General Distinctions
In general, curriculum for infants and toddlers emphasizes language development, socialization, exploration of the immediate environment, and acquisition of self-help skills, often through daily routines like diapering and feeding. Preschool curricula focus on the development of social and interpersonal skills, play, acquiring a love of learning, and thinking skills. Kindergarten serves as the transition from preschool to elementary school, and the curriculum begins to focus more on early reading and writing.
In the primary grades (1 through 3), curriculum is typically broken out into defined subject or content areas and the focus shifts from growth and development to academics. Strategies teachers use to implement curriculum for all young children should support individual and group needs of typically developing children, second-language learners, and those with special developmental needs (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009).