LEARNING FRAMEWORK

FOR

EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT

THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA NATIONAL CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT CENTRE

 Learning Framework
for
Early Childhood Development
Printed by
National Curriculum Development Centre, Kyambogo,
P. O. BOX 7002,
KAMPALA Uganda
[Link]

Copyright© NCDC 2005

First printed 2005.

All rights reserved: No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright holder.

Illustrations and cover design by O’du’boa Edward

ii
Table Of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT vi
FOREWORD vii

SECTION I: INTRODUCTION 1
SECTION II: LEARNING FRAMEWORK 11

1. Relating with others in an acceptable way 12

i. Identifying, taking interest in and observing
people around me 12

ii. Identifying people who protect and take care of

me and how they do it 14

iii. Sharing with and taking care of other people 16

2. Interacting, exploring, knowing and using my

environment 18
i. Exploring and knowing my immediate
environment 19

ii. Knowing and appreciating important places in

my environment 20

iii. Knowing how to keep and take care of my

environment 21

iv. Identifying dangers in my environment and

taking precaution 22

v. Experimenting and understanding the concept of

movement in the environment (FORCE) 24

vi. Creating, appreciating and expressing myself

through artwork
24

iii
3. Taking Care of Myself for Proper Growth and
Development 27

i. Caring for my eyes 27

ii. Caring for my ears 28
iii. Using the sense of touching and feeling to
describe things and situations 28

iv. Caring for the body 29

v. Using the sense if smell and caring for the nose 30

vi. Using the sense of taste and caring for the 31

mouth

vii. Identifying and naming different body parts and

their uses. 32

viii. Having self-concept, confidence and self-esteem 33

xi. Using Gross and Fine Motor (large and small

muscles) 34

x. Expressing creativity freely and independently 35

xi. Keeping healthy and practising good health 36

habits

xii. Keeping safe and avoiding accidents 38

xiii. Knowing and relating with God and 38

His Creation

4. Developing and using mathematical concepts in

my day-to-day experiences 40

i. Surveying, knowing and distinguishing the

attributes of objects 41

ii. Comparing things according to different

attributes 43
43
iii. Recognizing, describing and representing
numbers and their relationships and solving
mathematical problems with competence and
iv
 confidence

iv. Using appropriate measuring units, instruments

and formulas in a variety of contexts 46

v. Understanding and using the concept of time 46

vi. Understanding the concept of space 47

48
vii. Recognising, describing and using money

viii. Recogniseing and Creating number patterns 49

ix. Representing and interpreting information in

pictorial form 49

5. Developing and using my Language Appropriately

50
i. Listening with acuity for information and
enjoyment and respond appropriately in a wide
range of situations 51

ii. Communicate confidently, effectively and

meaningfully in spoken and sign language in a
wide range of situations 54

iii. Reading to enjoy, acquire knowledge and be able

to comprehend 56

iv. Writing different kinds of factual and imaginative

tasks depicting good letter formation, creativity
and handwriting skills 57

v
Acknowledgement
The Learning Framework for Early Childhood Development (ECD) is a result of
collaborative efforts of the Government, Internal and International Agencies, the
Community and the Children themselves. The National Curriculum Development Centre
(NCDC) therefore, wishes to express sincere gratitude to all who, in one way or another,
contributed towards preparation and production of this document.

I am grateful to the Nutrition and Early Childhood Project (NECDP) and the UNICEF for
financial and other material support and to the Government of Uganda for facilitating the
donation. I thank the writers, friends and advisors as well as colleagues from NCDC for
their tireless support and contribution.

I wish to acknowledge with thanks the professional expertise of the District Inspectors of
Schools, Centre Coordinating Tutors, Nursery School Teachers and ECD Caregivers.

I recognise the work of the editors, Zeulia Mabaale and A.G. Musamali of NCDC who
worked side by side with the writers through the correction and refining phases of the
document. Extra thanks go to Mr. O’du’boa for the illustrations and cover design. Special
appreciation goes to the Secretaries – Olivia Mugabi Magara, Catherine Neumbe and
James Kaggwa for ably compiling the document.

The following are members of the core team:

1. Resty Muziribi (Chairperson) - MoES
2. Margaret Nsereko - MoES
3. Hajara Ndayidde - Madrasa Research Centres
4. Monica Muheirwe - KYU
5. Mary Ojacor - DOT
6. Florence Nalugya - St. Andrew’s Pre-Primary and Primary School
7. Grace Ocitti - Amnesty Commission
8. Caroline Rusiita - Hone Tree Montessori
9. Gilian Kasirye - School of Education, MUK
10. Joyce Othieno - ESA
11. Ednance Bakehena - Coordinator, ECD Programmes, NCDC

I trust that those concerned will use the Learning Framework gainfully and do justice to
the efforts that have been put into its production.

Connie Kateeba
Director National Curriculum Development Centre - NCDC

vi
Foreword
Development – A Right of every Ugandan Child:

The importance of Early Childhood Development is recognised in the Uganda Constitution

(1995), the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Children’s Statute (1996).
Uganda also developed a National Plan of Action (NPA) for reaching the World Summit
Goals for Children. In these, children’s rights are clearly articulated. Early Childhood
Development is fundamental to Human Resources Development. It is the foundation that
supports Universal Primary Education.

The benefits are far reaching to the child, the family and the society. The right to
development has to be guaranteed for children with special needs and for both girls and
boys without discrimination.
The government, however, regrets the lack of emphasis on Early Childhood development
in the country’s Education System. The task of developing and executing ECD
Programmes has been left in the hands of private entrepreneurs, some NGOs and a
handful of Early Childhood specialists in the country. I wish, on this note, to commend
these persons for their effort and commitment in providing programmes and support
materials for the development of our young children.

The early years of a child decide, to a considerable extent, what the adult will be. The
future of this or any other nation depends heavily on what it will have invested in its young
children. Qualities that are necessary for a healthy nation with a vibrant economy and a
sane, self-reliant population are laid down in infancy. It is during these sensitive formative
years of early childhood that potential characteristics of the adult person are decided.
Investing in ECD is one of the ways of empowering a child for life and giving him/her a
firm foundation upon which later experiences can be built.

The government recognizes the contribution of ECD to the nation in laying the foundation
for effective education, for the achievement of the child’s potential and for Human
Resource Development and related socio-economic benefits to the family and society as
a whole. The government further sees the need for immediate action in this critical area
of development. It is, therefore, a challenge to all Ugandans to come together and lay a
firm foundation for our nation.

The production of the Learning Framework for Early Childhood Development by the
National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) is a major breakthrough for Early
Childhood Development and a great encouragement for all stakeholders especially
committed to this sector of Education.

This learning framework has been designed to allow every Ugandan Child to enjoy the
right to development whether at home, at a formal or a semi-formal pre-school.

For effective implementation, however, the framework will have to be translated into local
languages so that it will be relevant to children in a variety of situations found in this
country. Long-term planning includes implementation at a local level where co-ordination
vii
of Early Childhood Development local programmes will reflect local languages, customs
and situations.

Effective implementation by the Ministry of Education and Sports will imply working in
partnership with all stakeholders including Government and Non-Government
Organisations and the private sector in the provision of training and technical guidance.

Orientation of the public at a local level will focus on the benefits of appropriate ECD
interventions, information on matters of ECD including Active Learning Framework, rights
of Children, the role of parents and community in providing a safe learning environment
for our children especially the girl child, the disabled and children with special needs.

Finally, it is my great pleasure and privilege to witness the completion of this Learning
Framework for Early Childhood Development. I wish the best for all users and
beneficiaries of this Curriculum Framework. To the NCDC and all their partners, I want to
say thank you very much for a job well done.

Best wishes to all the users and beneficiaries of this Learning Framework for ECD.

Hon. Nyombi Tembo

MINISTER OF STATE FOR PRIMARY EDUCATION

viii
1
 INTRODUCTION
What is Early Childhood Development?
Early Childhood Development (ECD), though a relatively new term for many countries
including Uganda, has gained priority attention and is fast becoming a term in common
usage.

The term ECD refers to a continual process of human development, physically, socially,
emotionally and mentally from the time of conception to the initial stages of formal schooling
(0- 8 years old). During the early years, the child is guided by natural laws and learns from
the immediate environment, progressing from the known, to the unknown, from the simple to
the complex and from the concrete to the abstract in developing his/her personality. In short,
ECD refers to the growth and development in the formative and most crucial years in human
development. The term formative in this document is used to refer to the foundation years
(0-8) when children are forming habits that will influence their character in their adulthood.

While many children continue to be in the care of their parents and caregivers, there is
growing need for children in the age group of three to six years, especially in the urban and
semi –urban surroundings, to spend a part of their time in day-care and pre-school
centres/facilities under the care of an adult. These facilities go by different names-Nursery
School, Day Care, Kindergarten, Play School, Pre-School to name a few. A number of
(semi-formal) community-based ECD centres have also been coming up in rural as well as
urban settings. While the term, Early Childhood covers children of eight years and below,
this Learning Framework is intended to cater for children aged 3 to 6 years. Preparations
are underway to produce a Learning Framework for the range of 0 – 3 years.

There are also other terms that are used to refer to different aspects of development in the
child. These include Early Childhood Care, Early Childhood Education, Early Childhood
Education and Care and Early Childhood Care and Development. These terms are
sometimes used interchangeably. When you look at these terms closely, they mean almost
the same thing. The slight changes that exist depend on who is using what and what is
being stressed. However, this document constantly uses the term Early Childhood
Development as the term Development as comprehensive and depicts a caring and learning
process for realising the full development potential of the child.

The term “Development” as used in this document implies the total growth in physical,
cognitive, social, emotional, moral, and spiritual aspects. We also need to emphasise that
development is a product of both heredity and environment. While heredity pre-determines
the genetic potential, the environment provides the various inputs needed for the child to
achieve the genetic potential. If the environment is restrictive, the full genetic potential for
development cannot be reached. Similarly development can either be accelerated or
retarded depending on the social and physical environment of the child (feeding, stimulation,
care, love, interaction, social climate and other experiences the child goes through in his/her
environment). Each stage of this development process influences the subsequent stages in
later life of the child.

2
 Box11
Box How Children Learn
Young children are driven by an inherent urge to learn. But they learn differently from
the way older children and adults learn. They need to observe the environment around
them, manipulate and experiment with objects in the environment and develop clear
concepts.

Children under six years are in a preoperational stage in cognitive development. From
birth, they are exposed to innumerable stimuli in their environment. But they are not yet
capable of abstract or logical thinking. They need to work on forming a mental order of
things they observe, form basic concepts and move from the concrete to the abstract
progressively. They use their different senses during this process of cognitive
development.

To put it simply, children learn by doing. Hence, rote learning does not help them.
Activity is the most important aspect of the process of learning in young children. The
more children interact with their environment through activity-based learning, the greater
will be the clarity of the concepts they develop.

What is a developmental activity?

Throughout this document, you will come across the term ‘developmental activity’ and not
subjects that are taught in a classroom situation. The term developmental activity implies
that these are activities to be ‘done’ by children and facilitated by parents/care givers at
home or by adults in formal or semi-formal Pre-school settings. We need to understand
that a developmental activity is not ‘any activity’ done by children. A developmental
activity has a purpose (though not as most adults see it); it offers a challenge to the
child who spontaneously responds by doing the activity and feels immensely satisfied
when the activity is completed. These activities satisfy a developmental need or urge of
the child. By doing the activity repeatedly over a period of time, the child conquers a physical
or mental challenge, is able to store the various stimuli in his/her brain and form basic
concepts which he/she recalls from memory later. In the initial stages, most of these
activities are done individually by children in the family environment.

As they grow up, many developmental activities become possible in group situations. In fact,
activities related to social development need interaction with other children of the same
developmental age group as well as others in the environment.

We also need to understand that developmental activities do not demand high

investment in terms of materials or equipment. All of the materials needed for
facilitating children’s development can be found in the home and in the immediate
environment. This document suggests a list of activities that help children in specific areas
of development. A large number of similar activities and variations are also possible.

3
Thus all of the developmental needs of every Ugandan child can be fulfilled if the parents
and caregivers have the information of what to do and are willing to provide the time for
facilitating the development of the child. We, as a nation, have to invest in providing the
information that parents and caregivers need.

While each child is unique, they do have some distinctive common characteristics that
parents and caregivers should be aware of.

Examples of these are shown in Box 2, below:

Box 2 The Curriculum is based on Developmental Needs

of Children
Physical needs include:
• Need for proper feeding and healthy environment
• Need for exercise and play
• Need for sleep and rest
• Need for adequate clothing and shelter
• Need for care and attention

Emotional needs include:

• Need for love and security
• Need for success and self-worth
• Need for opportunities to express anger, fear, tenderness and happiness

Social and Moral needs include:

• Need to live with and relate with others
• Need to belong to a group
• Need to lead and follow
• Need to understand right and wrong
• Need to become independent

Spiritual needs include:

• Need to understand the Creator and creation
• Need to understand God as a loving Father who cares for them and others

Intellectual needs include:

• Need for stimulation
• Need for opportunities to explore, experiment and discover
• Need for opportunities to use language
• Need for purposeful play

4
 Box 3 Some Common Characteristics of Children
è Children are very active and love working on their own. This is visible even before
children start to walk. This inherent need for mobility and physical activity has to be
respected.

è Children resist any attempt to prevent them from being active.

è Children are self-centred. They look at situations from their own point of view.

è Children learn through doing things. They are eager to handle and manipulate objects
in their environment. They have not yet developed the ability for abstract thinking.

è Children are curious, imaginative and inquisitive about things and about what happens
around them.

è Children have short attention span. This means that they do not engage in a single
activity for a long time. Depending on the activity, developmental interest and
maturation of the child, the attention span is limited to about 15 minutes for a single
activity.

è Children are interested in play and respond spontaneously to opportunities for play.
They also enjoy repetition of stories, songs and play activities. Rhyme, rhythm, action
and movement attract their attention.

è Children naturally develop likes and dislikes spontaneously and are demonstrative
about expressing to others.

è Children grow fast not only physically but also in all aspects of development and move
from one stage to another within a matter of days. For them, every new opportunity
poses a new challenge to be conquered.

è Children have different abilities and learning needs.

The Aims and Objectives of Pre-Primary Education

According to the document on “Education for National Integration and Development”,

(Government White Paper on The Education Policy Review Commission Report – 1992), the
aims and Objectives of pre-primary education are underlisted:

(i) To develop capabilities and healthy physical growth of the child through play/ activities;

5
(ii) To help the child develop good social habits as an individual and as a member of
society;

(iii) To develop moral values in the child;

(iv) To enrich the child’s experience by developing imagination, self-reliance and thinking
power;

(v) To help the child towards appreciating his/her national cultural background and
customs, and developing a feeling of love and care for other people and for Uganda
and a sense of unity leading to a national stance;

(vi) To develop language and communication skills in the mother tongue.

Outcomes
There are two main aspects to this Learning Framework: the Process and the Outcomes.

The outcomes focus on what the child will be and what qualities he/she will have as a result
of undergoing a learning process. The process refers to the child’s development or gradual
achievement of observable competences and outcomes effected through learning activities.
The learning outcomes, when retained, will form the basis for or become transformed into
critical outcomes for life.

The critical outcomes include the key skills, knowledge, attitudes and values for an individual
to live meaningfully in the society for life.

The framework is thus transformative in that it plans the development of outcomes for the
child and links these outcomes to the overall societal requirements that the children needs in
order to thrive.

Critical outcomes as derived from the aims and objectives of pre-primary education,
in the Government White Paper on Education (1992). They are geared toward
producing a person who is: -

• Independent, self reliant and able to thrive and operate in the community, nation and
beyond (sub-systems and systems);

• Physically, intellectually morally, spiritually developed as well as socially and emotionally

well adjusted;

• Appreciative, respectful and uses his/her language and other people’s languages;

• God fearing, morally and spiritually built; and

• Well grounded, appreciates and respects his/her own as well as other peoples’ culture.

6
Child-Centred Learning Approach

This learning framework differs radically from the way parents and teachers traditionally look
at syllabus. It does not show knowledge in subject form but rather in themes – Learning
Areas. At this early age, the interest is on the child, what he/she is able to do and show that
he/she has learned. In short, the learning outcome exhibited by the child. A ‘Syllabus’
typically provides information on what needs to be taught in a particular course or in a
particular class. In the case of children, the emphasis is on children learning and working on
their own development with the guidance of the adult. Hence we discourage the use of the
term ‘Syllabus’ and prefer to use the term ‘Learning Framework’ while referring to the
guidelines in this document. Within this learning framework, there are no ‘lessons to be
taught by the adult’, but there are ‘developmental activities to be done by children’.

Role of Parent, Caregiver or Adult in ECD

While all children are driven by the natural laws to seek developmental activities, they will be
able to achieve their full potential for development when they are helped by parents and
other caregivers from a very young age. The pioneers in developmental psychology and
early childhood experts have shown that during the early periods of rapid brain development,
parents and adults in the environment can influence the brain development through
purposefully engaging children in developmental activities.

Parents, family members, and the community influence this development of the child. In
addition, the adults and caregivers who spend most of their time with children have a very
important role to play in the child’s development. Most Ugandan children stay with their
parents or other caregivers during the first three years. Very few children of this age group
attend day-care facilities. The same thing applies to children of 3 to 6 years of age, i.e.
before they enter primary school.

Given these facts of child development, we now know that the role of adults, whether they
are parents, grandparents, and caregivers in home environments or adults in formal and
semi-formal settings, is very important. Their role is about providing the right type of learning
environment where children can handle and manipulate objects with their sensory
perceptions, form basic concepts, develop creativity, self-esteem, self-confidence, and
become socially and emotionally well-adjusted individuals.

Grouping of Developmental Activities

The final outcome of developmental activities is the development of various Life Skills in the
child. This forms the basis of development of an emotionally and socially well adjusted
personality, who has respect for nature and its sustainable use, for the rights and aspirations
of fellow beings, respect for appropriate cultural norms and values, scholastic productive
achievements and is able to function as a member of his/her community throughout later life.
The various activities that lead to this final outcome up to the time the child is around six
years of age have been grouped under five major areas.
7
• Activities that help the child to develop his/her senses and take care of him/herself.
• Activities that help the child to protect and take care of his/her environment.
• Activities that help the child in his/her understanding of people around and his/her
relationship with them.
• Activities that improve the child’s spoken language and readiness for reading, writing and
comprehension.
• Activities that help the child with number concepts and basic mathematical skills.

Taking care Interacting,

of myself for proper exploring,
growth and knowing and using
development my environment

Relating with
Developing and
others in an
using my
acceptable way.
Language
appropriately
Developing and
using
Mathematical
Concepts in my
day-to-day

Figure 1. Development of Life Skills

Figure 1 shows the grouping of the Learning Areas. This grouping has been done to
facilitate the understanding of various activities the child needs to do during this period and
does not represent any strict compartmentalization of activities but rather how they facilitate
each other. They are interrelated in nature. The activities in one group influence the
outcome of activities in another group and sometimes form the basis for progression of skills
in the other group.

8
Emphasis on the development of Life Skills as the final outcome and the presentation of
development activities in this form represents a radical shift from the way the traditional
‘Curriculum’ is presented and understood. These groups of activities do not represent any
subject to be taught in any type of childcare centre be it in the home, formal, non-formal or
semi-formal settings. The mode of teaching of subjects as used in regular classroom
situations is strongly discouraged for children under six years of age.
The activities are for the child’s orientation. The role of the adult is only to facilitate and
create a conducive learning environment for the child.

Integrated Approach and Partnership

Early Childhood Development is not just about learning or preparing for formal school. As
stated earlier, the interventions must include appropriate physical health and nutrition care,
mental health and provision of a stimulating environment for the development of the child.
The interventions needed for the development of the child fall under different sectors of
service delivery such as health, water, education, agriculture etc. Government, non-
government as well as private sectors are all partners in facilitating the various development
interventions for the child. It goes without saying that there has to be great synergy between
these interventions so that all of the child’s development needs are met.

Flexibility to meet diverse needs

Uganda presents diversity in geographical environment, in ethnic groups, language, cultural
norms and child rearing practices. Within these different settings, formal and semi-formal
models of childcare operate. Most children continue to be only in their home environments
till they enter primary school. This calls for flexibility in ECD programmes to meet these
varying circumstances. This framework for learning lends itself to be adapted to different
models of ECD -the formal, semi-formal as well as the non-formal home-based settings.

Deriving from the above, this learning framework supports the following guiding principles of
the ECD programme in Uganda.

Ø Children’s rights are fundamental;

Ø The preferred approach should be comprehensive, addressing the broad range of

children’s needs;

Ø The goal should be to bring about positive, enabling environments for children;

Ø Programmes should be assets based, building on positive qualities in children and

communities; hence the appreciative inquiry approach which uses the existing structures
and best practices found in the community.

Ø There is no one, universally applicable formula of handling young children;

Ø Flexibility is essential, permitting adaptability to community needs;

Ø All programmes of whatever type should strive for maximum quality;

9
Ø Programmes should be child-centred but address the family as a whole, involving them
directly as far as possible;

Ø Programmes should cater for children with special needs and promote gender equality.

Box 4 Some guidelines for Caregivers

• Provide basic needs of nutrition, adequate clothing, a safe and friendly home
environment to your child, regardless of sex or physical status of the child.

• Check regularly the growth and development of children for proper physical,
psychosocial and emotional development.

• Help children to take care of their body and keep themselves clean.

• Know each and every child in your care i.e. his/her feelings, desires, likes and dislikes.

• Provide a stimulating, practical and safe learning environment where children are free
to interact with one another, with the environment, and with the caregivers to facilitate
active and progressive learning for the child.

• Provide love and affection, security and legal protection and ensure development of
self-esteem and self-confidence.

• Give special attention to children with special needs.

Relationship among caregivers:

• Share observations on the development of the children under your care with other
caregivers.
• Seek to know about the children from other caregivers to help them develop holistically
and with confidence.
• Share activities and roles. These may include, making toys, playing with the children,
feeding and bathing them etc so as to lighten the load of caring for them.

This document has been organized in two sections: Section One, comprises the Introduction
and Section Two presents the content for the Learning Framework.

The introduction focuses on the concept of ECD, describing how children learn, their
characteristics, their needs and how to meet these needs. Section Two which spells out the
curriculum content, has the following major learning areas: Relating with others in an
acceptable way; Interacting, exploring, knowing and using my environment; Taking
care of myself for proper growth and development; Developing and using

10
mathematical concepts in my day-to-day experiences and Developing and using my
language appropriately.

The framework is arranged in table form showing possible learning activities against their
corresponding competencies, which are intended to bring out learning outcomes.

11
 [Link] WITH OTHERS IN ACCEPTABLE WAY
What you need to know about children’s relationship with others

We grow and gradually attain all round development in the relationships with others in our
social environment. The learning activities you prepare should facilitate our all round
development attitudes, values and competences. They should also reflect the attitudes,
values and aspirations of the society around us.

We need to have relationships and feel a sense of belonging. We also

need to understand feelings of others by relating them to our own. To Help us
enhance this, we need experiences in observing people, interacting to relate
with them and discovering relationships in the family, the immediate with each
community and different services in the community.

Learning Outcomes

i. Identifying, taking interest in and observing

people around me.
ii. Identifying people who protect and take care of
me and how they do it.
iii. Sharing with and taking care of other people.

Learning outcome i Identifying, taking interest in and observing

people around me

Age Range Competences Suggested Developmental Activities

3 – 4 Years I can name the • Naming and talking about people I play and work with
people I play • Telling stories about people I play with
and work with • Singing songs about people I play with
e.g. friend, • Drawing pictures of the people I play and work with
parents, • Playing games
Caregivers. • Role-playing
• Making models of the people I play and work with
• Colouring pictures
• Calling people by their names
• Painting
12
 • Identifying people by their names
I can show • Telling news
acceptable • Using appropriate language
behaviour to • Extending sympathy e.g. saying sorry to people
people I play • Responding appropriately according to culture
with. • Negotiating for favours e.g. to be given something
• Accepting to belong to a group, and to be lead through
games
• Taking turns
• Obeying instructions/commands
• Telling the truth to people and about people
• Role-playing acceptable behaviour using appropriate
language, practising good toilet habits, obeying and
following commands in group, asking for permission,
apologising, inquiring about things

I can describe • Practising good health habits

the people I play • Working in groups and helping one another
and work with. • Singing songs related to acceptable behaviour
• Making requests
• Talking about people I play and work with in relation to
age levels e.g. young, elderly, etc.
• Talking about my friends
• Mentioning the names of my family members and the
activities they perform
• Matching pictures of people I play and work with to
appropriate pictures of clothes

4 – 5 years I can observe • Imitating body movements of people e.g. walking like an
and talk about old person
people at the • Identifying body sizes of people e.g. big, small
home and • Telling news about people, events at home and at the
Learning Learning Centre
Centre.

I can tell the • Telling news about my friends at home and at the
roles of the Learning Centre. Talking about roles of people at home
people at home and Learning Centre
and at the • Painting
Learning • Role-playing different people and their activities at home
Centre. and at the Learning Centre e.g. cooking, taking care of
the infant, cleaning the environment

13
 I can show • Practising good health habits
acceptable • Working in groups and helping one another
behaviour to • Taking turns
people I play • Obeying and following rules of the group of the people I
with. play with
• Interacting well with the people I play with
• Asking for permission to use other people’s things
• Telling the truth to people and about people
• Making requests through games

• Role playing activities related to acceptable behaviour

• Role playing acceptable behaviour using appropriate
language to respond appropriately according to culture,
making requests, extending sympathy apologising to
people, negotiating for favours, inquiring, accepting to
belong to a group, taking turns, asking for permission.

5 – 6 Years I can show • Role playing acceptable behaviour using appropriate

acceptable language to make requests, extending sympathy,
behaviour to apologisiong, responding appropriately when called,
people in my inquiring about things, practising good health habits,
immediate taking turns, obeying and following rules, asking for
environment permission, and telling the truth.
e.g. parents, • Playing games that show good behaviour
guardians, and • Playing imaginary situations with others
caregivers.

I can tell good • Story telling (stories depicting good and bad behaviour).
and bad • Picture talk
behaviour • Singing
• Dramatising good behaviour

Learning Outcome ii Identifying people who protect and

take care of me and how they do it

Age Range Competences Suggested Developmental Activities

14
3 – 4 years I can talk about • Imitating actions of people who care and protect me.
people who • Role playing, singing, reciting rhymes, telling stories,
protect and care playing with people who care for me.
for me. • Drawing pictures of people who protect and care for
me.
• Saying names of the people who protect and take care
of me.
• Talking about pictures of people who protect and care
for me, like teachers, parents, doctors, police
• Role-playing asking for help freely from people who
protect and care for me.
• Telling others about people who protect and care for
me.
• Identifying people who protect and take care of me in
the community.

I can tell the • Listening to stories

roles of the • Role-playing
people at home • Imitating roles of other people
and Learning • Singing of being friendly to others
Centre e.g. • Talking about the roles
parents, • Drawing
caregivers, • Listening to and telling stories
relatives.
• Telling news

4 - 5 years I can describe • Drawing pictures of people who protect and care for me
how people • Telling news, listening to stories and retelling stories
protect and take • Singing songs related to people who protect and take
for me. care for me
• Talking about people who protect and care for me e.g.
parents, nurses, caregivers and what they do
• Role-playing people help others
• Imitating people protecting and taking care of me

I can • Role-playing calling for help e.g. making an alarm,

communicate to yelling, making telephone calls
people who • Singing songs that give messages to people who protect
protect and take and take care of me.
care for me. • Reciting rhymes
• Drawing
• Modeling
• Painting
• Listening to and retelling stories
• Playing games about protecting and taking care of me
• Conversation

15
5 - 6 years I can explain • Naming and talking about roles of different people who
how people protect and care for me e.g. Caregivers, Police, Nurses,
protect and take Local Defence Units (LDUs)
care of me. • Drawing pictures of people who protect and take care of
me
• Mentioning things given / provided to me for protection
• Talking about pictures I have drawn
• Miming how people protect and care for me
• Role-playing
• Telling stories
• Singing
• Listening to and re-telling stories
• Asking and answering questions about people who
protect and take care of me.

I can describe • Mentioning their names and their relationship e.g.

people of my brother, sister, mother, father, uncle, cousin,
family grandmother, grandfather.

Learning Outcome iii Sharing with and taking care of other people

Age Range Competences Suggested Developmental Activities

16
3 – 4 years
I can participate • Making gifts
in-group • Singing for others
activities. • Playing different games in groups and practicing taking
leadership roles
• Role playing such as:
- wedding, cooking,
- birth day etc
- giving and receiving using appropriate language
• Telling news related to sharing e.g. experiences, gifts,
and different occasions
• Collecting and sharing materials in-group activities
• Singing action songs
• Telling and listening to stories about other people
related to sharing.

4 – 5 years
I can show • Volunteering e.g. helping those in need (reporting the
sympathy and sick, comforting a baby etc)
empathy for • Role-playing showing feeling of others, comforting others
others. in need, bringing lost and found property, giving first aid,
talking to a friend in need, donating, giving, lending,
helping in house chores
• Telling stories depicting sympathy and empathy.
• Singing songs related to sympathy.

5 – 6 years I can actively • Role-playing e.g. joining others in different situations like
participate in sadness, happiness, etc.
group activities • Reading picture stories
• Working on projects e.g.
- rabbit keeping,
- poultry,
- watering plants
• Singing together
• Telling and listening to stories
• Playing group games
• Waiting for my turn

17
I can participate • Assuming roles in game situations
in caring for • Sharing with others willingly
people in my • Naming different age levels of people in our environment
community such as babies, children, adult, and elderly
• Singing songs to entertain babies and grand parents
• Accompanying the elderly to various places
• Cleaning the place around me.
• Fetching water for the old.
• Playing with babies
• Role-playing caring for people
• Talking about ways of caring for people in the community
• Visiting the elderly with the caregiver
• Making toys and playing with toys and with the younger
children.

18
2. INTERACTING WITH, EXPLORING,
KNOWING AND USING MY ENVIRONMENT

What you need to know about the way we interact with and know our
environment?
Children are curious by nature. They are always eager to know more about their
environment. Children are also creative. They learn to appreciate and use their
environment and naturally adapt themselves to it through observing, exploring and
experimenting.

Give us the
opportunity to
explore, know
and use our
environment

Proper outcomes will be achieved through play and various activities using our bodies and
mind as we interact with our immediate environment. As we learn to appreciate and value
the beauty of the environment, we will be helped to develop competences for caring and
preserving it. In the same way we will be helped to develop the ability to take precaution
against dangerous situations in their environment.

Learning Outcomes

i. Exploring and knowing my immediate environment

ii. Knowing and appreciating important places in my environment.
iii. Knowing how to keep and take care of my environment
iv. Identifying dangers in my environment and taking precautions.
v. Experimenting and understanding the concept of movement (FORCE)
vi. Creating things, appreciating and expressing myself through art.

19
arning Outcome
Learning I i
outcome Exploring and knowing my immediate
environment

Age Range Competences Suggested Developmental Activities

3 – 4 years
I can identify • Naming rooms in the house e.g. kitchen, bedroom, sitting
and talk about room.
my home • Naming and counting number of houses at home
• Drawing, colouring, modeling and painting pictures of
houses, and objects in each room
• Associating rooms with their uses
• Comparing our house with other houses e.g. size, colour,
shape
• Playing construction games with blocks, bottle tops, sticks
and other available materials
• Tracing and completing pictures of different types of
houses.

I can classify • Naming people, animals, plants, insects and other objects
people, seen at home
animals, • Grouping according to kind – four legged, two legged,
insects and many legged, crawling etc.
other objects I • Talking about how they grow i.e. climbing, creeping,
see at home. upright, big and small
• Playing games showing sequences of growth of some of
the above e.g. on funnel, boards, woods, strings, clay
• Matching and identifying animals with their sounds, their
babies and homes

4 – 5 years I can identify • Naming people, animals and plants in the Learning
people, Centre
animals, • Classifying animals according to types e.g. wild, and
plants and tame, birds, insects
other things at • Sorting between living and non-living things e.g. trees,
the Learning flowers, grass, food crops, medicinal plants and fruits
Centre. • Talking about their uses to us
• Talking about each of the identified items needed for
growth
• Painting, making mosaic, drawing, cutting and pasting
pictures of animals, plants, insects, birds and others
• Describing and participating in caring for small animals,
flowers, grass and trees
• Going out for nature walks and discovering animal homes
e.g. under stones, on trees and walls
• Playing games like jig-saw, lotto, domino about animals
and other objects at the Learning Centre

20
 • Tearing

5 – 6 years I can care and • The children practice sweeping, mopping and cleaning
value my home and the Centre
environment. • Practising cleanliness in the environment e.g. throwing
waste in dust bins and sorting waste
• Modelling
• Talking about ways of how to avoid danger
• Caring for the people, animals, bird, insects and other
things
• Imitating e.g. animal/birds feeding and caring for their
young ones, animal movement e.g. a child moving on
fours
• Planting, watering plants, caring for seedlings and plants
• Observing and respecting pictorial environmental
messages/signs in the environment e.g. keep off grass
• Telling news about the things in the environment e.g.
what they see on their way to school
• Drawing and naming objects found in their environment
• Singing and reciting simple compositions about the
environment
I can • Naming things in my environment – soil, stones, air and
experiment water
with things in • Collecting and grouping soils and stones according to
the types
environment • Outlining the uses of things in the environment e.g. Clay
for modelling
• Modelling and using soils for painting and making mosaic
• Making and flying kites, propellers, and wind vane
• Naming things that fly in the air, e.g birds, aeroplanes,
butterflies, mosquitoes, kites, grasshoppers
• Talking about uses of wind and water
• Playing with water and other objects to see floating and
sinking; pouring and making bubbles
• Talking about things that live in water, e.g. fish, frogs,
plants and warms
• Describing how rain water can be collected
• Talking about what happens on wet and dry days

Learning outcome 2 Knowing and appreciating important places in

Learning outcome ii my environment

Age Range Competences Suggested Developmental Activities

3 - 4 years I can talk • Talking about different places in my environment e.g.
about the (church, mosque, market, hospital, school, police
important station)
places found • Drawing, painting, pasting and colouring different
in my
21
 environment. important places.
• Singing songs reciting rhymes about plants in the
environment.

• Talking about different important places and other things

found in the environment
• Role-playing
• Matching pictures of places and their related
people/actions e.g. building up self-collective jib-saws

4 – 5 years I can report • Visiting these places in the environment

about • Drawing, tracing, completing and colouring the pictures
important • Singing religious and cultural songs
places in the • Telling stories about the things and places in the
environment. environment.
• Reciting rhymes about these places
• Asking questions dealing with – what, why, how and
when about places visited
• Role-playing doctor, nurse, shopkeeper, priest, teacher,
Local Leaders
• Naming the people who are found in the important places
• Matching places with the people who work there

5 – 6 years
I can make • Talking about the importance of different places e.g.
use of the police station for security, hospital/clinic for health, school
important for learning, church for spiritual guidance
places and • Naming people who are found in the important places
things mentioned and the work they do, e.g. teacher teaches
responsibly. children at school
• Role-playing activities done at the different places
mentioned above
• Carrying out educational visits to the mentioned places
• Telling stories and news

Knowing how to keep and take care of my

Learning outcome iii
environment

Age Range Competences Suggested Developmental Activities

3 – 4 years
I can identify • Talking about areas, which make the home clean e.g.
ways of dustbin, latrine/toilet
cleaning my • Naming the things used to keep our homes clean e.g.
home brooms, slashers, hoes, etc
22
 environment. • Talking about how to keep the home clean e.g. arranging
and storing items properly, by sweeping, dusting and
mopping

• Talking about putting wastes in the right place (sorting

waste)
• Practicing cleaning, sweeping the house, compound etc.
• Singing songs, reciting rhymes and games aiming at
promoting clean environment.
• Talking about hygienic practices e.g. covering food from
flies and dirt, washing of hands before and after meals
and after the use of the toilet.
• Drawing
• Comparing the dirty and clean items.

4 – 5 years I can keep my • Participating in cleaning home and the Learning Centre
environment e.g. sweeping, picking waste, dusting and mopping
clean. • Telling news and stories related to clean environment
• Interpreting pictures and signs
• Drawing and colouring pictures
• Planting and caring for plants and flowers
• Singing songs and reciting rhymes and poems related to
cleanliness
• Putting things in order e.g. tidying shop area, nature area
and home area.
5 – 6 years I can • Identifying different people I live with at home, at the
communicate Learning Centre and in the environment.
to people • Singing songs and reciting rhymes, poems for people as
about a clean regards a clean environment.
environment. • Making cleaning materials.
• Drawing, colouring and modelling cleaning things.
• Playing games like snakes and ladders, treasure hunt,
blind man’s buff etc.
• Tiding up the environment after use

Learning outcome iv Identifying dangers in my environment and

taking precaution

Age range Competences Suggested Developmental Activities

23
3 – 4 years I can • Naming dangerous things like fire, broken glasses, thorns
recognise and bones, etc
dangerous • Talking about dangers of the above
things and • Drawing, colouring and modelling dangerous things in the
situations in environment
my • Mentioning ways of keeping away from dangerous things
environment. • Role playing/not playing near fire, not to play in a bushy
area
• Singing

I can tell • Discussing places where dangerous things are found

dangerous • Mentioning the harm caused by dangerous things in the
things and environment
their effects in • Drawing pictures of dangerous things in the environment.
my • Role-playing the effects of dangerous things in the
environment. environment
• Telling stories of dangerous things in the environment.
• Taking care about dangerous insects like wasps, bees,
scorpions, spiders and flies.

4 – 5 years I can protect • Protecting others (younger ones) from moving near
others against dangerous things e.g. fire
dangerous • Telling others about dangerous things
things in the • Role-playing situations related to dangerous things
environment. • Singing and reciting rhymes of how to protect oneself from
dangerous things in the environment
• Watching plays, films about protection
• Telling news and stories.

5 – 6 years I can keep my • Role-playing sweeping, mopping, smearing houses with

environment cow-dung
clean from • Digging around the home
dangerous • Digging in flower gardens
things. • Proper disposal of waste
• Keeping order in a home.

I can guard • Role-playing how to protect myself against dangerous

against things in the environment.
dangerous • Telling stories.
things in my • Reciting rhymes / riddles and singing.
environment. • Reporting about dangerous things.
• Telling news.

24
 I can describe • Telling stories about ways of guarding against dangerous
ways of things
guarding • Singing songs and reciting rhymes and poems about
against dangerous things
dangerous • Role playing, watching film shows, drawing pictures
things. depicting guarding against dangerous things.

Experimenting and understanding the concept

Learning outcome v
of movement in the environment (FORCE)

Age range Competences Suggested Developmental Activities

25
3 – 4 years
I can describe • Talking about movement of living and non-living (man-
the movement made) things, inertia/kinetic energy
of things in the • Experimenting with rolling things on tilted boards of
environment. different lengths and heights
• Interpreting story sequences or movement
• Talking about fast and slow movements
• Imitating animal / object movements
• Talking about why animals / objects move
• Matching footmarks with their owners

•
4 – 5 years I can relate • Observing and naming types of wheels around
the use of • Comparing sizes, colour, number and kinds of wheels
wheels to • Talking about their uses
movement. • Colouring, painting, making collage to make wheels
• Making, cutting, sticking and printing wheels
• Construction using wheels / round objects
• Playing games involving movement
• Reciting rhymes and singing songs

5 – 6 years I can compare • Observing and talking about different ways of transport
and contrast e.g. road transport using own experiences
different kinds
• Identifying common means in and around the environment
of transport in
my environment • Drawing, colouring modeling everyday things

• Singing songs and reciting rhymes related to

transport/movement
• Talking about crossing the road, zebra crossings and
people who help us
• Talking about different kinds of roads

Learning outcome vi Creating, appreciating and expressing myself

through art work.

Age Range Competences Suggested Developmental Activities

3 – 4 years I can • Making collage from things found in the environment e.g.
manipulate, grasses, leaves, seeds, small twigs etc.
transform and • Making collage to form shapes e.g. of insects, birds,
combine animals.
materials to • Rubbing on different textures to form patterns.
make things

26
 • Decorating window hangings using flower petals, grasses
or fresh leaves, waxed paper.
• Making mobiles
• Creating things from free activities using real objects (e.g.
banana fibres, balls, blocks, card boards, strings,
scissors, glue, stones, flowers, soil etc).
• Making a exploded shapes

4 – 5 years I can tell what • Drawing according to themes e.g.

I have drawn - what flies in the air
- myself, mom, dad, sister/brother
- animals that I know
• painting with my fingers e.g. planting lines, dots and other
shapes

I can model • Modelling with clay

things • Modelling with paper mache
• Making collage
• Making patterns using rubbings from trees and other
things (texture rubbing)
• Making window hangings
• Making mobiles
• Folding patterns and string pulling
• Taking a line for a walk – doodling
• Paper modelling using paper mache
• Modelling with clay
• Making jewels
• Making wall friezes

I can make • Painting with big brushes and nature colours

pictures • Painting with fingers and nature colours
• Drawing guided by themes
• Drawing from observation
• Free drawing and painting

I can make • Making exploded patterns

patterns and • Folding patterns and string pulls
prints • Taking a line for a walk – doodling
• Texture rubbings
• Making egg shell mosaics

5 – 6 years I can make • Painting with brushes

patterns • Finger printing
• Printing with cardboards
• Making exploded shapes
• Folding paper to make shapes

27
 • Folding patterns and string pulls
• Taking a line for a walk – doodling
• Texture rubbing
• Egg shell mosaics
• Lettering – making letters
• Making monograms

I can construct • Making spiral mobiles

things • Weaving paper

I can model • Modeling with clay (simple animals, pinched or thumb

things pots)
• Modeling with peppier Mache – making puppet heads
• Making jewels
• Modeling with plaster of Paris

I can draw • Drawing from observation

pictures • Drawing and painting freely according to themes
- playing in the garden
- our cat
- my family
- my home
- at the bus stop/beach
- the market
• Making collage

I can paste • Cutting and pasting paper

things • Cutting banana fibres to make …
• Making mobiles

I can take • Taking pretended photos

photographs • Taking real photographs

28
 3. TAKING CARE OF MYSELF FOR PROPER
GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

What you need to know about me taking care of myself

I may indicate the desire to do things by myself. This is common to all children. We
naturally strive to be independent and do our own things. The learning activities in this as in
the other learning areas are developmental and progressive, increasing in complexity, as we
also progress.

Help me to take
Learning Outcomes care of myself
for proper
growth and
i. Caring for my eyes development
ii. Caring for my ears
iii. Using the sense of touching and feeling to describe things
and situations
iv. Caring for the body
v. Using the sense of smell and caring for the nose
vi. Using the sense of taste and caring for the mouth
vii. Identifying and naming different body parts and their uses
viii. Having self-concept, confidence and self-esteem
ix. Using gross and fine muscles (large and small muscles)
x. Expressing creativity freely and independently
xi. Keeping healthy and practising good health habits
xii. Keeping safe and avoiding accidents
xiii. Knowing and relating with God and His creation

Learning Outcome
Learning outcomeI: i Caring for my eyes

Age Range Competences Suggested Developmental Activities

3 – 4 years I can care for • Practising washing my face and eyes.
and protect • Talking about the dangers of not caring for the eyes.
my eyes. • Practising covering the eye for protection.
• Thanking God for the gift eyes e.g. through songs, rhymes
and prayers.

4 – 5 years I can care for • Looking at each other’s eyes and describing what they
and protect see.
my eyes. • Looking at things with shades to protect the eyes from
bright light.
• Naming the different things that harm the eyes. For
example, poisonous flowers, sharp things, dust etc

29
 • Playing blind folding games.
• Thanking God for the gift of eyes e.g. through songs,
rhymes and prayers.

5 – 6 years I can care for • Listening to talks about how to care and protect eyes.
and protect • Talking about the things that they can do with their eyes
my eyes. e.g. wink, blink, glance, flutter, close, stare, open etc.
• Practising – washing the eyes.
• Looking at things with magnifying glasses.
• Praising (singing and praying) to God for the gift of eyes.

Learning outcome ii Caring for my ears

Age Range Competences Suggested Developmental Activities

3 – 4 years
I can protect • Practising washing my face and ears.
and care for • Talking about the dangers of not caring for the ears.
my ears. • Tracing and shading the shape of an ear.
• Tearing around the shape of a photograph on paper.
• Thanking God for the gift of ears e.g. through prayers,
songs, rhymes.

4 – 5 years
I can protect • Naming the different things that harm the ears.
and care for • Talking about how to keep ears clean.
my ears. • Thanking God for the gift of ears.

5 – 6 years
I can protect • Talking about how deaf people communicate.
and care for • Talking about ways of protecting the ears from harm.
my ears. • Playing listening games.
• Praising and thanking God for the gift of ears.

Using the sense of touching and feeling to

Learning outcome iii
describe things and situations.

Age Range Competences Suggested Developmental Activities

3 – 4 years I can • Playing with and mixing water of different temperatures
differentiate (tell cold, warm, hot).
between • Playing games involving recognition of objects in a bag
temperatures without looking at them.
and react • Feeling smoothness and roughness of different objects.
verbally in an • Playing games that involve patting and massaging.
appropriate • Communicating to show where I feel pain.
30
 manner. • Sand play.
• Singing songs about the use of hands.
• Thanking God for the gift of hands e.g. through prayers,
songs and rhymes.

4 – 5 years I can tell • Feeling and talking about forms of objects e.g. circle, star,
textures, quadrangle etc.
temperatures • Feeling and talking about different textures of objects and
and forms of things e.g. stones, cones, sticks, cloth.
objects. • Classifying and naming objects according to texture.
• Playing guessing games.
• Modelling to represent textures.
• Matching objects according to textures.
• Thanking God for the gift of hands e.g. through songs,
prayers and rhymes.

5 – 6 years I can • Sorting objects into different forms e.g. rough and smooth,
differentiate hard and soft.
between • Playing guessing games.
textures, • Water play.
temperatures • Sand play.
and forms of • Sorting according to temperature, texture, and form.
objects. • Playing with things of different textures, e.g. soil, flour etc.
• Talking about many things that the hands can do.
• Singing songs about the uses of hands.
• Thanking God for the gift of hands by praying and singing.

Learning outcome iv Caring for the body

Age Rangr Competences Suggested Developmental Activities

3 – 4 years
I can protect • Naming different parts that make my body.
and care for • Talking about different things that can harm our bodies.
my body. • Picture talk about different dressing.
• Talking about the importance of keeping our bodies clean.
• Thanking God for making me e.g. through prayers, songs
and rhymes.
• Practising keeping the body clean.

4 – 5 years
I can protect • Practising feeling different things using different parts of
and care for the body.
my body. • Talk about different ways of protecting different parts of the
body.

31
 • Talking about how to clean my body.
• Identifying things used to clean the body.
• Thanking God for having made me e.g. through prayers,
songs and rhymes.
• Practising keeping the body clean.

5 – 6 years
I can protect • Recite rhymes about the importance keeping the body
and care for clean.
my body. • Talk about dangers of not protecting our bodies.
• Role-playing how to clean my body.
• Talking about the importance of keeping myself clean.
• Thanking God for having made me e.g. through prayers,
songs.
• Practising keeping the body clean.

Learning outcome v Using the sense of smell and caring

for the nose

Age Range Competences Suggested Developmental Activities

3 – 4 years I can identify • Smelling different things
scents of • Talking about different smells
different • Talking about the importance of a nose
things. • Playing guessing games
• Talking about how to protect our noses from harm
• Thanking God for the gift of a nose e.g. through prayers,
songs and rhymes.

4 – 5 years I can identify • Sorting and grouping things according to good and bad
scents of smells
different • Sorting and matching things according to good and bad.
things. smells.
• Talking about different smells
• Singing songs describing smells
• Reciting rhymes and poems about smells
• Riddles
• Talking about how to keep our noses clean.
• Talking about how to keep our noses from harm.
• Thanking God for the gift of a nose e.g. through prayers,
songs and rhymes
• Practising keeping the noses clean

5 – 6 years I can describe • Listening to and telling stories about effects of good and
bad, good, bad smells
32
 and • Talking about the uses of a nose
dangerous • Telling news
things • Playing guessing games
according to • Singing songs describing smells
their smells. • Reciting rhymes and poems about smells
• Riddles
• Talking about how to keep our noses clean
• Talking about how to keep our noses from harm
• Praising and thanking God for the gift of a nose e.g.
through prayers, songs and rhymes.

Learning outcome vi Using the sense of taste and caring for the mouth

Age Range Competences Suggested Developmental Activities

3 – 4 years I can tell • Talking about the use of the tongue
different tastes • Showing where the tongue is found
of things. • Tasting different edible things
• Talking about tastes of different things
• Naming different tastes
• Talking about how to keep the tongue from harm.
• Reciting rhymes and poems
• Colouring objects according to their tastes
• Thanking God for the gift of a tongue e.g. through prayers,
songs and rhymes.

I can protect • Talking about foodstuffs that can harm our teeth
and care for • Practicing brushing teeth
my mouth.

4 – 5 years I can • Tasting different foodstuffs

differentiate • Sorting according to tastes
tastes of • Naming different tastes
foodstuffs. • Singing songs about the use of the mouth.
• Drawing
• Thanking God for the gift of the mouth e.g. through
prayers, songs and rhymes

33
 I can protect • Reciting rhymes about the importance of brushing teeth.
and care for • Drawing different foodstuffs that are bad for our teeth.
my mouth. • Talking about the importance of keeping the mouth clean.
• Talking about the dangers of not cleaning the teeth.
• Thanking God for the gift of mouth e.g. through prayers,
songs and rhymes.
• Practising care for the mouth

5 – 6 years I can • Identify things that make a mouth e.g. lips, teeth, tongue
appreciate the • Talking about the importance of a mouth.
different tastes • Sorting and matching according to tastes
of different • Comparing different tastes
foodstuffs. • Listening to and telling stories about different tastes.
• Telling news
• Reciting rhymes
• Singing songs about the use of a mouth
• Drawing
• Modelling
• Thanking God for the gift of a mouth e.g. through prayers,
songs and rhymes.
I can protect • Making local toothbrushes and practicing brushing teeth.
and care for • Talking about what happens when our teeth go bad
my mouth. • Talking about the causes of bad smells of our mouth
• Telling stories about the losing of teeth

Learning Outcome vii Identifying and naming different body parts

and their uses

Age Range Competences Suggested Developmental Activities

3 – 4 years
I can name my • Identifying and naming different body parts
body parts. • Shading body parts
• Singing

I can name • Identifying things that can be performed by different body

activities that parts e.g. walking, lifting, drawing, etc.
my different • Thanking God for what our parts of the body can do e.g.
body parts can by praying, singing etc.
perform.

34
4 – 5 years
I can • Talking about things that can be performed by different
confidently parts of the body e.g. walking, sitting, writing, seeing,
name eating, carrying, etc.
activities that • Thanking God for what out parts of the body can do e.g. by
my different singing, praying, praising.
body parts can
perform.

I can name my • Playing games of touching two body parts e.g. hand to
body parts. head, foot to bottom, drawing and colouring etc.
• Sticking the different parts to make a complete figure.
• Modelling human figures.
• Singing

5 – 6 years I can • Associating parts of the body and their different functions
confidently e.g.
describe - Eyes – seeing, shedding tears
activities - Nose – smelling, … flu.
performed by • Thanking God for what parts of our body can do e.g. by
different body singing, praying etc.
parts. • Matching

I can name my • Talking about how many different parts of the body they
body parts. have e.g., two arms, two eyes, one nose, one neck etc.
• Talking about the positions of the different parts of their
body.
• Drawing and filling in the missing parts
• Singing
• Modelling
• Reciting rhymes and poems

Learning outcome viii Having self-concept, confidence and self

esteem

Age Range Competences Suggested Developmental Activities

3 – 4 years I can tell my • Telling names that are similar to mine
name, age • Singing song about myself
and sex. • Thanking God for what parts of our body can do e.g.
through prayers, songs and rhymes
• Grouping according to sex
• Telling age
• Telling sex

35
 I can be • Holding hands with friends
friendly and • Playing with others e.g. my peers.
make new • Role-playing
friends. • Sharing with others
• Singing
• Reciting rhymes
• Talking about my friends

4 – 5 years I can tell my • Talking about the importance of a name.

name and my • Talking about birthdays.
age. • Thanking God for what parts of our body can do e.g.
through prayers, songs and rhymes.

I can interact • Telling news

with others • Playing with others
freely. • Sharing with others
• Role-playing
• Singing
• Reciting rhymes
• Conversations
• Riddles

5 – 6 years I can tell my • Telling the date of my birthday

name, my • Talking about differences and similarities in appearance
age, and my between me and other children e.g. height, colour, etc
birth day. • Making birthday cards for myself and my friends.
• Thanking God for what I am (a boy/girl) e.g. through
prayers, songs and rhymes.

I can express • Reciting rhymes

myself. • Expressing feelings on paper through drawing
• Naming objects
• Telling stories
• Talking about my surroundings e.g. home and school
• Making simple requests
• Talking about home/school friends
• Participating in decision-making.

I can deal with • Playing group games

conflicts • Sharing materials in group activities
encountered • Participating in-group routines
in play. • Singing and dancing together with the winning team.

Learning outcome ix Using gross and fine motor (large and small)
muscles
36
Age Range Competences Suggested Developmental Activities
3 – 4 years
I can use my • Climbing on the frames
body parts to • Scribbling with a thick pencil, chalk or crayons.
carry out • Modeling with clay, mud or plasticine.
various • Feeding using a spoon or fork.
activities. • Fitting simple jig-saws
• Sorting objects (seed into colour, shape).
• Walking backwards.
• Playing snake – wriggle along the floor.
• Threading through large holes.
• Jumping to music
• Running around the room.
• Using the swing and seesaw.
• Swinging on Merry-go-round.
4 – 5 years
I can use my • Climbing the frames and stairs
body parts to • Threading beads with big holes
perform • Drawing with large pencils
activities • Standing on one leg at a time
confidently. • Playing birds flying
• Tearing pieces of paper
• Making balls
• Walking along a rope on the ground
• Walking backwards
5 – 6 years
I can perform • Threading beads with small holes.
and respond • Tearing pieces of paper.
to various • Twisting materials to make ropes and balls.
situations with • Walking on a log/plunk.
my body. • Modelling with clay
• Playing airplanes over the chair (stretch out arms and
legs).
• Jumping some stretches and heights (long and high).
• Walking backwards
• Running and skipping
• Throwing and catching a ball
• Kicking a ball
• Drawing things
• Dodging
• Targeting

Learning outcome x Expressing creativity freely and independently

37
Age Range Competences Suggested Developmental Activities
3 – 4 years
I can • Drawing
appreciate and • Modelling
take care of • Painting
materials • Role-playing
made by God, • Observing things around me
people and • Imitating
myself. • Singing songs about what I see and do
• Constructive play
• Dancing and moving to rhythm
• Participating in tidy-up activities
4 – 5 years I can use my • Telling stories
body to • Dancing to the music and making different rhymes
express • Singing
original ideas. • Miming (using gestures / non-verbal communication)
• Role-playing
• Reciting rhymes
• Praising God for the skills he gave me e.g. through
prayers, songs and rhymes
• Dramatisation

5 – 6 years I can use • Making masks

available • Drawing
materials • Modeling with clay/mud and peppier – mashie
within the • Playing construction games
environment to • Playing with materials within the environment
make • Shredding paper, banana-fibres etc into small strips
something • Painting
original.
• Involving in fantasy play
• Telling news
• Praising God through singing, praying and dramatising for
the skills that God gave me
• Weaving e.g. mats.

Keeping healthy and practising good

Learning outcome xi
health habits

Age Range Competences Suggested Developmental Activities

3 – 4 years I can practise • Practising using hands while eating
good eating • Practising washing hands and plates
habits. • Washing hands before and after a meal
• Role-playing good health habits
• Reciting rhymes related to good eating habits
• Listening to and telling stories about good eating habits
38
 • Explaining the importance of drinking only safe water and
eating fresh food
• Singing songs about good eating habits

4 – 5 years I can identify • Eating good food

food that is • Identifying different foods
good for my • Colouring, shading and naming different foodstuff
health. • Helping in preparing food
• Identifying sources of food e.g. garden, markets, shops
• Listening to and telling stories about good food
• Reciting rhymes related to good food
• Advising my parents on good feeding
• Looking at and talking about food pictures and real food
• Role-playing in preparing food.
• Thanking God through songs, prayers for the different
good food and knowledge of health habits

I can • Visiting water and food sources.

appreciate • Naming the food eaten by people in our homes
good feeding. • Singing songs encouraging good feeding.
• Describing pictures showing people eating.
• Talking about different foods for people and animals.
• Dramatising the way people eat and drink.
• Drawing, sorting and colouring different types of food
• Thanking God through songs, prayers, dancing.

I can practise • Listening to and telling stories about personal hygiene.

personal • Describing steps taken to ensure personal hygiene.
hygiene. • Picture talks about good hygiene.
• Demonstrating precaution against spread of
communicable diseases e.g. cough
• Reciting rhymes
• Dramatising situations of good hygiene.
• Practising personal hygiene.

39
5 – 6 years I can keep • Washing different items e.g. under wear, dress/shirt and
myself clean. feet
• Practising cleaning different parts of my body e.g. eyes,
ears, mouth.
• Combing my hair.
• Brushing my teeth.
• Practising good toilet habits
• Thanking God about the knowledge of keeping our bodies
clean e.g. through prayers, songs and poems.

I can tell the • Explaining what a balanced diet is

importance of • Naming different foods in the environment
a balanced • Talking about the importance of eating different foods
diet. • Drawing different types of foods
• Modelling different types of foods
• Telling stories about good eating habits
• Singing songs, reciting poems and rhymes related to good
feeding
• Praising God for the good food and the appetite we have
through praying
• Talking about foods that make up a balanced diet.
I can say ‘no’ • Explaining the right of girls and boys to say no to sexual
and guard abuse and describing ways in which to do
against abuse. • Talking about the different kinds of abuse
• Singing songs
• Dramatising how to protect myself against abuse
• Thanking God for the gift of skills of protecting ourselves
from abuse e.g. through prayers and songs.

Learning outcome xii Keeping safe and avoiding Accidents

Age Range Competences Suggested Developmental Activities

3 – 4 years I can tell • Talking about different dangerous situations.
dangerous • Drawings to express dangerous situations.
situations. • Listening to stories about dangerous situations.
• Role-playing.
• Talking about pictures showing dangerous situations.

4 – 5 years I can describe • Story telling about dangerous situations.

dangerous • Telling news about dangerous situations.
situations. • Role-playing about dangerous situations.
• Singing about protection from dangers.
40
 • Drawing pictures about dangerous situations.
• Practicing safety rules.

5 – 6 years I can respond • Dramatising and practising road safety rules

to safety rules. • Story telling.
• Telling news.
• Singing.
• Riddles.
• Talking about safety rules.

I am sensitive • Talking about first aid and what should be done to common
to dangerous accidents.
things e.g. • Singing songs about dangerous things.
snake bites, • Dramatising
poison, sharp • Role-playing.
objects & road • Drawing dangerous things.
accidents.

Learning outcome xiii Knowing and relating with God

and His creation

Age Range Competences Suggested Developmental Activities

3 – 4 years I can identify • Listening to stories about God and God’s creation.
and observe • Talking about God and His creation.
God’s • Imitating acts of animals.
creation. • Shading pictures of God’s creation.
• Naming things made by God and thing made by people.
• Singing songs about God’s creation
• Reciting rhymes about God’s creation

4 – 5 years I can • Singing of God’s love for me.

appreciate • Reciting rhymes about God’s love to all His creation.
God’s love • Modeling figures of people and things around.
and care for • Thanking God for gifts e.g. body parts.
his creation.

41
5 – 6 years I can show • Playing with pets.
love and care • Playing with younger children.
for God’s • Miming care for the sick.
creation. • Miming care for domestic animals.
• Practising cleaning younger children.
• Practising sharing with others.

I can • Listening and re-telling stories.

participate in • Listening to religious instruction and teaching.
religious • Leading prayers.
practices. • Participating in praying and praising God.
• Composing and saying a prayer.
• Dramatising religious events.
• Reciting religious texts
• Naming places of worship.

4. DEVELOPING AND USING MATHEMATICAL

CONCEPTS IN MY DAY-TO-DAY EXPERIENCES

What you need to know how we develop Mathematical Concepts

Mathematics is one of the day-to-day real life experiences that enable us to solve our
problems, our need and live in harmony. We young children need to repeatedly experience
practical mathematical activities before we are able to understand abstract mathematical
concepts. The suggested Developmental Activities are not exhaustive. The parents and
caregivers can think of more activities to give to us to facilitate the development of
Mathematical Concepts.

We can develop our

mathematical concepts
through play using
various objects
42
Learning Outcomes

i. Surveying, knowing and distinguishing the attributes of objects.

ii. Comparing things according to different attributes
iii. Recognising, describing and representing numbers and their relationships and
solving mathematical problems with competence and confidence
iv. Using appropriate measuring units, instruments and formulas in a variety of
contexts
v. Understanding and using the concept of time
vi. Understanding the concept of space
vii. Recognising, describing and using money
viii. Recognising and creating number patterns
ix. Representing and interpreting information in pictorial form

Learning outcome i Surveying, knowing and distinguishing the

attributes of objects

Age Range Competences Suggested Developmental Activities

43
3 – 4 years • Matching similar shapes
I can classify • Fitting the jig-saws, cut out shapes
and order • Sorting objects according to (size, shapes, texture and
things colour)
• Naming shapes and objects
• Comparing groups of objects
• Drawing and modelling different shapes like; circle,
square, triangle, rectangle
• Playing games and singing songs about classification
• Tracing different shapes e.g. square, circle, rectangle, and
triangle
• Arranging objects in ascending or descending order.
• Pasting cut out shapes
• Colouring things according to size
• Cutting and folding shapes
• Arranging things according to quantity
• Building three-dimensional objects
• Using concrete materials e.g. building blocks to make
different shapes.
• Describing, sorting and comparing three-dimensional
objects according to:
- Size;
- Objects that roll;
- Objects that slide.
• Sorting objects according to size, shape and colour

4 – 5 years I can identify • Pairing of things

relationship, • Naming objects of different shapes
and • Placing and replacing objects in different positions
differences • Matching objects according to similarities and differences
between • Fitting jig-saws
different • Matching to find out similarities and differences
objects and • Drawing and modeling shapes and objects
shapes.
• Constructing things from different shapes
• Sorting objects according to shapes, sizes and types
• Cutting and pasting to form shapes
• Playing number games
• Playing with water, sand, and soil
• Tracing and colouring shapes
• Colouring the given pictures in relation to give objects.
• Recognising symmetry of self and own environment with a
focus on front and back of the object.

44
 • Recognising, identifying and naming three-dimensional
objects in the classroom and in pictures, including boxes
(prisms), balls (spheres)
• Completing the missing parts of a picture
• Finding the path to match similar pictures / shapes
• Reciting rhymes about relationships between objects in the
environment
• Talking about shapes in the environment
• Talking about differences and similarities in quantities e.g.
one glass of water and one glass of soda
• Modeling shapes
• Constructing objects from different shapes
• Constructing and colouring
• Distinguishing between some and all
• Describing more than one attributes of things at a time
(e.g. the box is red and made out wood)
• Describing what characteristics something does not
belong to
• Describing what characteristics something does not have
• Using and describing objects in several different ways

5 – 6 years I can classify • Pairing and matching things

things. • Sorting and matching sets
• Distinguishing between sets, some and all
• Naming objects according to shape and use
• Separating sets of things
• Forming sets of things
• Comparing objects of different sets
• Matching sets
• Playing number games e.g. Dominoes
- Jig-saws;
- Lotto.
• Following directions (alone and/or as a member of the
group or team) to move or place self within classroom e.g.
at the front or at the back.
• Describing one three-dimensional object in relation to
another e.g. in front or behind.
• Drawing pictures and colouring
• Singing number songs
• Reciting rhymes
• Constructing shapes
• Filling in missing parts

45
Learning outcome ii Comparing things according to different
attributes

3 – 4 years I can show • Comparing things according to:

relations - sizes (big – small)
among things - qualities (heavy – light)
in serial order - quantities (more – less)
• Enumerating things (counting) objects
• Counting by role 1 – 10
4 – 5 years I can show • Comparing which one is:
relations - bigger / smaller
among things - heavier / lighter
in serial order - rougher / smoother
- louder / softer
- harder / softer
- longer / shorter
- taller / shorter
- wider / narrower
• Arranging several things in order along some dimension
and describing relationships e.g.
- the longest one
- the shortest one
5 – 6 years I can show • comparing and sorting objects into two groups based on a
relations particular criterion:
among things - big / little
in a serial - tall / short
order - hard / soft
• Arranging things in order along some dimensions and
describing the relationship
- the longest one
- the shortest one
• Arranging things into three groups along some dimension
and describing the relations;
- big, bigger, biggest
- long, longer, longest, etc.

: Recognising, describing and representing

Learning outcome iii numbers and their relationships and solving
mathematical problems with competence
and confidence.

Age Range Competences Suggested Developmental Activities

46
3 – 4 years I can show one • Playing number games i.e. dominoes, lotto.
to one • Colouring various objects.
correspondence • Identifying objects.
• Matching objects to objects.
• Singing number songs about objects

47
 • Reciting rhymes about objects and numbers i.e. shake
the mango tree
• Reciting number names up to 10
• Comparing things using many, enough, not enough, too
much, a little, a lot, more, large, small, greater than, less
than, the same as, equal
• Touching, holding or pointing to different parts of my body
and name, mention the number e.g. two fingers, two
eyes, one head
• Matching objects in one to one correspondence e.g. one
shoe to one foot, one hat to one head
• Drawing objects relating one to one correspondence.

I can • Counting objects 1 – 5

enumerate • Counting by rot 1 – 10
objects

I can increase • Rhymes on adding and taking away (of numbers 1 – 5).
and reduce • Separating objects from a group (sorting)
quantities • Assembling objects to increase their number and
removing some to reduce the number
• Playing games using abacus
• Singing songs about increasing and reducing of four
crows standing on the wall.

4 – 5 years I can count • Counting numbers 1 – 20.

things and • Showing how things are the same or different.
numbers 1 - 20 • Identifying relationships among objects e.g. ball with feet,
cow with animals (one to one correspondence).
• Arranging objects according to the numbers.
• Playing number games.
• Matching pictures to number symbols.
• Reciting rhymes about numbers 1-5.
• Counting, reading and writing numbers 1-5.
• Matching sets of things I know e.g.
- a set of adult animals to a set of baby animals;
- a set of umbrellas to a set of children;
- a set of handbags to a set of women.
• Drawing.
• Tracing numbers
• Saying and using numbers
• Singing number songs
• Talking about differences ,similarities and quantities e.g.
one glass of water and one glass of soda

48
4 – 5 years I can tell • Comparing number and amounts:
similarities - more / less / some amount
and - more / fewer / same number
differences • Comparing the number of items in two sets by matching
among things them up in one to one correspondence (e.g. there are as
and numbers many sweets as there are children)
• Enumerating (counting) objects
• Counting by rote 1 – 10

I can tell more, • Comparing number and amount e.g. (more / less, same
equal and less amount, more / fewer, same number)
quantities. - more / less,
• Making sets
• Adding groups of sets
• Taking away objects from a set.
• Singing addition subtraction songs
• Reciting rhymes
• Playing with water, sand, soil.

5 – 6 years I can • Rote counting up to 20

recognise • Counting objects 1 – 20 (one-to-one correspondence)
numerals 1 – • Reading and writing numbers symbols 1 – 20.
20. • Reciting number rhymes.
• Playing number games.
• Matching number symbols to objects.
• Counting forwards and backwards (1 - 10) and (10 -1)
• Singing number songs.
• Ordering and comparing collections of objects using the
words.

I can add • Combining things to form sets

things up to 10 • Adding things up to ten
I can perform • Counting forward and backward
activities • Giving numbers coming before and after
involving take • Finding missing numbers
away • Singing or reciting rhymes involving take away e.g.
- ten green bottles
- ten crows sitting on the wall
• Finding the differences after take away.

I can count Counting

and add take Adding
away things Taking away
up to 20.
Hint. If the child is able to add or subtract up to 20 provide for,
if not do not push

49
Learning outcome iv Using appropriate measuring units,
instruments and formulas in a variety of contexts

Age Range Competences Suggested Developmental Activities

3 – 4 years
I can tell the • Naming different objects
difference • Arranging objects according to size
between • Comparing objects according to sizes
objects. • Sorting objects according to sizes
4 – 5 years I can identify • Fitting things in the available space e.g. containers in
the differences others, tins, jars etc.
in space and • Describing different sizes and lengths
quantities. • Fitting shapes in a given space
• Filling and emptying
5 – 6 years I can describe • Responding to instructions
positions, • Describing positions using the vocabulary i.e. near, far, in,
distances and out.
directions. • Playing games showing positions.
• Role playing to show positions
• Reciting rhymes, poems, stories, singing, play-lates about
near and far.
I can compare • Working using concrete materials to compare and order
and order objects using appropriate vocabulary to describe:
things. - Mass (e.g. light, heavy, heavier);
- Capacity (e.g. empty, full, less than, more than);
- Length (e.g. longer, shorter, wider, tall, short).

Learning outcome v Understanding and using the concept of time

Age Range Competences Suggested Developmental Activities

3 – 4 years I can follow • Telling time according to events and situations.
time intervals • Following daily routine activities
• Making movements (slow, quick, run, walk, crawl, etc).
• Observing rates of movements
• Telling time between activities i.e. when to go to school,
bed time etc.
• Role-playing the daily routine activities.
• Singing songs and rhymes.
• Rhythmic clapping and working.
• Describing things I do before and after an action (e.g.
before I go to bed I pray).
• Planning and completing what has been planned
• Describing the time of day in terms of day or night
• Describing and presenting past events
• Talking about future events verbally and making
appropriate preparations.

50
4 – 5 years I can describe • Telling time according to events/situations e.g. according
sequence of to shadows.
events. • Talking about what may happen at a particular day / time.
• Ordering of things to be done in a day.
• Talking about things, which tell time.
• Playing action games and reciting rhymes.
• Knowing and following a routine.
• Presenting the order of events.
• Telling different rates of movements.
• Reciting rhymes
• Singing
• Ordering recurring events in own daily life.
• Sequencing events within one day (Conversations)
5 – 6 years I can tell time / • Showing time on a clock face
days, of the • Naming days of the week
week, months, • Talking about special days
special days. • Reciting rhymes on time, days and months.
• Role-playing different activities, events and special days
• Playing situational games
• Using conventional time units when talking about past and
future events (morning, yesterday, hour, today)
• Comparing time periods (short, long, new, old, young, a
little while, along time)
• Observing and talking about the clocks
• Using Calendars to tell days of the week and months of
the year
• Talking about time and seasonal changes
• Drawing clock faces
• Reciting rhymes and poems, stories and play-lets about
time.

Learning outcome vi Understanding the concept of space

Age Range Competences Suggested Developmental Activities

3 – 4 Years Describing • Locating objects in relation to the self: on/off/in/out …
spatial • Showing the direction of self and objects: up/down;
relationships forward/backward
using objects • Telling distance between objects: near/far
people • Observing objects and people from different perspectives.
• Fitting things together and taking them apart
• Rearranging a set of object in space (folding, twisting,
stretching, ticking, tying) and observing spatial
transformation.

51
4 – 5 Years Describing • Experiencing and describing relative distances among
spatial things and locations (close, near, far, next to, apart,
relationships together)
using objects, • Experiencing and representing one’s own body: how it is
people and structured and what various body parts can do.
the • Locating things in the classroom, school and the
environment neighbourhood.
• Interpreting representations of spatial relations in drawing
pictures.
• Distinguishing and describing shapes
• Identifying parts of objects.

5 -6 Years Representing • And identifying objects from one of its parts.

objects in • Identifying and representing the order of objects in space
space and • Interpreting representations of spatial relationships in
interpret pictures and drawing
interpretations • Distinguishing and describing shapes
spatial
relationship

Learning outcome vii Recognising, describing and using money

Age Range Competences Suggested Developmental Activities

3 – 4 years I can • Making and using imitation money
recognise • Role playing using toy money e.g. buying and selling in
money the toyshop
according to • Sorting small denominations e.g. shs.50/=, shs.100/=,
different shs.200/=, 500/= and 1,000/= according to features and
denominations sizes
• Singing songs and recite rhymes about money
• Playing shopping games
• Taking about money and its uses.
4 – 5 years I can identify • Observing and telling types of money (coins and notes).
types of • Telling the difference between denominations
money and • Playing shopping games
their features. • Grouping and sorting money according to similarities
and differences
• Tracing and drawing money
• Texture rubbing coins
• Modelling money.
5 – 6 years I can tell the • Using the right vocabulary e.g. give me change.
value of • Telling the value of money (knowing the amount of the
money. notes or coins).
• Relating the amount to the commodities it can buy.
• Playing games related to buying and selling.
• Telling how to save money.
52
 • Collecting objects for our toyshop.
• Reciting rhymes and singing songs about money.
• Listening to and telling stories about money and its
importance
• Rubbing textures of coins
Drawing money notes.

Note: Learning Outcomes viii and ix do not apply to the 3 – 4 and 4 – 5 year olds.

Learning Outcome viii Recognising, and creating number patterns

Age Range Competences Suggested Developmental Activities

5 – 6 years I can make • Making number patterns using objects and pictures e.g.
number patterns. 2,
2 + 2 = 4,
2 + 2 + 2 = 6,
2 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 8,
2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 10.

Learning Outcome ix Representing and interpreting information in

pictorial form

Age range Competences Suggested Developmental Activities

5 – 6 years I can collect • Collecting objects in the environment according to stated
objects features e.g. collecting different shapes, leaves and
according to objects
stated • Sorting physical objects according to different attributes
features. (property) e.g. shapes, objects, colours.

I can record • Drawing pictures and pasting them.

my collected • Drawing pictures as records of collected objects.
data. • Counting objects collected.

I can tell the • Answering oral questions based on own pictures

difference in • Answering questions on own-sorted objects e.g.’Which
things I see. has the most?’

53
 5. DEVELOPING AND USING MY LANGUAGE
APPROPRIATELY
What you need to know about how we develop and use their language
You know that Language is a means of communication and a method of co-operation and it
begins at birth. Language may be verbal or non-verbal. By use of language we express our
feelings and desires. We also interpret other people’s feelings.

Help us to
develop and use
our language
appropriately

Remember that we are born with the ability to acquire language and our language develops
further through interaction with the environment. Acquired language skills are used in our
everyday experiences and activities to facilitate communication. Whatever the child’s socio-
economic background, the potential for language learning is there. What the we require for
language learning is a stimulating and language rich environment where we hear many short
stories, songs, poems, rhymes, folk songs, riddles, puzzles and is constantly spoken to and
encouraged to speak or listen attentively.

We, therefore, make rapid progress when we learn in our own language; this helps us learn
a new language. If we do not learn in our language, we may begin to devalue the language
of our community. This could affect our sense of identity since we gain our identity and self-
image from the language of our community. It is extremely important, therefore, that you
respect and acknowledge the children’s mother tongue.

54
We are now requesting you to give us lots and lots of opportunity to practise the skills of
listening, speaking, reading and writing.

Learning Outcomes

i. Listening with acuity for information and enjoyment and responding appropriately
in a wide range of situations.

ii. Communicating confidently, effectively and meaningfully in spoken and sign

language in a wide range of situations.
iii. Reading to enjoy, acquire knowledge and be able to comprehend.

iv. Writing different kinds of factual and imaginative tasks depicting good letter
formation, creativity and handwriting skills.

Learning outcome i Listening with acuity for information and

enjoyment and responding appropriately
in a wide range of situations.

Age Range Competences Suggested Developmental Activities

3 – 4 years I can respond • Imitating sounds and actions on rhythm like clapping or
to different walking.
sounds. • Dancing and humming on rhythm.
• Imitating the sounds of people, animals, insects and birds
in the environment.
• Listening to and telling stories
• Running away from dangerous sounds
• Answering simple questions

I can • Imitating sounds made by animals, birds, insects and

differentiate people and objects
between • Repeating sounds in their given order
sounds. • Naming the source of sound
• Singing
Reciting rhymes

55
 • Following the direction of sound.
I can locate • Identifying sounds from different directions.
direction of • Facing direction where sound is
sound. • Pointing to, walking to, running to the direction of sound.
• Telling the direction of the sound
• Greeting using appropriate language
• Reciting simple rhymes
• Following a one-direction instruction like bring me a book
and a pen
• Listening to and repeating words and sentences.
• Carrying messages and reporting back.
I can re-tell a • Listening to and re-telling stories
three- • Telling news
sentence • Answering simple questions about the story
story. • Dramatising parts of the story
• Using story sequence pictures

4 – 5 years
I can respond • Following two simple direction instruction commands e.g.
to command go to the house and bring a plate.
and • Following commands including pre-positions like ‘Put the
instructions. cup under the table’
• Carrying messages and reporting back.
• Reporting on what has been heard in sequence
• Listening to and re-telling a little longer stories
• Dramatising the story
• Answering questions
• Listening to news
• Telling news

I can describe • Describing sounds as high, low, or soft in songs, music

what I heard. and rhymes
• Listening to recorded music.

I can locate • Facing in the direction where the sounds come from
direction of • Pointing to, walking to, running to direction of sound
sound. • Running away from dangerous sounds.

56
 I can identify • Naming the sources of the sounds e.g. animals, birds,
the source of insects, people and objects that make sounds
sound. • Imitating the sound made by different objects
• Imitating movements and making sounds of people,
animals, birds, insects and objects
• Naming uses of the animals, birds, insects and objects
that make sounds e.g. cows, hens etc
• Answering questions about sources

• Listening to and re-telling a little longer stories

I can re-tell • Answering questions about the story
stories. • Arranging story sequence pictures
• Dramatising the story
• Drawing, modelling to illustrate the story.

• Listening to news
I can report • Dramatising news
what I hear. • Telling news
• Carrying messages
• Reporting
• Drawing news

I can interpret • Listening to stories and answering questions

stories. • Drawing pictures
• Matching words/sentences to pictures
• Creating own stories
• Dramatising parts from the story
• Differentiating between high and low pitches
• Writing short stories
• Re-telling stories

5 – 6 years I can identify • Naming sources of sounds

sounds made • Imitating the sounds made in the environment
in the • Showing the direction of sound.
environment. • Doing actions of the source of the sound e.g. moo and
talking like a cow
• Answering questions about sources of sounds
- What sounds do the following make? i.e. cows, dogs,
goats etc.
• Matching animals to their sounds.

57
I can respond • Following three direction instructions e.g. go to the house,
to instructions look under the table and bring the knife
and • Acknowledging commands e.g. here is the knife
commands. • Carrying messages appropriately
• Drawing and writing
• Reporting

I can • Identifying people by their voices

differentiate • Identifying objects and animals by their sounds
between • Making words with similar sounds at the beginning or
sounds made. ending e.g. cup – cat, come, pen – hen, men
• Making sounds of the letters of the alphabet
• Giving meaningful words that rhyme with words sound e.g.
SSS for snake.
• Identifying odd man out in sounds e.g. top, up, cup
• Matching sounds to pictures and words
• Role-playing
• Making sounds of animals.

• Blending together individual sounds of letters

I can • Match letters that are similar / alike.
associate • Select letters odd man out from several identical letters
sounds with given
letters. • Matching letters with sounds
• Read simple common words
• Reciting rhymes / poems
• Making words using sounds
• Using letters and sounds in the local language to write my
name
• Matching pictures with words.

I can re-tell • Listening to stories and:

stories. - Answering questions about them
- Role-playing given stories and situations
• Telling and re-telling stories
• Recalling and giving major high lights of simple short
stories
• Reciting, writing and drawing stories
• Dramatising stories
• Listening to others
• Following directions given by others.

58
Learning outcome ii Communicating confidently, effectively and
meaningfully in spoken and sign language in
a wide range of situations.

Age range Competences Suggested Developmental Activities

3 – 4 years I can follow • Singing songs and moving according to rhythm
simple • Describing the use of colour labels
instructions • Matching colour names with things, which they see
and • Miming
commands. • Making gestures.

4 – 5 years I can express • Speaking in complete sentences about ideas, experiences

myself well. or objects, “we go to play” etc.
• Singing simple songs about people and things within their
environment
• Naming parts of the body like fingers, toes, hair etc.
• Naming:
- People and things at home like grandmother,
grandfather, uncle, aunt, tree, dog, etc.
- People and things at the Day Care Centres like
Caregivers, friends, helpers etc.
• Asking and answering simple questions like “what is your
name?”
• Playing games
• Saying simple proverbs
• Repeating simple riddles
• Talking with others about personally meaningful
experiences.
• Describing relation among objects, people events and
ideas
• Talking with others about needs, interests, ideas and
feelings.
• Dictating my spoken language to be written by an adult
who reads back.
• Having fun with language

5 – 6 years I can use my • Telling and retelling stories about:

language - people at home e.g. mothers, sisters, brothers etc.
confidently. - food e.g. bananas, milk, bread etc.
- birds e.g. hens, ducks, turkeys, guinea fowls etc.
- animals e.g. goats, donkeys, cows, cats etc.
- my likes and dislikes.
- plants e.g. mangoes, paw paws.

59
 - insects e.g. grasshoppers, white insects etc.
• Dramatising home/school/community situations e.g.
cooking, school learning and wedding.
• Saying tongue twisters.
• Miming situations.
• Role-playing situations.
• Using speech in many different ways.
• Describing recent events, the past and the future.
• Talking about career development.
• Following and telling jokes.
• Seeking for answers to questions ‘Why? How? What?’
• Seeking for meaning of new words.
• Responding to questions.
• Carrying out conversations about objects or events, which
are not immediately in front of them (imaginations)
• Telling differences in colour, size and speed using bigger,
faster, etc.
• Using acquired vocabulary at play (free activity)
• Participating in fantasy and imaginative play for enjoyment
• Communicating through spoken language
• Describing objects, events and relationships
• Expressing feelings in words
• Expressing ideas in spoken language then writing down
by an adult and read back.
• Having fun with language: rhyming, making up stories,
saying simple tongue twisters and listening to poems and
stories.
• Imitating and describing sounds from the environment.
• Responding to others by asking questions.

I can have fun • Reciting and acting rhymes

with spoken • Making up stories
language • Telling poems
• Responding to others by asking questions
• Telling stories from picture books
• Solving problems or conflicts

Learning outcome iii Reading to enjoy, acquire knowledge and

understanding (Comprehension)

Age Range Competences Suggested Developmental Activities

3 – 4 years
I can • Matching
recognise • Sorting
similarities
60
 and • Grouping
differences in • Arranging
objects, • Finding odd man out
pictures and • Fitting jig-saws
letter shapes. • Following paths
• Arranging pictures in sequence
• Drawing pictures
• Participating in picture talks
4 – 5 years
I can • Identifying and matching pictures
recognise and • Carrying out Picture talks
interpret • Carrying out Picture reading
pictures and • Using pictures to form stories.
letter shapes. • Finding missing parts on pictures
• Using Domino games
• Sorting and matching letter shapes
• Grouping letters and pictures
• Completing pictures
• Matching short words to pictures.
• Arranging stories in sequence
• Matching letters and words that are alike
• Identifying own name
• Identifying letters in own names and familiar words
• Finding missing letters in own names

5 – 6 years I can read • Reading words around my environment

simple words • Matching words to pictures
and • Matching word to word
sentences. • Matching sentences to pictures
• Reading simple words
• Reading simple rhymes and poems
• Reading simple sentences
• Reading simple stories
• Playing word games
• Playing games
• Carrying out Word and sentence building activity
• Recognizing familiar words such as names of common
objects, places and actions
• Reading one’s own dictated or written story

Learning outcome iv Writing different kinds of factual and

imaginative tasks, depicting appropriate
letter-formation, creativity and writing skills.

61
Age Range Competences Suggested Developmental Activities
3 – 4 years
I can • Making scribbles
coordinate my • Constructing using blocks sticks, sand, mud, etc.
eyes and • Modelling using clay, blocks etc.
hands • Sorting objects and pictures according to size, colour,
effectively. shapes, etc.
• Buttoning, tying shoe-laces
• Threading
• Drawing, colouring and painting
• Weaving
• Cutting, tearing and pasting.

4 – 5 years
I can use my • Scribbling (Guided scribbling)
hands and • Sorting objects, pictures, shapes, according to colour and
eyes to size
perform • Drawing different objects
different • Tearing and twisting paper
activities as • Colouring what they draw
instructed. • Zipping and un-zipping
• Tracing over objects and parts of the body i.e. hand, foot
etc.
• Painting.
• Forming letters and numbers with my body.
• Writing patterns and letters
• Cutting around different shapes.

5 – 6 years
I can write • Scribbling (guided)
letters and • Drawing and colouring
words. • Copying different shapes, patterns, letters and words
• Threading beads
• Writing rhythmic letter patterns
• Dictating
• Tracing shapes
• Writing stories about personally meaningful experiences
• Expressing my ideas and feelings by dictating or writing
original stories, poems, songs and riddles
• Using phonics to spell words
• Writing simple information such as name, address etc.
• Joining dots using lines
• Drawing lines: vertically, horizontally and diagonally
• Practising writing their names and the name of people
close to them
• Writing letters and simple words
• Expressing ideas and feeling by dictating or writing

62
 original stories, poems, songs and riddles
• Including descriptive detail in dictation or writing by
describing attributes of objects and relations among
objects, people and events
• Using phonic for spelling words
• Writing simple information such as name, address and
other relevant information
• Dictating, tracing, copying or writing stories about personal
experiences.

63