NCF ECD PROGRAMME
This programme is based on the
National Curriculum Framework (NCF)
and features the
6 ELDA's (Early Learning Development Areas)
The programme is theme-based
see the themes here
Age groups:
Tiny Tots 18 months - 2 years,
Toddlers 2 - 3,
Junior 3 - 4,
Senior 4 - 5 years.
As well as children's material and guidebooks for the teacher, there are also One-A-Day Chart books.
A chart for each day, created for the theme and discussion topic of that day.
For each of the four terms term each child receives:
A full colour folder containing:
-
1 x A4 Activity pad which includes;
5 x Activity Sheets per theme,
Full colour cut-out pages for each theme,
A complete set of ELDA Observation Sheets,
Assessment sheets for each theme.
-
1 x A2 poster,
-
1 sheet of 20 self-assessment stickers,
-
1 x A3 folded ELDA end-of-term report.
Available in English and Afrikaans.
For each of the four terms term each child receives:
1 x A3 activity pad including:
-
Full colour cut-out pages,
-
1 sheet of 20 self-assessment stickers,
-
1 x A3 folded ELDA end-of-term report.
Available in English and Afrikaans.
There is a guidebook each term for the teacher. In English or Afrikaans.
A daily lesson plan for each activity sheet with theme-based teacher-directed activities, free play, routines and theme discussions.
The Online Resources have all the games and art activities, etc. for each theme. They are in English but all customers have access to them.
SEE MORE ABOUT THE ONLINE RESOURCES HERE
​
NEW BEE MODULE FOR THE SUMMER TERM
Has the same format as the Spider Module with all the same elements. Posters, stickers, colour cut-out pages.
Activity pads.
ELDA Observation sheets.
Assessment sheets.
Extensive
ONLINE RESOURCES
with art activities, games, teaching aids, information about the ELDAs, pre-coding skills and an a - z of terminology.
10 NEW themes
My school
My busy body
About summer
Rainbow colours
Water
Dinosaurs
Shapes
Bees
Looking after the earth
Nocturnal animals
Compare Spider and Bee module themes here
Bee Module
Summer - Term 1
10 themes:
My school
My busy body
About summer
Rainbow colours
Water
Dinosaurs
Shapes
Bees
Looking after the earth
Nocturnal animals
Spider Module
Summer - Term 1
10 themes:
Summer
My body
My home
My family
Primary colours
Pets
Shapes
Dairy
Opposites
Sea animals
Spider Module
Autumn - Term 2
10 themes:
Autumn
Senses
Secondary colours
Animal homes
Shapes
What is that made of?
Farm animals
Transport
Occupations
Butterflies and beetles
Spider Module
Winter - Term 3
8 themes:
Winter
Spiders
Going shopping
Fire
Reptiles
Vegetables
African animals
Road safety
Spider Module
Spring - Term 4
6 themes:
Spring
Fruit
Keeping clean
Out in space
In the garden
Fish
One-A-Day Chartbooks
NCF ECD Programme
These A3 chart books provide a chart for each day to use with the theme discussion. There is a book for each age group and each term.
The charts are printed double-sided on good quality thin card and then wire bound.
The child’s voice:
I need to experience an environment where I can enjoy good health, nutrition, safety and security and where I can develop confidence and resilience. I want to be happy. This is my right.
I am usually physically very active and my body is developing and growing rapidly. I need enough nutritious food. Proper health care and a safe environment are very important to ensure growth and development. This is my right.
The child’s voice:
I need to experience an environment where I develop a strong sense of self, experience positive relationships and celebrate differences.
The child’s voice:
I need to experience an environment where I can learn to listen attentively, speak openly, learn to love books, stories and reading, record and to write, and to get ready for formal reading and writing as I grow and develop.
The child’s voice:
I need to experience an environment where I can find patterns, make connections, recognise relationships, work with numbers, sort out objects, match and classify things. This helps me to think, solve problems and ask questions.
The child’s voice:
I need to experience an environment where I can identify challenges and problems, try out solutions in safety and freedom and experiment with play, make believe play, drawing, painting, cutting and pasting, modelling and music, rhythm, dance and drama.
The child’s voice
I want to make sense of my world through active participation in my real world and through practical experiments. Please support my learning by providing me opportunities to learn about people, objects, places, plants and creatures from my natural environment.
-
On each day of the Day By Day NCF Programme there are suggested Observation points (things to observe about the children) taken from each ELDA and its Aims.
-
You don't have to search through the NCF document to find them.
-
There is a complete list of these Observations (137 in total) in each child’s Activity pad. These pages are taken out and placed in the child’s file where the teacher can record what has been observed.
-
You don't have to make copies and you can record your observations directly into this file.
How do the Observation Sheets benefit you?
These Observation Sheets are a tool for improving observation of the children, not a big stick to hit yourself with! Many of the observation points overlap in the different ELDAs and if you make observations from each ELDA you will get a balanced picture.
The National Curriculum Framework consists of guidelines for:
Observing the developmental and learning needs of each child. Planning activities to meet each child's own developmental needs and learning interests. Doing the activities with the children. Assessing children's developmental and learning needs and evaluating the ECD programme in terms of its ability to meet the needs of each child. Assessment in these early years in informal and is carried out every day for each child.
In the NCF the emphasis in assessment is on observing children in an ongoing and planned way, during their daily routines, structured and free play activities.
Observation means watching carefully and listening carefully to each young child each day. The guide to assessment is based on the six early learning areas and the suggestions for assessment for each. Adults use these suggestions as the basis for their observations of each child.
Step 1: Prepare for assessment by organising:
1. A note book to keep close by, in which dated notes can be jotted down about each child during the day on important milestones and challenges that the child faces.
2. A file for each child into which to transfer dated notes and to store all the information about the child (photocopies of the Road to Health card, registration details, copies of reports to parents, notes on discussions with parents and so on).
3. A timetable of formal meeting times available for discussions with parents.
Step 2: Generating and collecting evidence of achievement.
The practitioner needs to remember what she has observed so that she can plan efficiently and effectively for each child's needs and interests, and so that she can discuss these needs and interests and her plans with the parents of each child.
The best way to do this is to make notes on each child's key developments and interests. The notes will be based on the information in the six ELDAs.
Observe each child's actions and behaviour each day.
Look at her actions to see the skills she is developing for example, sitting up, taking steps, twisting her body, holding a crayon, making marking on paper.
Listen to the sounds that the child makes ('a child speaks in a hundred languages')
Use the senses of smell and touch to observe illness in the child (for example, the smell of the child's breath, faeces, temperature, dryness, sweating).
Make notes on your observations. Written evidence is very important. This is especially so with health and safety, which are governed by law that is evidence of injuries, accidents, illness and steps taken to deal with these.
The parent and the ECD practitioners remember the key information about the child's development and learning. The ECD practitioner records this in writing first in her observation notes each day and then more formally in the reports of the child's progress and needs.
The Day By Day NCF ECD programme reports are designed specifically to transfer the information from the Observation sheets across to the report easily.
Not all pre-schools are created equal and have the advantage of unlimited or even adequate resources. An activity sheet is an opportunity for a learning experience that might otherwise be missed. Our activity sheets sit at the centre of the Day By Day Programme, and have a value of their own, but should also be viewed in the context of the whole lesson plan.
​
To illustrate how an activity sheet has value, let’s look at two simple examples, both taken from the Autumn Term Senior pad, and ask what does the child learn?
​​
First an ‘odd one out’ activity.
1. Visual discrimination. To complete this activity the child must be able to see the differences between objects.
2. Direction. The child learns to work from left to right and top to bottom, one row at a time.
3. Theme related. Reinforce things learned about the theme, in this case the names of some animal homes.
4. Fine motor skills. Develop pencil skills during colouring in, and hand-eye co-ordination.
Second a ‘counting’ activity.
1. Number recognition. The children learn to recognise the numbers and their names.
2. Number value. Learn the value of each number, how many objects it represents.
3. One-to-one correspondence. Learn that six chickens is the same amount as six horses.
4. Theme related. Reinforce things learned about the theme, in this case the names of some farm animals.
5. Fine motor skills. Develop cutting and pasting skills as the animals are cut out and pasted down.
The role of the teacher
The teacher needs to take responsibility for how much the children benefit from an Activity Sheet.
This can be illustrated by looking at the different levels at which the children can experience the activity.
Highest level
-
Have a concrete activity with the children before the Activity Sheet, that relates to the skill or concept of the Activity Sheet.
-
Explain what is happening and what the children need to do.
-
Ask questions to see if the children understand and let them ask questions.
-
Give the children the Activity Sheet to complete.
-
The children benefit from the skills and concepts of the activity.
-
When they are done, have a brief one-on-one assessment. During this conversation the teacher can assess how well the child has understood the concept and note the progress of skills.
-
This is recorded on an assessment sheet.
Medium level
-
Explain what is happening and what the children need to do.
-
Ask questions to see if the children understand and let them ask questions.
-
Give the children the Activity Sheet to complete.
-
The children benefit from the skills and concepts of the activity.
Lowest level
-
Put the Activity Sheet in front of the children without any directions.
-
The children colour it in and may or may not benefit from the skills and concepts of the activity.