What is a well-rounded curriculum?

According to the Association for Supervision of Curriculum Development it means:

"Well-Rounded Curriculum": Schools should give students a general education, which includes basic skills but goes beyond a narrow interpretation of "the basics." A balanced curriculum includes music and fine arts, the humanities, vocational education, and student activities.

For Salt Lake County parents that might mean looking for educational choices other than parking children at a desk and repetitiously exposing them to a disproportionate menu of reading and math - particularly children in preschool and kindergarten

There are schools in Utah that are "well-rounded" and there are some that are academically accelerated programs designed to challenge children to memorize words and take tests.

Very few Ivy league college grads had a preschool experience that included flashcard facts - their brains were developed in a much broader fashion.

Salt Lake County Parents have viable alternative choices for the Early Childhood Education of their children.

Parents may have to look a little deeper than the guys running the biggest ads in the yellow pages or paying the most pay-per-click advertising revenue to Google.

Newcastle Preschool Draper Whole Child Curriculum

Newcastle Preschool in Draper, Utah has a comprehensive curriculum that educates the whole child, not just one part.

This balanced process requires a great deal of expertise, resources and hard work. The Newcastle preschool experience contains very deliberate doses of all the essential building blocks of Early Childhood Education. Newcastle has a time tested age-appropriate pre-kindergarten academic curriculum that includes pre-reading, social studies, math and science with a strong music, art and social development program. Newcastle also includes daily outdoor physical activity.

Educating the Whole Child in Salt Lake County

Our world is changing rapidly, and our education system is struggling to keep pace. Demand for a highly skilled and educated workforce is growing, 20th-century jobs are falling by the wayside, and the global marketplace is a reality. But, as educator, I know we are losing too many kids and wasting too much talent. Nationwide, about one in three students drops out of school before graduation, and many graduate unprepared for college and work.

The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, a nonprofit education organization, proposes a whole child approach that ensures each child is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged. Common sense and research tell us hungry kids can’t learn, scared kids can’t think, and bored kids don’t thrive. Putting students at the center and aligning resources to their needs engages them in learning and prepares them for a bright future.

Good work is underway. The Newcastle Preschool in Draper, Utah, The Waterford School in Sandy, Utah and Channing Hall Charter School in Draper, Utah operate on comprehensive educational platforms that focus on whole child education.

Schools can’t do this work alone. All community members, from parents to business leaders, must help educate the whole child. Join us in this effort and go to www.wholechildeducation.org to learn how you can help.

Whole Child Educator