Introduction to DAVAR Curriculum
Goal: Children or adults of any age learn and practice necessary skills that help enable them to learn to read and write.
Purpose: Offer a 'bridge to literacy' by providing a curriculum consisting of activities or games that teach, and offer practice in, necessary skills for learning to read, write, and do math. Attract students to the learning process through these activities and help them discover that academic learning is easier and more fun than they (might have) previously thought or experienced.
Rationale: It is a good and well-known didactic principle to use the known to explain the unknown. When teachers use the languages and ways of learning that students already know in order to teach them new things, students will feel respected, as well as able and motivated to learn. This will create the positive learning environment needed to be able to acquire new skills and learn new concepts.
Even when past the age of preschool and early school years, people can still learn to read and write. Some things should be taught first in order to develop the needed skills; practice is needed to develop the sequential part of the brain necessary to be able to easily learn school subjects.
Target groups:
a. Children or adults who have missed opportunities to master these skills in preparation for learning to read and write (no preschool experience) and/or children or adults who have low motivation to learn.
b. Workers with or without pedagogical training who wish to teach these skills.
Description: The program is simple and fun to do. It can be done with few, readily-found materials.
Since students succeed in participating in the activities, it is also affirming for them.
Each activity takes about fifteen minutes. There is no set order or program to follow; the curriculum consists of activities/games that focus on eight different skill sets. The activities may be used in any order chosen by the leader/teacher and incorporated into existing meetings. They may be part of a Sunday school, Bible club, or other regular meeting. It would be helpful if students meet at least once a week.
Where possible, the language of communication should be the language that students know best.
Learning materials needed: paper, pencils, printed pictures, and easily found objects such as sand, stones, and sticks. Optional materials: worksheets (available for free from internet).
Activities and Games are available in the following skill sets:
A. Verbal Skills
B. Identifying Shapes
C. Listening Skills
D. Visual Skills
E. Feeling and Drawing to develop writing skills
F. Words for Where
G. Describing and Comparing
H. Numbers and Numerals
Additional Activities and Games:
- Math Games (some more advanced than pre-math)
- German version
- Romanian version (partially complete)
- Dutch version (not yet complete)