As someone who taught kindergarten many years ago at the United Nations School in Geneva, Switzerland, I would not just "borrow" standards from the United States to use in Paris. France is a different culture than the USA. I would start by taking account of the families you serve. Are they all French or do they come from other places? I would seriously look at the Reggio Emilia and the principles that guide teaching and learning there. I would also look at newer ways of assessing learning beyond checklists. Reggio uses documentation and collaboration and input from others who work in the school. This provides a broader perspective on what the children are learning.
Learning Stories are another way to document children's learning and making decisions on what to do next. Read anything by Margaret Carr and Wendy Lee for a deeper understanding of this. Here is a PDF that they presented:
http://newzealand.anniewhite.cikeys.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Documentation-of-Learning-Stories-Wendy-Lee-Margaret-Carr.pdfSusan Stacey's work is also focused on documentation as well as emergent curriculum, a curriculum that reflects the needs and interests of the children.
For working with toddlers and 3 year olds, I would look lat NAEYC's older DAP books that provide descriptions of children's development on average for different ages. Again, development is not uniform for all children and it is often uneven across developmental domains. The third aspect that is important in deciding on what is taught has to do with cultural relevance, and culture, the cultures represented by your children, should play a role in your decision making.
If you truly understand the development of children of different ages and what areas they are at work developing as well as their interests and individual needs, you will not need to spend money on expensive curriculum materials. I hope you will go this path.
Best of luck.
Nora
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Nora Krieger, PhD
Associate Professor Emerita/Past Chair NJEEPRE
Bloomfield College/NJ Educators Exploring the Practices of Reggio Emilia
Highland Park, NJ
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Original Message:
Sent: 09-05-2021 08:24 AM
From: Carolyn Comfort
Subject: Curriculum standards for Early Childhood
I am Head of a bilingual preschool in Paris, France for children ages 2 - 5. We are updating our curriculum and I would like to know what curriculum standards others use as a basis for this age group of children. I am familiar with the U.S. Common Core Curriculum Standards, but that only starts at kindergarten. I need some standards for younger children beginning at age 2.
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Carolyn Comfort
Head of Preschool
Lennen Bilingual School
Paris
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