Introduction
EarlyON Child and Family Centers represent a place filled with learning materials for children up to six years old located in Ontario, Canada. These centers are set up in a way to help motivate children to learn with the help of a variety of caregivers or parents themselves (McLennan & Howitt, 2018). The EarlyON and How Does Learning Happen initiatives support diversity and always aim to remain as representative as possible while also celebrating the differences inherent in Canadian society. Within any given EarlyON center, one may find people of all ages, races, and cultural backgrounds working together and supporting each other (Hall et al., 2019). Children visit these centers every day, and the concept of EarlyON helps the government build a stronger community where mutual assistance becomes the new norm. Many people in these centers have different starting points, but the EarlyON program drives all of them down to one common denominator, which is adequate care paired with social assistance.
Emergent Curriculum
According to the theory of emergent curriculum, the main purpose of the support provided via EarlyON centers is to strengthen the existing childhood programs and contribute to more successful transitions to school. This is one of the main reasons why many elementary schools in Ontario contain EarlyON centers (Wei, 2021). The Ministry of Education of Ontario also has a significant impact on how the programs are funded in order to ensure that all childhood educators are certified and registered. Therefore, the emergent curriculum is a means of supporting and inspiring families to begin contributing to a rich learning environment (McLennan & Howitt, 2018). A variety of play-based experiences for children are aimed at facilitating the process of education and making it easier for caregivers to attain the required objectives. This is why regular visitation of EarlyON centers may be required since no attendance restrictions are in place.
Learning Strategy
In line with the emergent curriculum theory, EarlyON centers create enough opportunities for caregivers to teach children using different methods. Nevertheless, all of them tend to stem from the learning center-based strategies that revolve around the possible similarities to kindergarten classrooms (Hall et al., 2019). Consequently, children have the opportunity to utilize art tables, dramatic play areas, and sensory tables to complete their objectives and develop a friendly learning space where teaching is easy. According to the evidence, children who regularly attended EarlyON centers and were involved in the How Does Learning Happen program tended to perform better than their non-attending or irregularly attending peers (“An introduction to How Does Learning Happen,” 2021). The notion of How Does Learning Happen stands for a reciprocal relationship with families in question that has to be improved in order for the children to succeed. The initial idea behind the program is to make sure that everyone can benefit from their own strengths, as it reinforces unique experience and knowledge and does not generalize the process of education.
EarlyON Through the Prism of the Emergent Curriculum Theory
From the information on the theory of emergent curriculum, it becomes obvious that children have to be taught about the process of learning in order to remain successful during their school years in terms of academic performance. EarlyON centers serve to help caregivers attain this particular objective because they focus on the role of the child’s family and their social interactions (Wei, 2021). Parents remain the primary instructors for their children throughout their life so it should be crucial for them to realize the key strengths and limitations of the EarlyON program and its derivatives. Numerous home-extension activities might represent the vital link between successful education and child engagement (Hall et al., 2019). Knowing that learning materials are easily accessible, parents siding with the EarlyON and How Does Learning Happen initiatives have the chance to borrow all kinds of information for their kids.
References
An introduction to How Does Learning Happen. Ontario.ca. (2021). Web.
Hall, W. A., Biletchi, J., Hunter, D. L., Lemay, S., Ou, C., & Rempel, L. (2019). Dissemination of evidence-based interventions for pediatric sleep disorders – the Niagara project: Process and outcomes. Sleep Medicine: X, 1, 1-5.
McLennan, D. P., & Howitt, C. (2018). Learning from birth. YC Young Children, 73(4), 42-48.
Wei, M. (2021). More than just a game: Yoga for school-age children. Harvard Health. Web.