Abstract:
Step-by-Step educational alternative promotes child-centered education, child-oriented teaching, individualization of training, organized learning in activity centers, involvement of family and community in children's education, respect for and appreciation of human diversity, support for inclusion of disadvantaged groups.
The mission is to develop in each child the ability to be creative, to form a critical thinking, to make choices and to have the initiative, to define and solve problems, to communicate easily with others, to understand and of the negotiation. The child is offered appropriate development practices, specific to his or her age. Learning occurs, to a large extent, through individual discovery and at the child's own pace, encouraging personal ways to advance in knowledge and developing skills.
The team of educators must provide children with sufficient and attractive learning materials, encouraging play and activity in centers, for which they freely choose.
There is general agreement among experts that a good curriculum for young children must be developmentally appropriate. This means that the quality of the program will be defined in large measure by the extent to which the environment, activities, and interactions are rooter in the teacher's make in planning the curriculum and in reacting spontaneously to what happens each day are therefore based on knowledge of normal child development and what is known about each child's interest, abilities, needs, and background.
