Early Education 304 - Early Childhood Curriculum, Methods, and Materials. The Early Childhood Curriculum, Methods, and Materials course explores historical and philosophical foundations and current trends in the Kindergarten classroom with a focus on methods and materials to facilitate development and learning. Teacher candidates are assigned to Kindergarten classrooms for twenty-five hours of observation, during which they are required to interact with the children and present two mini-lessons from the unit plan or chosen by the classroom teacher that, are based upon appropriate developmental practices for Kindergarten children. An evaluation will be completed by the public school cooperating teacher at the end of the experience. A rating of "below average" will result in failure of the field experience and failure of the course. [ Guidelines in MS Word Format ]