CURRICULUM

Finnish Curriculum

Children’s previous experiences and their interests and competencies are the starting point for learning. It is important that new knowledge and skills learned by children are connected to their developing competencies as well as the world they experience and their cultural backgrounds. Children learn best when they are feeling well and secure. Positive emotional experiences and interactive relationships promote learning. The peer group and the experience of belonging to a group are key to the child’s learning and participation. Children are entitled to the support and guidance of the teacher for their learning. Interesting, goal-oriented and suitable challenging activities inspire the children to learn more. Each child is entitled to gain experiences of success and joy in his/ her actions and of himself/herself as a learner.
 
Play is significant for the learning of children of early childhood education and care age. It motivates the children and brings joy while allowing the children to learn many skills and acquire knowledge. In ECEC, it is necessary to understand the intrinsic value of play for the children as well as the pedagogical significance of play in learning and children’s holistic growth and well-being.

Early Childhood

We infuse the International Early Years Curriculum (IEYC) into the Finnish Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) to best meet the needs of our KG students. The IEYC is a research-based curriculum recognizing global best practice in early childhood and the developmental needs of KG students. The IEYC supports key areas of learning through holistic enquiry and play-based approaches with ‘subjects’ being organized into four main strands. The four main strands are summarized below.

Learning strands

This strand focuses on developing the skills of inquiry through exploring people and the world. It will support children in understanding the similarities and differences in people, living things, the environment, and materials. Children will be encouraged to investigate, pose questions and explore ideas.

This strand focuses on developing personal, social and emotional development. The strand links to the IEYC Personal Goals and the IEYC International Dimension. This strand enables children to see themselves as unique individuals with a cultural heritage. It supports children in building positive relationships and in responding to their own and others’ feelings. It also encourages them to approach tasks with increasing confidence and independence.

This strand focuses on developing a broad range of communication skills including language development, early literacy, early mathematics, ICT and computing, expressive arts, and creativity. This Learning Strand encompasses early literacy and early mathematics. However, whilst some IEYC tasks may support the development of early reading skills, each setting can still have its own methods and policies for teaching reading. At Kelem have introduced the phonics scheme called Letters and Sounds which is a world-renowned scheme used to teach early reading skills in a fun and play-based manner.

This strand focuses on developing a positive attitude to health, self-care, and physical activity. Children will know about the importance of healthy eating and physical activity. They will learn how to take care of basic hygiene and personal needs. They will understand how to keep themselves safe. They will demonstrate control, coordination, and increasing confidence in a range of physical activities. This strand covers child development and the importance of nurturing wellbeing in children. The Finnish Core Curriculum for ECEC is based on learning according to how children develop and learn in interaction with other people and the immediate environment. The conception of learning is also based on a view of the child’s active agency. Children are naturally curious and wish to learn new things and revise and repeat what they have learned. Learning is holistic and occurs everywhere. It combines knowledge, skills, actions, emotions, sensory perceptions, bodily experiences, language, and thinking. Learning occurs when children observe and examine their surroundings and they imitate the actions of others. ​

Grade 1 – 4

The teaching & learning in grades 1-4 builds on the skills acquired in pre-primary education and the preceding early childhood education and care. The special task of grades 1-4 is to help the pupils form a positive image of themselves as learners and to teach them skills required in future learning.
In grades 1- 4 learning strands are replaced with subjects that are all taught by trained specialized teachers. Students have lessons scheduled five times a week in the core subjects (Math, English Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies) and two lessons a week for the specialist subjects (World Language- Amharic and French, PE, Music and Visual Arts and Craft). Each class has a homeroom teacher and teaching assistant who provides continued pastoral care.

Learning strands

Math knowledge and skills are developed and taught through the inquiry-based pedagogy outlined in the Finnish curriculum, promoting a deep understanding of math concepts fostered through open-ended questioning and discussion, and visualization of mathematics. Hands-on practical learning, using manipulatives when appropriate, help to embed early mathematical concepts. We use Go Math books for our Math classes from Grade 1 to Grade 8.
 

Immersing students in language and promoting the joy and value of reading are hallmarks of our English Language Arts program. The program emphasizes skills development in reading literature and informational texts, writing narratives, opinion and informational pieces, knowing and using English language conventions and vocabulary, and listening and speaking. A variety of classroom structures and instructional approaches are used to develop these skills including guided reading sessions, phonics, small group instruction, and one-to-one coaching. English language arts, science, and social studies are integrated (wherever possible) to provide connections and optimize understanding.  Journeys and Collections are the resources we employ to teach English Language Arts.

Exploration and application of science concepts and processes using hands-on materials and investigations are the emphases of science. Life science, Earth and space sciences, and physical science are all integrated throughout the years and have a STEM element. The resource we implement, Science Fusion, is a well-versed resource for active learning.

Within an international and host-country, Ethiopia context, students in social studies engage in learning about culture and geography, change, and government and economics. Learning is built upon the Oxford International Curriculum for history and geography which has been developed for international schools in conjunction with the ethics and religion aspects of the Finnish curriculum.

Beginning in Grade 1, Kelem offers instruction in French and Amharic designed for students learning both an additional language who do not have native fluency in the language and also for those students who are native speakers. Instructional emphasis is on speaking, listening, reading, and writing, and learning about the culture of the target language via these skills. Kelem believes that learning an additional language is integral to the development of internationally-minded students who are confident, reflective, and multilingual communicators. Language development in more than one language advances cognitive growth, cultivates lifelong learning, and promotes cross-cultural communication, and is a bedrock of the Finnish curriculum.

A key component of the Finnish curriculum, students throughout the school engage in a wide variety of physical fitness activities and games all of which are designed to promote good health, self-esteem, confidence, and a physically active lifestyle. Students are served a healthy and nutritious meal at lunch and healthy snacks twice a day, where they eat together as a community, they are taught the importance of nutrition as part of a healthy lifestyle.
 

The purpose of music education is to provide an avenue for creative expression, to nurture aesthetic awareness, to foster a lifelong appreciation and enjoyment of music, and to develop the important life skills that come with the discipline and practice involved in improving and gaining musical aptitude. In music classes, students develop the building blocks of music literacy and learn a repertoire of music through singing, playing instruments, dancing, listening, and performing

The visual arts program promotes the exploration of a wide range of creative processes involving visual art techniques, language, and principles to build confidence and skills in students. Describing, evaluating, and reflecting upon artworks allow students to make art connections to themselves, to other subject areas, and to the world.

Grade 5 – 8

The special task of grades 5-8 is to guide and support the pupils during the years of intense development, to ensure that they complete their studies in the basic education syllabus. Our students are inspired to be lifelong learners and to act with integrity and compassion. We provide a supportive environment where strong relationships, social responsibility and academic excellence are expected at every grade level. It is especially important that each pupil has the best possible preconditions for the study following basic education and the ability to consider his or her choices realistically.
At Kelem we understand that during this age we need to embrace the shifting emotional, social, and academic needs of adolescents, with a nurturing environment that values relationships, responsibility and respect; this combination allows us to meet the unique needs of this age group. Students are encouraged to take responsibility for themselves, their studies, friends, and surroundings and are guided towards developing a community spirit, where bullying, sexual harassment, racism, or other discrimination is not tolerated. The students’ motivation to study is enhanced by caring and encountering each pupil as an individual and by using diverse working approaches and learning environments/
Outside of the classroom, students have the opportunity to be involved in after-school activities – sports, arts and clubs, which foster a love for learning, creativity, compassion and sportsmanship. 

Learning strands

Grades 5-8 math learning assumes a balanced approach where students gain a deeper understanding of math concepts by learning a concise set of topics at each grade level. Students master content through reasoning and discourse, engaging activities, stimulating exercises, and continual building on what has been previously learned. We use a balance of conceptual understanding with procedural fluency, as students benefit from equal exposure to both discovery learning and direct instruction.

The English Language Arts program is anchored in engaging students in reading thought-provoking, high-interest texts to support them to become critical readers and to apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. Texts read are drawn from a wide range of genres that challenge students to grow as readers and thinkers.\n\nStudents write for a variety of purposes (to explain, to persuade, to convey experiences—real or imagined) and are provided ample opportunities for speaking and writing about texts. Building students’ vocabulary is also an important goal in the language arts program to help support ongoing comprehension development. Students further learning and apply knowledge of language, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print texts. Core resources used in the language arts program include Collections together with other quality literature.
 

Science takes an integrated approach where each year group learns within the realm of each of the sciences: Life, Physical, and Earth, and Space. They explore and apply a sequence of science content, processes, and skills using hands-on materials and investigations alongside science content so students can use their understanding to investigate the natural world through the practices of science inquiry or solve meaningful problems. Writing and research skills specific to science are also emphasized in the program.

Social Studies provides content knowledge grounded by conceptual big ideas as emphasized by the Finnish curriculum that captures broad understandings about the past which students apply to understand the events of today. Reflective inquiry, problem-solving, and critical thinking are cornerstones of social studies instruction.
 

Kelem offers instruction in French and Amharic designed for students who are learning an additional language who do not have native fluency in the language and also students who are native language speakers. Instructional emphasis is on speaking, listening, reading, and writing, and learning about the culture of the target language via these skills. We believe that learning an additional language is integral to the development of internationally-minded students who are confident, reflective, and multilingual communicators. Language development in more than one language advances cognitive growth, cultivates lifelong learning, and promotes cross-cultural communication.

The physical education program seeks to develop a positive attitude among students regarding fitness, health, teamwork, and the understanding of the importance of physical well-being. In order to achieve these general objectives, a diversified instructional program is offered to include a variety of team and individual activities so that all students have access to the core PE curriculum. Students are encouraged to be part of the schools’ team and to participate in competitions with other schools.

The purpose of music education at Kelem is to provide an avenue for creative expression, to nurture aesthetic awareness, to foster a lifelong appreciation and enjoyment of music, and to develop the important life skills that come with the discipline and practice involved in improving and gaining musical aptitude.In Kelem students begin to learn to play an instrument such as the recorder, keyboard,  guitar and Maskinko, and begin to perform for others. Throughout the school year, students are exposed to different genres of music, as well as music of varying degrees of difficulty.
 

Students apply artistic skills based on design principles and the media of drawing, painting, and ceramics. The creation of art provides the context for students to critically analyze art and reflect upon their own artwork as a form of self-expression. Students also learn how history and culture have influenced art by comparing and contrasting artworks from different cultures and historical periods.