End of field experience

The classroom I was in for my field experience does not use a set curriculum. They use the ISTAR-KR as a guide for the goals they should meet by the end of the year. While observing this for 8 weeks it was not very clear to me what the children were learning and building on. It seemed to me that the lessons each day and week were not connected. After observing this for 8 weeks I think using a set curriculum would fix this problem by starting at basic lessons and then building off of them. This way the lessons would seem more connected and the children would be able to review what they have learned in the past. Following a set curriculum in preschool is very important for this reason. The children are learning basic knowledge so having a clear starting point, then lessons that build off of them, and a clear end point would be very helpful for the children to understand why they are learning what they are learning, make connections between lessons, and review what they have learned.

My advice to someone starting their first day at their field experience would be to jump right in. You're only there for 8 weeks, which seems like a long time at first but it flies by. Jumping right in will let you make the most of your time. Watch what your host teacher does and how she handles the classroom and start doing it. Don't be afraid to do something wrong, your host teacher accepted you into her classroom and understands she is there to teach you too! So if you make a mistake when you're jumping in, don't worry, your host teacher will let you know and it shouldn't be embarrassing or awkward because you and your host teacher know that you have never been in her class before and that you don't know yet how the class completely works. Jumping right in, you might make a mistake or two, but it's the fastest way to learn what to do. You can spend 2 weeks observing the children and how the teacher handles the classroom and ask a 1000 questions, but that is just observations and information... that's not experience and this is called a field experience for a reason.