Mississippi Administrative Code
Title 7 - Education K-12
Part 7 - Mississippi Kindergarten Guidelines
Current through March 14, 2024
Kindergarten Philosophy and Goals
The kindergarten program shall reflect an understanding of child development principles. These principles shall be embodied in the curriculum design and general learning environment. The instructional delivery is to be organized around learning centers where opportunities are provided for children to acquire skills and concepts that include problem-solving, decision-making, questioning, evaluating, and discovering.
The realistic goals for kindergarten education are as follows:
1. Develop a positive self-concept.
2. Achieve intellectual growth.
3. Enlarge student's world of people, experiences, ideas, and things.
4. Increase competence and skills in reading, writing, listening, thinking, and speaking.
5. Increase the skills involved in physical coordination.
6. Increase competence in dealing with emotional feelings and social situations.
7. Increase competence in self-direction and independence.
8. Develop cooperative trusting relationships.
9. Develop natural curiosity and creative potential.
Learning Principles
Effective educational planning for young children takes into account knowledge of human growth and development. The learning principles that guide this planning include the following:
1. Children learn as total persons (emotionally, socially, physically, and intellectually).
2. Children go through similar stages of development, but at individual rates.
3. Children learn through their senses (hearing, seeing, touching, tasting, and smelling).
4. Children learn through active involvement (exploring, playing, manipulating, and problem-solving).
5. Children learn through attitudes as well as through content; therefore, attention should be given to methods, emotional climate, environment, and teacher-child interaction.
6. Children learn through play; therefore, sensitivity to the value of play is required, for it is through play that children create their own meaning and learning schemes. Play is the work of the child.
