The province’s plan to update the kindergarten curriculum with emphasis on “back-to-basics learning” is “not a bad thing,” said a Sudbury union official representing English public elementary school teachers.
“Education always has some kind of full circle,” said Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) Rainbow Local president Liana Holm. “Things change, we go back to things we used to do, we add new things.”
In January, the province announced it would bring in a new kindergarten curriculum by September 2025.
This curriculum, the press release said, will include “clear and direct instruction in reading, writing and math for kindergarten students.”
These concepts will still be combined with hands-on and play-based learning, which were more emphasized in the previous iteration of the kindergarten curriculum, a program developed eight years ago.
In play-based learning, educators use play as the vehicle for learning, building on children’s natural curiosity.
“Within the last 10 years, we've had a change in our kindergarten curriculum, where it became about self-exploration and discovery on their own,” said Holm.
“But what they were realizing was when they were going to Grade 1, they were missing skills that Grade 1s needed, and they don't have time to catch up if that stuff wasn't being done at home.
“So now, the government has gone back to a model where we're going to be doing a little bit more letters and letter sounds and maybe words, and math curriculum and things like that.
“So it's not a bad thing to go back a little bit and get back to what they're calling the basics, quote, unquote. It's just going to be a change to what we've been doing for the last decade.”
The changes align with the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s February 2022 Right to Read Inquiry Report, which called for changes to Ontario’s approach to early reading for students.
The report said “the best way to teach all students to read words is through direct, explicit, systematic instruction in foundational word-reading skills.”
However, the current Ontario curriculum teaches kids to read by a cueing system that “encourages students to guess or predict words using cues or clues from the context and their prior knowledge.”
The Right to Read report recommended that the use of cueing systems be removed from the curriculum and instead “require mandatory explicit, systematic and direct instruction in foundational word reading skills.”
As stated above, the province isn’t planning on bringing in the new kindergarten curriculum until September 2025.
“They have to give teachers time to get their minds around this, and quite frankly, I think that they need time to put the documents together,” said Holm, referring to the fact that the new kindergarten curriculum doesn’t actually exist yet.
“I am very hopeful that because this rollout is not for another year and a half, that there's going to be some training given to teachers,” she said, adding that proper resources will also be needed in kindergarten classrooms.
Besides the ETFO’s Liana Holm, Sudbury.com also reached out last week to the four local school boards that operate in Greater Sudbury, asking for an interview on the subject of the province’s announcement of a new kindergarten curriculum.
Only the Rainbow District School Board acknowledged our request, sending a brief emailed statement instead of granting an interview.
“We have yet to receive any specifics regarding the proposed changes to the kindergarten curriculum,” said the Rainbow board’s statement.
“The ministry has indicated that the changes will come into effect for September 2025. Once we receive the details, we would be happy to provide an interview.”
Heidi Ulrichsen is Sudbury.com’s assistant editor. She also covers education and the arts scene.
