In Japan, the early childhood education and care depends a lot on human relationships that exist within a group and which is child centric. The theory of “three activities in school” is very much in use in modern Japan schools which carries on the strong foundation of child development nurtured through group-based education during the formative years of the child.
There are three layers followed for teaching purposes. The first one is the premise that says, “life that serves as the base”, which deals with the ordinary routine life of the child every day. This comprises of free play with educational guidance.
The second layer is, “central activity”, that involves play, activities that keep the child happy, interested and is continued through preschool, early childhood. This is to keep the child engaged and prepare him or her for the third layer.
The last layer is, “systematized learning activities”, and this is where the child is introduced to abstract concepts of numbers, languages, plastic arts, music and so on. While these three layers may appear isolated and not in sync with each other, all of them are carried out as playful assignments so that they can be interlinked to serve the larger purpose of contributing to the overall development of the child.
We help in lesson planning through Developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) curriculum for preschools in India.