plans.
 REGGIO EMILIA (1859–1952)
• The Reggio Approach has its roots in Reggio Emilia in
Italy at the end of the Fascist dictatorship and the
Second World War. Reggio Emilia was as an early
education programme that is commanding international
attention as a model environment for young children.
• Teachers using Reggio Emilia approach worked
diligently to develop new ways of teaching, which would
support the new democratic society.
• The schools of Reggio Emilia promote a healthy respect
for the investigative natural ability of the child and his or
her natural abilities to think, plan, criticise, collaborate,
and learn from all they do.
• The child must be surrounded by an environment that is both
beautiful and functions as a primary resource which offers
infinite opportunities for learning.

• The environment provides children with other ways to discover

and define themselves, for example through

– constructive play, collaborative interaction, cooperative learning,

writing, in depth projects and through the strong sense of
community that is always present to reaffirm and reinforce the
child.

• The cornerstone of the Reggio Emilia approach to early

education is the responsive relationship between children and
adults. The central role of the teacher is to activate the
competencies and creative energy of the child.

• The readiness of the child can be nurtured by seizing moments

of interest and inquiry and taking the opportunity to elaborate
and interpret the thoughts that are already within the child’s
mind.
Can you state the characteristics of the materials?
Children learn from loose part play
• Cadwell (1997) as cited in Gordon and Browne (2011),
underscored eight fundamentals of the Reggio Emilia approach:

The child as protagonist

The child as collaborator

The child as communicator

The environment as third teacher

The teacher as partner, nurturer and guide

The teacher as researcher, parents as partner

The documentation as communication

 THE HIGHSCOPE PROGRAMME
• David Weikart (1931-2003) began his career in special
education in 1962 in the Ypsilanti Public Schools, where he
was special education director (Schweinhart, 2002).
• He devised the HighScope Model, an active learning
programme planned by adults and initiated by children. Its
emphasis is on adult-child interaction.
• This model employed teaching techniques to help children
plan, initiate and implement their ideas and then review and
reflect on their own learning activities.
• In this approach, the growth of each child is enhanced in the
foundations of academics as well as in social-emotional,
physical and creative areas.
• The ideal and carefully designed learning
environment also plays a pivotal part in this
model.
• As for the content of learning, the High Scope
Curriculum has special emphasis and focus on
the initiatives of the children and in them
expressing their choices and engaging in
complex play.
• Creative presentations, social relationships,
music and movement, language and literacy
and logic and mathematics are all part of this
curriculum.
HighScope Preschool Curriculum
 WALDORF EARLY CHILDHOOD
CURRICULUM
• In 1919, Rudolf Steiner, a philosopher and thinker proposed the
Waldorf Curriculum.
• Thus the curriculum focuses on the three developmental phases
of childhood:

From
birth to
From 14 six or
to 18 seven
years years of
age

From 7 to 14
years of age
Schools which employ the Waldorf principles predominantly emphasise
on learning through play, devoting significant time to creative play. In this
model:
• The teacher demonstrates practical, domestic and artistic activities
for the children to imitate
• Imagination is encouraged through storytelling and dramatic play
• The toys used in the classroom are mainly made from natural
materials
• Children often bring items from nature for play and classroom
exploration
• The classroom environment nourishes the children's senses
• There are strong rhythmic elements that are based on the cycles of
life and nature
• The children's sense of reverence and wonder is enhanced
Waldorf’s Classroom
Activities
Story Telling
THANK YOU
End of Topic 4