Block vs. Spiral Curriculum

With about 7 weeks left of the summer, I've started organizing all of my lessons and units from last year with the intention of planning for the upcoming year. Part of planning for next year includes editing my curriculum. I've been reading a lot of about the design of a pre-school physical education curriculum and the different styles there are. It seems like the debate is between the block curriculum style and the spiral style. So, I decided to do a little research...

Block Curriculum
Traditional curriculum is designed in a block format. A block style curriculum focuses on one skill theme at a time and then moves on to another skill theme without returning to the previous skill theme. For example, a teacher might spend 2 weeks teaching kicking, and then 2 weeks teaching throwing, and so on. That teacher would not revisit the skills of kicking or throwing during the remainder of the school year.

Spiral Curriculum
A newer and possibly favored curriculum style for the pre-school age is the spiral curriculum. According to education.com, a spiral curriculum is defined as "a curriculum in which students repeat the study of a subject at different grade levels, each time at a higher level of difficulty and in greater depth."

In an article by Greg Cruey, he goes into more detail describing how a spiral curriculum works. Cruey explains that the curriculum moves in a circular pattern from topic to topic and catches kids when they first become ready to learn and then picks up the other kids (the ones not ready to learn yet), later when the class spirals around to that topic again. It's called a spiral and not a circular curriculum because it doesn't stay at the same difficulty level each time the topic comes around. This type of teaching is difficult for a lot of traditional teachers because the first time you introduce a topic, 1/2 the class may not get it but you have to move on to the next topic and trust that they will get it the next time that topic spirals around, or maybe the next time after that.

Spiral Curriculum in Pre-School
So, which is better for pre-school physical education? PE Central explains that even though a block curriculum might be suitable for a middle school or high school program, the spiral curriculum would work better for the pre-school age. Research suggests that pre-school children do better when skill themes are revisited many times throughout the year. Pre-school students develop at different rates and by revisiting a skill theme many times throughout the year, there is a greater chance that every kid will be ready to learn and be able to perform the skill by the second or third time the skill spirals around. PE central also suggests the possibility of including more than one skill theme during each class. For example, you could start the class with a locomotor activity, then work on throwing, and then end the class by balancing on a variety of body parts or even include a rhythm activity. This method shortens the time spent on each skill theme but it provides more exposure to a variety of activities.

Stations are another great way to spiral the activities. You could have a kicking station, a throwing station, a rolling station, a balancing station, and a locomotor station. You could even change one station each time the class meets to keep it interesting and exciting but the other stations stay the same.

My Vote
After readying about spiral and block curriculums, I am convinced that a spiral curriculum is the way to go for the little guys. I am definitely going to try to teach using a spiral curriculum this year. I can see how it might be frustrating at first but hopefully by the second half of the year, more of my students will be picking up on the skill themes. I will let you know of my progress so wish me luck. If you have ever used a spiral curriculum, let me know how it went and if you have any suggestions.