What is Curriculum Orientations

There is a misnomer that early childhood experiences are defined as either formal and teacher-directed or informal and play-based. Early childhood centers, curriculum developers, and classroom teachers often acknowledge they are involved in a forced-choice scenario where one instructional approach excludes the other. Learning experiences that build school readiness do not need to exist as distinctly formal or informal. Learning experiences can intersect and intermingle formal and informal instructional pedagogies. This chapter hopes to accomplish three major goals: (1) to define formal and informal instruction, (2) to demonstrate the relationship that exists between formal and informal instruction, and (3) to provide alternative pathways for educators to choose appropriately between formal and informal instruction. This chapter proposes four patterns that highlight the many and varied intersections between formal and informal instruction within the same learning experience. A series of examples and questions for consideration aligned to each pattern of instruction are also provided.