Scripted Programming

Recently, the topic of scripted programming for young children caught my attention. Some educators adore scripted programming. They find joy in the themes and projects celebrating a specific time of year, holiday, or season. In my work with school-age children, scripted programming is always present.

When I started my career in early childhood education, we learned how to create a curriculum that always included themes and scripted activities. As educators, we maintained a large calendar prepared ahead of time with pre-planned activities for the children determined by the months, seasons, and special community events. Our role as educators was to blend math, science, and language into the calendar. Our goal was to create an activity mix that offered the children a well-rounded educational experience.

As my career advanced, I was a co-teacher with people from different cultural and educational backgrounds. During this time, I learned new philosophies about working with children. In collaboration with my new colleagues, we started our transition away from scripted programming. At first, we embraced the project approach, and the focus of our work changed. Instead of creating programming, we collaborated with the children. Together we created projects based on the children's interests and inquiries.

Did our change in approach mean that scripted programming went away?

During much of my career in school-age care, the program leadership embraced child-directed learning. Pressure from parents, school partnerships, and licensing agencies changed that, and we had to offer scripted programming. The desire to make after-school look and act like school is strong. In school-age care, it may be the single determining factor of what the children experience.

Under pressure, we adapted our practice and included scripted programming. Scripted programming did not interfere with the children who wanted to develop their work. Scripted programming became available for children who wanted to explore it.

Some school-age children are less comfortable with having work choices. These children are happiest when engaged in projects directed by an adult. Scripted programming helps school-age educators offer options to all children. Some children want to make crafts, cook and engage in activities with a clear outcome. In my classroom, children not involved in free play or project work look to the monthly calendar of scripted activities for something to do.

Early education is more progressive with programming than school-age care. Early education is evolving at a quicker rate. I hope that someday the offerings for older children will evolve. I hope new educators will come into the field with fresh ideas. I know some great educators who are doing fantastic work with school-age children. Their programs inspire me and give me hope for the future.