A Catholic early learning curriculum designed to harness children’s natural curiosity

Freya Lucas

May 14, 2024

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Children attending Catholic early childhood education and care (ECEC) services in and around the Canberra-Goulburn Archdiocese will be educated through the Early Years Religious Education Curriculum, which is already in use at a number of services in the archdiocese.

The curriculum, Canberra-Goulburn Catholic Education Director Ross Fox explained, is designed to “harness children’s natural curiosity.”

“We know that children have so much to learn. They learn well in many instances through play, but they need to have an opportunity through intentional teaching, exposure to rich vocabulary and rich knowledge to become the people they are capable of being – human beings fully alive, which is absolutely what we aspire to for them,” he said.

The curriculum document, Exploring, Learning, and Wondering, includes prayer celebrations, liturgy outlines, and engaging activities, and is ‘entirely consistent’ with the outcomes of the Early Years Learning Framework, Mr Fox said, addressing educators at the launch.

“Under your work and focus, it will continue to grow in its clarity and influence on the lives of our students, hopefully as they begin a journey of more than 13 years in Catholic education, starting here at our Early Learning Centres.”

Exploring, Learning, and Wondering is designed to develop children’s knowledge and understanding of religion by teaching about Jesus and familiarising them with the Church and prayer.

General manager Leah Taylor said Catholic Early Learning Centres were increasingly seeing “children who had never known God.”

“For them, it might be the beginning of an interfaith dialogue. For others, it is the first time that they begin to know that they are deeply loved by God,” she said.

“For us to be able to give that gift to our students is an amazing blessing for us and an amazing blessing for them.”

To read the original coverage of this story please see here.

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