At the heart of the preschool curriculum is the academic content that the school believes that the children should learn before they get to kindergarten. Although this may slightly vary among schools, the main content areas typically include mathematics, early literacy, social studies and science. Additionally, content areas in the creative arts, such as visual arts, music and drama, may make their way into the preschoolers' curriculum. The content components should match up with the childrens' ages and developmental abilities. For example, it's appropriate to add in math content when teaching the children the numbers 0 through 10, but not something such as long division.
Academic-based content -- although key -- isn't the only component of a preschool curriculum. If you are creating, or helping to author, an early childhood curriculum, including developmental domains is crucial. The developmental domains include areas such as cognitive, emotional, social and motor skill-building. The developmental components can also connect to the content areas throughout the curriculum. For example, the curriculum can combine emotional development and vocabulary -- or literacy -- skill creation by identifying feelings with new words.
While you are developing a preschool curriculum, it's vital to take materials into account. Materials may include items that the children will use to do projects such as crafts, toys that the kids will use regularly, books, teacher's items -- such as a digital camera that you use to document the student's activities -- and larger equipment such as tables or a computer. Although you don't need to create curriculum specifically for the materials that you have on hand, you will need to take the availability of certain items into consideration. For example, if your preschool doesn't have computers for the kids to use, don't add in a technology component.
Depending on where your school is, you may need to follow state early learning standards when creating a curriculum. Early learning standards provide preschools with an evidence-based way to set objectives, create goals and choose content and educational strategies. While not every private preschool uses state learning standards -- although plenty do -- most public school district programs do utilize these guidelines. The learning standards should match up with the different areas of the curriculum and provide a framework for lessons and activities. Additionally, you may need to tailor your curriculum to other standards, such as those that a professional group -- the National Association for the Education of Young Children, for example -- creates for educators.