Structure of curriculum-centered classrooms
In a curriculum-centered class, single subjects dictate explicit courses of study to the exclusion of most others. Integration of content areas is by coincidence. Curricula are compartmentalized to the extent that good writing practices, if used at all during mathematics, are not emphasized while working with numbers. Because there is so much material to cover in a year, not much time is allotted for each area studied. Progression to the next topic is determined by how much time is spent doing math or reading or writing.
Teachers designing curriculum-centered classrooms tend to favor distinct time periods set aside for each subject area, generally at the same time of each day. Because this pattern is easy to follow many children can progress through the system in an orderly fashion.