Educational Curriculum and Guidelines
In MoNE-affiliated public and private pre-primary institutions, the school year must include a minimum of 180 working days. These days are counted from the official start date of classes to the end date, including national holidays with student participation in ceremonies. Public holidays and days when the school is closed for any reason are not included in this calculation.
For private nurseries and day care centers affiliated with the MoFSS, there is no legally specified number of working days. These institutions determine their own operating schedules, which the relevant governor’s office must approve. Institutions wishing to operate during evenings or weekends must apply to the MoFSSP provincial directorates with a petition stating their justification and proposed hours. Approval is subject to the recommendation of the provincial directorate and approval of the governorship. Institutions may also offer part-time or hourly care services, again contingent upon provincial approval.
Annual, Weekly, and Daily Planning
In Türkiye, pre-primary education and care are overseen by both MoNE and MoFSS. Pre-primary education institutions attended by children aged 36–68 months follow the MoNE Pre-primary Education Program, approved by the Board of Education; private kindergartens-affiliated MoFSS follow the Education Program for Children Aged 0-36 Months. Teachers organize educational environments based on the developmental levels, interests, and needs of the children. They prepare and implement monthly and daily education plans and assess the outcomes.
The monthly education plan addresses a wide range of skills holistically, including domain-specific, conceptual, social-emotional learning, literacy, values, and dispositions. It includes learning outcomes, concepts, evidence of learning (assessment), learning-teaching activities, differentiation (enrichment/support), and family-community involvement. The daily education plan is derived from the monthly plan and covers the learning outcomes, activities, assessments, differentiation strategies, and family involvement for a single day. At the pre-primary level, children participate in six 50-minute activity sessions per day.
Family education and involvement supports continuity between home and school, enhancing the retention of learned knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Therefore, MoNE has developed two family education guides integrated into its programs: the Integrated Family Support Education Guide for Children aged 0–36 months (EBADER) and the Integrated Family Support Training Guide with Preschool Education Program (OBADER). Teachers have to use these guides in conjunction with the curriculum.
Learning and Development Areas
Objectives of Pre-primary Education
The primary objectives of pre-primary education are to promote children’s holistic development, facilitate their social integration, and prepare them for primary education. The purpose of pre-primary education is;
- To provide a common nurturing environment for children from disadvantaged backgrounds and families
- To facilitate their adaptation to social life
- To prepare them for primary education
- To provide a common nurturing environment for children from disadvantaged backgrounds and families
- To ensure that children speak Turkish properly and eloquently.
Principles of Pre-primary Education Curriculum
The pre-primary period (ages 0–6) represents a critical phase during which children’s developmental pace is at its peak and their capacity for learning is exceptionally high. While each age group has common developmental traits, every child is unique. The pre-primary education program is based on several fundamental principles that recognize this individuality.
Overview of the Pre-Primary Education Curriculum
In the modern era, individuals are expected to adapt to rapid societal changes, contribute to scientific and technological advancements, and address global challenges. Education systems have shifted from knowledge transmission to skill development. For this reason, skills-based programs that take into account childiren’s develeopment from early age are planned and implemented. This pre-primary education curriculum aims to equip children with essential skills in a holistic manner, preparing them for primary school.
The curriculum is aligned with the Century of Türkiye Education Model (TYMM) Skills Framework (MoNE, 2025), which emphasizes continuous skill acquisition from pre-primary through the 12th grade. Skills are adressed taking into account children’s developmental levels and individual differences in this curriculum, which constitutes the first step children’s skill acquisiton.
This skill-based curriculum focus on the acquisiton of different skills. The aim is not only acquire specific skills in this field. It is also to acquire national and moral values of society, its social-cultural structure, literacy skills required by the age and necessary tendencies to use the skills. Field-specific skills constitute main structure of the curriculum. Conceptual skills and tendencies are fundamental compenents of the program. Social-emotional learning skills, literacy skills and values are also important elements of learning and teaching expriences. The program features a horizontal hierarchy within its learning domains and a vertical hierarchy linking pre-primary with subsequent academic levels. This structure facilitates smoother transitions into primary education.
Monthly education plans allow teachers to align skills and outcomes. Daily plans are then developed from these monthly guidelines. Learning outcomes are designed to reflect the expected field-specific skills at the pre-primary level.
The Concept of Skill in the Pre-primary Education Program
Skills in this program are defined as actions through which children apply thinking strategies, tools, and materials within a learning context. These skills—field-specific, conceptual, social-emotional, and literacy— function together and are integrated into educational experiences to form a cohesive whole. This integrity has been clearly demonstrated in learning and teaching expreciences.
The Concept of Process Component in the Pre-primary Education Program
Skill acquisition is inherently process-oriented. For example, the skill of comparison involves identifying similarities and differences among various concepts or objects. The development of such a skill requires mastery of individual process steps known as process components.
Failure to acquire any of these process steps can hinder the development of the overall skill. For instance, the skill of inductive reasoning involves observing, recognizing patterns, and drawing generalizations. A child must acquire each of these components to be considered proficient in inductive reasoning, which represents an integrated and holistic thinking skill.
The Concept of Learning Outcomes in Pre-primary Education Program
Learning outcomes are created by combining content knowledge within the scope of the learning area with related field skills. This is because content knowledge mediates learners’ skill development, while for the learner, content knowledge becomes internalized, more meaningful and life-oriented through the use of skills. Therefore, learning outcomes consist of two basic elements: content knowledge and domain skills.
The learning outcomes, which are specific to each field, are integrated with the content knowledge of the field, considering the characteristics of children. When considered hierarchically, there is a structure detailed as domain skill, process component, learning outcome, sub-learning outcome. In this structure, learning outcomes are directly matched with the domain skill itself and sub-learning outcomes are matched with the process component. In this way, it is stated how the skill related to the learning outcome will be handled and observed in the pre-primary period.
In other words, the learning outcome shows the desired superstructure to be achieved in the pre-primary period. For example, for the scientific observation skill in the field of science, there is a learning outcome “To be able to make scientific observations on events/phenomena and situations related to science in daily life” (Ministry of National Education, 2025). This objective mandates that scientific observation should be made on events and phenomena related to the field of science in the child’s daily life. It also creates a framework for the evaluation studies to be carried out for the acquisition of the skill.
The Concept of Sub-Learning Outcomes in the Pre-primary Education Curriculum
Sub-learning outcomes are formed by integrating learning outcomes with process components. In other words, they represent the process steps leading to the achievement of a learning outcome. They also contain more detailed content knowledge than learning outcomes themselves. For instance, the learning outcome “To be able to make scientific observations about events/phenomena and situations in the field of science in daily life” has three associated sub-learning outcomes “Describes the characteristics of various activities that occur in the world.,:” Collects data using his/her senses about the observable properties of familiar materials and records them.”, “Explains the data obtained regarding living/non-living things in his/her immediate environment” (Ministry of National Education, 2025). When designing learning experiences, sub-learning outcomes should be integrated with both core and inter-program components. In classroom practice, addressing these sub-learning outcomes contributes to the development of the skills targeted by the broader learning outcome.
Field Skills in the Pre-primary Education Curriculum
The primary objective of the program is to establish a national skills framework starting from the pre-primary period. To achieve this, beyond academic knowledge, children are expected to acquire skills such as reasoning, inductive thinking, and observation, as outlined in the Education Model (Ministry of National Education, 2025).
Field skills are the discipline-specific competencies that must be acquired. In the curriculum, these skills are formed by integrating field-specific skills and conceptual skills and encompass all other relevant abilities. During the pre-primary period, field skills are organized under the domains of Turkish, mathematics, science, social studies, physical activity and health, art, and music.
Child Identification, Assessment, and Reporting in the Pre-primary Education Curriculum
The holistic development of children—including field-specific, conceptual, social-emotional, literacy, and values-based skills—is supported by the integrated design of the education system and the development of both learning environments and appropriate, authentic assessment systems. This program emphasizes the use of assessment practices that support skill-based teaching and provide constructive feedback.
Assessments should focus on tracking children’s skill development and employ process-based evaluation approaches during the pre-primaryl years. It is essential to monitor skill acquisition through active child participation throughout the learning process.
Observation is a key method for pre-primary teachers to assess children’s development. Teachers should systematically or informally observe children throughout their activities and draw inferences about their skill acquisition and the effectiveness of the program. Evaluation should focus on real-time classroom interactions. Teachers are encouraged to ask children questions during activities, evaluate their responses, and provide immediate feedback.
Everything that occurs in the classroom is considered potential evidence of a child’s learning. Such evidence includes what children observe, produce, and articulate. This can be documented through various tools such as anecdotal records, checklists, informal notes, video/audio recordings, and photographs. Sticky notes, digital and written journals may also be used for informal observations. Selected materials may be included in children’s portfolios.
Family involvement is another critical component of assessment in pre-primary education. It enhances the understanding of how well the program meets children’s needs and supports skill acquisition. Teachers should maintain both formal and informal communication with families. Strategies may include sending notes, making phone calls, and sharing children’s work, portfolios, and classroom activity media—subject to parental consent.
Formal communication methods can include individual or group meetings and portfolio presentation days. Progress reports may be shared with families, and feedback from them can provide additional insight into the child’s development and help assess both the child and the educational program more holistically. It is important to support basic skills and comptencies that children need cope with the challenges of daily life, as well as filed-specific skills during the pre-primary education. It helps children develop problem-solving abilities, evidence-based decision-making, collaboration, communication, self-awareness, self-regulation, and flexible thinking. Skill-oriented assessment practices, unlike traditional evaluations, should be performancebased and integrated seamlessly with the learning process. The adoption of a skill-based measurement and evaluation approach can be described as the implementation of performance-based assessment.
Performance-based assessments evaluate the extent to which children apply learned skills in different contexts, the effort they put into showcasing what they’ve learned, their sustained motivation, and the quality of the final product. This approach considers cognitive, social-affective, and behavioral characteristics simultaneously and is designed to reinforce the learning experience.
Assessment in pre-primary education is a multidimensional process which consist of Child-Centered Assessment, Programme-Based Assessment, Teacher-Based Assessment.
Transition to Primary School
Institutions providing pre-primary education and care organize visits to primary schools to support children’s adaptation to the new educational environment. According to the Pre-primary Education Program, primary school readiness includes activities that holistically support children’s social, emotional, motor, cognitive, language, and self-care development during their time in pre-primary. Additionally, orientation activities are held in the first week of the academic year to familiarize children with their new school environment and facilitate a smooth transition.