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What is Creative Curriculum Mapping?

Ranjan Shandilya
Angela Schwindt very thoughtfully said that, "While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about." This story describes a relatively new and systematic approach to teach our future to be creative.
Creativity is doing things uniquely, but it is really difficult to catch up with the creativity of kids. A lot of thoughts and innovations are required to see the completion of a work. The goal is the most important consideration, and creativity is required to reach that goal in the best possible manner.
In this story, we will discuss creative curriculum mapping, and to begin with, it is imperative to understand the concept of creative curriculum and curriculum mapping separately.

Creative Curriculum

It is the curriculum or syllabus for kids up to 3 - 4 years of age before they take the plunge completely. It is like welcoming the new member into the society.
To form a creative curriculum for the toddlers or preschool syllabus is not a job of one person, and an active participation is required from members of the family as well. The main objective of the creative curriculum is to teach 'how to learn'.
Creative curriculum prepares children for the time ahead, and focuses on areas like literacy, math, science, social studies, arts, and technology which are required for all round development. The best way to learn is by doing things, but since every child is unique, hence the word creativity comes into the picture.
In their early years, children explore the world around them by using all their senses. It is very important to identify the gift in the child, his approach and reactions to the things around, and last but not the least, inculcation of good habits.
They would then grow up to become independent and self-confident citizens of tomorrow. The right appreciation helps in imparting a positive attitude towards life.
The curriculum design should be planned in such a way that, through the daily schedule, the child grows slowly but steadily towards the accomplishment of the goals of creative curriculum. Hence, give the child a successful start in school. Having a great idea is one thing, and implementation of the same is quite another.
Mapping provides the proper and systematic step-by-step approach which is required to achieve the goal to learn and explore about self, the community, and the world at large.

Curriculum Mapping

The process of curriculum mapping is based on mainly the research and goal to be achieved. The research provides us with the information about the existing trends, mistakes, and discoveries in the concerned area. The goal is the result strived towards.
A curriculum map or flow chart is an easy methodical way to understand the process of implementation, and describes the step-by-step actions to be taken towards the goal. It also helps in decision-making and identifying the gaps. It enables allocation of sufficient time to cover each standard and objective.
As teachers map out teaching units, cross-curricular connections become more evident, which enables students to develop real world application for concepts, helps them to learn solve a problem by resolving the root cause of the problem, and therefore helps them understanding the inter relation between things.
By analyzing the curriculum map, strategies become clearer. It facilitates assessment planning also, and helps in the identification of the areas for improvement.
It is vital that teachers focus on each child's individual development. Children should be given the opportunity to make decisions about their learning with supervision. Assessments provide the level of development or advancement towards the goal, and hence, the teachers should observe children carefully and use those observations to guide learning.
Assessment also helps plan future activities and extend learning. Regular communication with parents is necessary to meet the ultimate goal of working together on children's learning and through challenging situations.
The rules should however, not be rigid. It is essential to understand that everything, all curriculums are for these babies; these babies need not adjust to any pattern. It is required from the curriculum to adjust as per the requirement of the child's uniqueness, and therefore, the need to be creative.
Creative curriculum mapping includes observing and exploring. It is the assistance provided to the future leaders by helping them in their learning of a variety of ways to deal with the problems of life. Teachers and parents, both need to be very careful, because a child is so soft that even your slightest irritation can affect them adversely.
The job calls for a lot of patience, and of course, immense love coupled with responsibility for these little angels. As rightly said by Stacia Tauscher, "We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today."