Kindergarten Philosophy

Letting Children Choose

Why do we as adults pursue hobbies such as golf, crochet or gardening? We spend time in such an activity because we find it enjoyable, we have some control over the activity and we see it as offering some probability of success. We choose what we will crochet or plant; we decide where, when and with whom we will play golf or tennis.

Children, too, learn best when they have some control over their learning, when activities are meaningful and relevant, and when they can make choices in the materials they will work with and how they will use them.

Children thrive when they have opportunities every day to make choices in their learning. We facilitate children’s choices within a carefully planned environment. We create the environment to allow each child to choose activities that are developmentally appropriate for his or her age. The children choose the peers with whom they will work and play and usually determine how they will use the available materials.

These choices empower children to take control of their own learning. Children use materials and equipment in far more creative and innovative ways than we could ever plan, and they use the materials in ways that meet their own developmental needs.

Research indicates that intrinsic motivation – when we work on a task primarily because we find it satisfying – is the most effective and engaging way to learn. In this program we make an effort to provide materials and activities that provide choice and interest for the children. That’s a key reason that you’ll see busy, involved children when you visit the classroom.

What Did You Do At School Today?

 It is difficult for young children to recall and describe what they did during the program day. Children are active and busy for the entire time, but they sometimes lack the words to tell others about their activities – or by the time you pick them up, they have moved on to other things.

Parents, of course, want to know about their child’s day. Here are a few ideas to keep in mind when asking your child about his/her activities.

Keep informed of the class’s planned events so you can ask specific questions. For example, “Did you get to walk to Safeway today, or was it too rainy?”

  • With most children, avoid general questions like “What happened at school today?”
  • Avoid questions that produce one-word answers
  • Ask specific questions such as:
  • “Whose special day was it today? Tell me about what s/he shared”
  • “What centre(s) did you go to today?”
  • “Tell me about this drawing in your backpack”

Sometimes telling your child a little something about your own day starts the ball rolling. Your child may get the idea of sharing news and feelings about his/her day this way.

And remember – if your child shares something about his/her day that you question or worry about, BE SURE TO BE IN TOUCH WITH ME ABOUT YOUR QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS IMMEDIATELY! Sometimes it is a matter of clarifying an issue, and if something is truly bothering your child (or you), it is best to have the issue dealt with right away. Prevention is certainly the best policy!

The Best Learning Is Active Learning

 Active learning takes advantage of children’s natural desire to move and touch. Young children love to manipulate items and explore new ideas. They enjoy the opportunity to see how things work and to test their own theories.

Active learning takes advantage of children’s natural motivations, abilities and interests. Children get lots of opportunities to investigate what interests them – to solve problems, discover relationships and make comparisons.

Children use all their senses to make discoveries: How heavy is it? Does it smell? Can I find another one that feels the same? What does it sound like when I drop it? How is it different from other items? Using their hands, eyes, nose, ears and mouth to explore an item, children gather more information and remember what they learn.

As they interact directly with the environment, children not only gather sensory information, they also refine their senses and motor skills. For example, it takes very refined movement of the hands and fingers to produce the penmanship required for writing. Squeezing playdough, picking up puzzle pieces and using scissors are ways for young children to practice using their hands and fingers.

We organize the classroom environment to promote active learning and we do lots of things to encourage children to think and talk about their discoveries and creations. The next time you want your child to learn about something, provide the materials, space and time. Then step back and watch. You will be surprised at how much more your child will discover through active involvement!

Dynamic Classrooms Are Not Quiet!

Quiet classrooms do not mean that young children are learning. In fact, since oral language is very important during the early years, quiet classrooms may indicate that young children are not learning all that they could be.

Talking gives a child the opportunity to experiment with new words. It provides the vehicle for expressing ideas and testing current knowledge.

Shared experiences are important; they give children something to talk about. Children learn the nuances of communication in groups by trying out their language skills. For example, they learn what a question sounds like and how loud is loud enough.

Using words and talking about how things work, making comparisons and retelling experiences lead to increased intellectual development. When children reconstruct experiences, sequence events and point out similarities or differences, they are engaging in higher-level thinking skills. And when children are encouraged to ask questions, they not only gain information from adults’ responses but also build their competence – and confidence – as active seekers of knowledge and understanding.

The vocabularies children use in reading and writing are based on the words they are familiar with from listening and speaking. But expanded vocabularies and other aspects of language growth occur through using language. Talking in the classroom may be a little noisy, but positive results are easily heard!

 

Exploration Time

The Power of Play

 Have you ever heard someone remark about an early childhood program – even ours, perhaps – that “All the children do there is play?” Good early childhood programs incorporate a lot of play – and they should!

Years of research around children’s learning and development document the many benefits of play for children’s intellectual, social, emotional, physical and language development. Children at play are actively involved in creating themes, exploring and establishing environments, solving problems and developing shared understandings.

Children play in many ways:

  • They play “independently” – sometimes near each other but with each child engrossed in his/her own activity.
  • They engage in what is called “parallel play” – perhaps using each other’s toys or even talking, but not coordinating their play.
  • They also play “cooperatively” – organizing roles and scenarios for group play. Young children usually find true “cooperative play” very difficult since developmentally they are very egocentric and need time to develop skills such as turn taking, empathy, sharing, etc. As they get older, children are capable of more cooperative, coordinated play. But all kinds of play are valuable.

As children play with each other, they learn to see other children’s point of view and begin to become more empathetic and caring. They come to understand customs and rules in their own culture and to appreciate those of others. They learn to use language in new ways to describe their play and to interact with others. And in play, children develop their muscles and coordination.

Adults can support children’s play by providing space, opportunity and materials. At school we set up areas where children can play without fear of damaging furniture or injuring themselves. We make sure that they have the time to choose and to become engaged in their own play activities. And when we provide them with simple, interesting materials – no newfangled, expensive gadgets required – children take it from there.

Play is fun. But it is also serious business that pays big dividends to its eager, young investors.

 The Play-Full Prop Box

 The ability to pretend is very important to a child’s future success. To pretend children must be able to recall experiences they have had and then re-create them. They must be able to picture experiences in their minds.

Children like to try on different roles, act out experiences, recall past events and work out anxieties. One day a child may act out going to the grocery store, making a list, gathering items, playing at the checkout counter. Another day the child may pretend to be a dentist or a firefighter.

One way to encourage dramatic play – “pretend” experiences that enhance your child’s cognitive abilities and encourage creative thinking and problem solving – is through the use of prop boxes or bags. Prop boxes contain an assortment of items centered on a dramatic play theme.

For a “day at the beach” theme, a box may hold beach towels, old swimsuits, flip-flops, empty suntan lotion containers, old sunglasses, and magazines. Or a box may contain a baker’s hat, rolling pin, cookie cutters, playdough, pans, spoons, aprons and dishtowels.

Clearly label the containers, perhaps with pictures or words, and store them where your child can reach them. Keep adding to your collections. Yard sales and flea markets are great places to find props. As your child’s interests change, start new collections.

Your child will benefit from these collections in many ways other than just having fun. For instance, research indicates that children who have many opportunities to participate in dramatic play use more sophisticated language and become better readers and writers.

Prop boxes are only as limited as the imagination. And, if you have some fun ideas of your own, please let me know!

The Listening Centre

 Listening is the language ability that develops first and is used most often. True listening means not only hearing sounds in the environment but also taking meaning from and responding to those sounds.

Listening is an essential part of the development of both written and oral language. We can best help children develop listening abilities by providing experiences that encourage careful listening. One of these experiences takes place in our classroom listening centre.

The listening centre, a comfortable area where children can use a tape recorder, headsets and a variety of audiotapes, gives them daily opportunities to listen to oral language and music. Through songs, poems and stories children can begin to identify and differentiate between familiar or similar sounds, rhyming words, letter sounds and speech patterns.

Children’s vocabulary, comprehension and critical thinking skills also get a boost. Listening experiences stimulate children to express their own reactions in various ways, including verbal discussion, art, drama and stories of their own. Through these activities children relate what they hear to their own experiences.

Families can extend this focus on “listening with a purpose” at home or during car trips. Try to identify particular sounds. Point out the differences in pieces of music. Play games with words by finding rhyming words or words that begin with the same sound. Don’t make this a task – just have fun!

 Learning with Blocks

 Blocks are open-ended materials that stimulate young imaginations, provide choice for discovery and invention, and promote the development of problem-solving skills. One day a block may be an airplane. The next day that same block in the hands of the same child can be a sofa for the house s/he is building.

Building with blocks helps develop young children’s hand-eye coordination, visual perception and large and small muscle control. It builds self-confidence and provides opportunities for creativity and dramatic play. These things occur naturally when children play with blocks.

We also find that working with blocks often deepens a child’s engagement with literature and literacy. A child may be inspired, for example, to construct the “Three Bears” beds and chairs, a pirate boat or an enchanted castle.

Inviting children to reconstruct buildings and other things they have seen on field trips is one way we encourage their thinking in relation to social studies. They work with concepts behind maps and models, and as they build block cities, farms and factories, they work out their own understanding of these complex sites and communities. Children also develop mathematical and scientific concepts such as balance and gravity as they work with blocks.

Blocks are engrossing and fun for young children, of course. They are also invaluable tools for promoting children’s development on many fronts.

  The Artful Classroom

A child becomes totally engrossed, immersed in the process of making a “work of art”. The sensations of feeling the smooth thick paint sliding onto the easel paper calms the child and brings pleasure to the creation. When the child grapples with the challenge of representing an object or person on the page, s/he is engaging in a task that is both demanding and satisfying.

Teachers provide an assortment of art materials that children may choose from to make their own unique creations. We do not usually have children copy a teacher’s model or make a designed product. We encourage them to use the materials in different ways. Art is a vital and vibrant part of the early childhood program, contributing to all aspects of the young child’s development.

As they paint, draw and sculpt children think creatively, make decisions and solve problems. Children’s fine motor skills are developed naturally through manipulation of brushes, crayons, scissors or playdough. All of these activities prepare children for writing in later years. Language is also developed as children talk about colour, shape and size, and as they describe their work to friends and teachers.

To encourage your child’s artistic enterprises, provide large blank paper (the ends of newsprint rolls I understand can be purchased at a nominal cost from your local newspaper, or you can recycle paper by letting your child use the back of office paper), watercolours, markers or chalk for use at home. Art supplies also make great gifts!

Value your child’s efforts and expose him/her to quality artwork through visits to museums and art shows. Recognize that young children learn in a variety of ways and that creative activities provide positive, satisfying experiences for all children.

 Let’s Pretend!

 Make believe play is not only one of the great joys of childhood, it also offers abundant opportunities for children’s development. Children develop interpersonal skills, particularly cooperation and conflict resolution, and improve their language and problem-solving abilities in pretend (dramatic) play.

Around the age of 2, children begin to pretend to cry, sleep and eat. They soon include a stuffed animal, doll or favorite toy in their play. They also begin to transform objects into symbols – a simple block becomes a fast racecar or a stick makes a fine racehorse.

As children approach 3, they begin participating in make-believe play with other children. Dramatic play gradually becomes more elaborate and complex. 4 and 5 year olds engage in socio-dramatic play, which provides opportunities to rehearse adult roles. Such play helps children make sense of the world.

These first dramatic experiences often focus on home experiences. Children pretend to cook, clean and care for younger children. That’s why our dramatic play area (ex. the house) has props and equipment that represent the home setting. These stimulate children to act out roles familiar to them.

Dramatic play fosters emotional development as children work through fears and worries in a safe context. Social skills are promoted as children communicate and negotiate their roles and actions. Another plus is that children use language more frequently and more elaborately in make-believe play than they do in virtually any other activity.

Parents can actively encourage dramatic play at home by capitalizing on their children’s interest at the moment, developing themes from stories their children have heard or movies they have seen, and providing props for pretend play. Providing a home environment that is conductive to play stimulates intellectual and social development. At the same time, parents will be developing rich memories of their children at play – memories that last a lifetime.

Language

Learning Language

Children begin very early in life to acquire language skills. Language helps children gain independence, interact with others and participate in the surrounding culture. It plays a role in social interactions and expression of emotion, as well as learning.

Most children follow a sequence of language development: crying and cooing, babbling, first words and first sentences. By the age of 5 most children have developed a proficiency in oral language and use it effectively to accomplish their purposes and meet their needs.

Even very young children are soothed by the mere voices of loved ones. Adults instinctively chant and carry on casual conversations with children – whether or not they answer or even before they are able to understand. Children tune in more than we sometimes realize. The language they hear is the raw material from which their language develops – and through which most of their learning about the world takes place.

Children learn a lot when adults simply talk to them in the course of daily activities such as cooking, bathing and doing chores. While riding in the car or on a bus – or even pushing the shopping cart – parents can comment on what they see along the way. And there is a fringe benefit to keeping up running conversations: the child is less likely to get bored and misbehave.

When you plan a family outing or special event, talk about it with your child beforehand and afterward. Anticipating and recalling experiences not only promote children’s language development but also increases their knowledge and understanding.

Songs, finger plays and nursery rhymes are especially good for introducing children to the patters and rhythms of language. And being read to is a real joy! When we take time to read aloud and converse with our children, they learn to value language – as well as our company.

Math

Picking Up Patterns

The ability to reproduce and create patterns is an early math skill that we adults can encourage in young children. Patterns occur throughout mathematics, right from the simplest of concepts to the most complex. Helping children learn to look for patterns will help them gain a deeper understanding of math. Because young children learn best by touching and seeing, the first patterning experiences we give them at school are with objects rather than with numbers.

Children between 3 and 5 begin to be able to reproduce a pattern created by someone else. For example, if an adult uses blocks to create the pattern of “rectangle, square, rectangle, square, and so on, the child should work toward being able to look at that pattern and use his/her own blocks to make the same pattern.

Almost any set of objects around the house can create a simple alternating patter (ABAB):

  • Spoon, fork, spoon, fork, etc.
  • Blue napkin, red napkin, blue napkin, red napkin, etc.
  • Nut, bolt, nut, bolt, etc.
  • Crayon, marker, crayon, marker, etc.

After children perceive and create this simple patterning, adults can offer more complicated patterns such as nut, nut, bolt, nut, nut, bolt, etc. (AABAAB) or nut, nut, bolt, bolt, bolt, nut, nut, bolt, bolt, bolt, etc. (AABBBAABBB).

Encourage children to create their own patterns with objects. Ask them to predict which object would come next in one of your patterns. Invite them to sketch their patterns.

Finding patterns in the world around them and creating patterns themselves will help children see patterns in more complex mathematics later on.

 Math Moments

In every classroom, at any time during the day, the potential for a “math moment” exists. The room is one big learning center where strands of mathematical discovery are continually being woven. Children learn to make sense of their world through everyday experiences.

To stimulate a math moment, teachers use a variety of materials and ideas to create an environment in which children explore math concepts. In the math centre are board games, puzzles, matching and guessing games, dominoes, cards, pattern blocks and collections of objects that give children opportunities to recognize numbers and build math skills.

But math moments do not occur only in the math centre. Look around our room… In the block centre, children construct houses, towers, parking garages, bedrooms, etc. (by sorting and organizing) and use words like long, short, and tall. When a child brings a birthday treat, s/he passes out one napkin per child and the same number of treats for each person. We take attendance and keep track of how many days we’ve been in school. When the class votes on what stories to read or for some other decision, children compare quantities. When we clean up the room we sort toys and writing materials into appropriate tubs and containers – felts with felts, crayons with crayons, animals with animals, cars with cars, etc.

Parents can accept the challenge to find math moments at home and about town. With your child, identify numbers and shapes in your junk mail. As you cook or run errands together, you can make comments or ask questions that encourage meaningful math understandings. For instance, “We need a bottle of juice for each person in the family and your friend Sally, too. How many shall I get?” When shopping ask your child to find products that are sold in groups of 5 or 10 or 100… or see how many places you can find the number 3 or 5 or 7… Children love to be consulted on such issues! Just keep it all in fun!

  Sorting Stuff

 Children learn many math skills long before they are ready for the “basics” of addition and subtraction. One of these skills is the ability to sort objects.

When they sort, children group things that belong together in some way. Children often sort by colour – red blocks in one group, blue blocks in another – or by shape – triangle blocks here, rectangle blocks there.

When children’s rooms are organized, their toys become natural objects to sort. At cleanup time, alphabet blocks go into one container, coloured blocks go into another, farm animal figures go in one tub and toy cars into a box.

In helping with the laundry, children can sort clothes into piles of shirts, shorts, pants, underwear and socks. After dishes are done, children can put away knives, forks and spoons. In helping to put away groceries, children can separate boxes from cans or bathroom items from kitchen items. By lending a hand in sorting things into the appropriate recycling containers, children also develop earth-friendly habits.

Early in a child’s explorations of sorting activities, adults play a useful role by providing words for what the child is doing (“I see you are putting all the square blocks together”). We also can help extend the sorting (Let’s see if we can find all the rectangle blocks”). In time, the child begins to use these words and expand his or her understanding of the mathematical world.

 Dice, Cards and Math

  Dice and playing cards are inexpensive, fun to work with and suitable for a variety of math activities. They help children learn one-to-one correspondence (pointing to objects while counting), comparison of numbers (more/less/same) and other math skills.

Dice can be used in very simple ways, such as by players rolling a single die and advancing on a game board. Such games often can be purchased second hand or created by families at home.

A piece of cardboard or poster board can serve as a game board. A child can select a starting and ending place for the game. For example, for a game called “Going to the Park”, HOME could be the starting place and PARK could be the destination. Your child could draw, alone or with help, boxes on streets leading from home to the park. Use dice or numbered cards to determine how many spaces to advance. Make up your own object and rules! A game of this kind promotes problem solving, number recognition and counting skills. Or, play commercial games with your children – look at the box to find out if the game is appropriate for your child’s age group.

For older children, more advanced games can involve rolling two or more dice and adding (or subtracting) the numbers shown. Dice also can be used to help children look for number patterns and factors by finding all the ways to make a certain number on a pair of dice. Let your children make up their own dice games!

Dice do not need to be six sided. Game and hobby stores sell dice with 4, 8, 10, 12, 20 and even 100 sides! For dice and card game ideas that build math skills, look for “Box Cars and One Eyed Jacks”. There is a complete set of these books and they are a wonderful resource.

Playing card games, too, offer many possibilities for math skill development. Children can play “War” or other games that involve a comparison between two or more numbers. They can count decks to determine how many cards are red, how many are hearts, how many are face cards, how many are less than 7, and so on. Such games and others like “Rummy” or “Go Fish” teach children about grouping and sorting. For other card game ideas, check the library for books on the subject…

Families can also create their own card games. If your family invents a game that is fun, we’d love to hear about it!

  Let the Games Begin!

 Children learn best when activities are meaningful to them. Experts in the early development of mathematical concepts tell us that children develop mathematical understanding in situations in which number and quantity are relevant and important to them.

Games provide this opportunity. Playing games is a wonderful way for children to share time with family members, to have fun, and to learn. Kids love to play games with their favorite grown-ups.

In simple card games such as “Go Fish”, “Concentration” or “Crazy Eight’s”, children learn many different things. They identify numerals, match numerals or objects and practice memory skills. They also develop fine motor coordination by picking up and handling the cards.

Playing dominoes or games with dice, children learn to count the dots and relate those dots to the number they represent. Moving game pieces the right number of spaces on a board adds the concept of one-to-one correspondence (being able to point to an object as it is counted), and constantly comparing the rolled numbers helps develop number sense.

The games we choose should be appropriate for the age of the child. With commercial games, look for the age recommendations on the game box. Remember that noncompetitive games are best – young children hate to lose.

As we play games with children, we can extend their mathematical thinking by asking simple questions: “How many matches did you get? Do you have more red cards or black? Would you like to deal us 6 cards?” Continued opportunities to play games and talk and think about number concepts help children develop their own math understandings.

***Letter borrowed from Tracy Fulton, New Westminister School District***