Curriculum and Learning
This section of the blog includes my thoughts about various aspects of providing care and education to young children. These perspectives accumulate to present an overall philosophy that guides our daily activities and interactions with the preschool children. I always enjoy discussing subjects that are related to the education of young children. I would be very glad to hear any questions or comments about our approach to early education!
The First Weeks of Preschool
The first weeks of preschool are an exciting and crucial part of the school year. This is the time when the children: meet new friends, get accustomed to being in a new environment, learn preschool routines and expectations, learn how to appropriately use our toys and materials, and (most of all) learn that the preschool is a caring, supportive, and fun place to be.
Although we are already incorporating learning in areas such as literacy, math, science, social studies, the arts, and physical education – our primary focus during the first weeks is on having children feel safe and comfortable, and having them learn about how things work in the preschool.
Most young children adapt very quickly, and soon have learned that we (the preschool staff) will take care of their needs (whether they are physical or emotional) while they are in school. I judge how successful we are being by the amount of smiling, laughing, and excited faces we see during the course of the school day - and we see plenty of those all the time!
Our “Preschool Family”
We often talk about our “preschool family”. This term refers to two very important early education concepts – including family members in our daily activities and providing a family-like environment for the children in the preschool. As early educators, we put a very high value on parent and family involvement. Parents, grandparents, siblings, and other family members have all been very involved in what we do. This is one of the things that makes the preschool experience unique and special. In addition to having a great amount of family participation, we also work to create a “family atmosphere” in our program. We want the children, and their families, to feel that the preschool is a nurturing, accepting, and completely comfortable place to be. For the preschoolers, the classroom is their home away from home - and we always strive to be “one big happy family”!
Belonging
Fostering a feeling of belonging (being a valued member of the group) is extremely important in early childhood settings. Much of what we do in preschool is based on, or incorporates, the idea that children should feel that they are important members of our “community”. Many of our activities (such as the morning greeting) are expressly done to promote this feeling of inclusion. All of our activities include the core principal that every member of the preschool is welcome to join in if they choose to do so. As staff members, we take every opportunity to make sure that each child knows that we love having them with us in the preschool!
Our Class Expectations and Rules
When considering how to address behavioral management in the classroom, we must begin by thinking about what it is that we are hoping to have children learn as far as behaving in a positive manner. To me, it is not simply that we want children to “follow the rules” (although we do want them to do so). What we really want is for the classroom rules to reflect practical needs of the children - and for the children to, as much as possible, understand why following our rules has a meaningful purpose. It is also important that in teaching children to regulate their behavior and actions we do so in a supportive, positive, and caring way.
At the beginning of the year we have many discussions with the children where we talk about what rules we should have in the classroom and why it is important to have them. These discussions are closely related to our classroom rules – a few simply and positively worded statements that cover all of the various areas of children’s behavior. Here are our class rules:
- We keep ourselves and our friends safe.
- We are nice to our friends.
- We take care of our toys and materials.
- We listen to our teachers.
- We have fun in school!
Teaching and Promoting Positive Behaviors
Our ultimate goal is for children to independently behave in positive ways that reflect respect for themselves and others. Young children, of course, often need our guidance and support in order to consistently behave in ways that we would like them to - and that are in their own best interests.
Before we can expect children to reliably act appropriately in school we must earn their trust and have them know that we care very much for their welfare. When children implicitly understand that adults are “on their side” they are much more likely to respond positively when behavioral issues are addressed.
As adults we must begin by consistently modeling the type of behavior that we wish to see children display. This is especially true when it comes to interpersonal interactions. If, as adults, we treat others with patience, compassion, and kindness, we are much more likely to see the children in our care acting in a similar fashion.
In the preschool, in addition to modeling appropriate behavior, we also have, on a regular basis, explicit conversations regarding what our behavioral expectations are, and what the rationales are for these expectations. Besides discussions, we may utilize techniques such as role-plays and puppet shows to teach children about specific desired (and undesirable) behaviors.
We can minimize unproductive conduct by promoting and recognizing positive behavior. We need to regularly let children understand that behaving appropriately is recognized and appreciated.
Having a predictable structure to our preschool day also helps to provide an environment that promotes desired behavior. A consistent schedule and routines make young children more comfortable and less likely to act in unproductive ways.
Once we are certain that children understand our behavioral expectations, we try to be as consistent as possible in reacting to situations where children are having a difficult time following our rules. By being reliable in our responses, we let children understand that there is regularity in their environment. This helps to motivate children to act in positive ways (which they know is consistently valued) rather than in negative ways (which they can also expect will be responded to in a consistent way).
When dealing with inappropriate behaviors we must always be careful to not act in a frustrated or emotionally charged manner. By acting with kindness and patience, even when responding to behaviors that are undesired, we can continue to model what it is that we are hoping to see from children - and we will not inflame the emotional content of the moment.
Over my years of teaching, children’s behavior is the topic that parents have most frequently wanted to discuss with me. I believe that the components of our approach (that has been described above) to promote positive behaviors in the preschool can also be effective in supporting desired behavioral growth in the home. If you have any questions about our approach to teaching and supporting positive behavior in the preschool, please see me.
Everyone Can Play
Some of our preschool practices go to the heart of our beliefs about educating young children appropriately. Among these are such ideas as promoting the physical and emotional safety of each child and treating each other with kindness and respect.
One way that we treat each other with kindness is by following the important rule that “everyone can play”. What this means is that children are not allowed to exclude any of their friends from an activity in the preschool. Since young children (and others) do not always naturally tend to be inclusive, there are times when we need to help children to follow this important practice.
When we do need to offer such support, a great learning opportunity is provided for the children. At these times they are given the responsibility of working out how to abide by this fundamental rule of including any peer that wishes to be included. And, ordinarily, the children are then extremely creative and flexible in figuring out ways to let their friends join in!
In our program we often observe rich, inventive, and productive interaction taking place among our students. It seems that on a daily basis children are finding new ways to positively work and play together. Hopefully, we are setting the foundation in preschool for children to develop into individuals that will have the desire and ability to successfully interact and collaborate with all of their peers.
Positive Behaviors, Learning, and Happiness at School
In the preschool we do not just foster positive behaviors because we want children to act kindly and appropriately (although this is by itself an important learning goal). We also stress behaving in appropriate ways because when children abide by classroom rules and routines this allows for a much greater degree of learning to occur. Children who make good decisions and are in greater control of their own actions are themselves more able to make the most of learning opportunities in school. And when children understand that there is predictability and security (due to the members of the group abiding by stated expectations) all of the children are more likely to be fruitfully and cheerfully engaged.
Over my long experience with students of all ages, I have observed that children that display the types of pro-social behaviors that we would like to see (such as being kind, considerate, generous, inclusive, and empathetic) are happier and more productive children themselves. Finally, by stressing caring and compassionate conduct we hope to not only foster improved behavior and enhanced learning; but also to enable the preschool to become a more comfortable, supportive, collaborative, and happy place to be.
Have Fun in School!
In the last few newsletters I’ve been discussing some elements of our school rules, their importance, and the rationales that support their use. Our final (and, I like to say to the preschoolers, our most important) rule is “Have fun in school!”
Why is it so important for the children to have fun in school? The preschool gives children their first opportunity to be involved in a structured educational program in the school that they will be attending for many years. Perhaps the most important outcome (in my opinion) is for us to have the children come to understand that school is a caring, exciting, interesting, and enjoyable place to be. I believe that having a very positive feeling about school will lead to increased success for children as students in the future.
As the preschool teacher I am always observing the children to see evidence of growth in various areas of learning and development. What I get most excited about, however, is seeing preschoolers who are genuinely happy and having a great time in school!
Individualization
In order to do this effectively, it is important to know each learner very well. This is where, once again, individualization comes into play. What may not seem overly daunting for one child, can easily lead to frustration with another. By knowing how each specific child responds to new circumstances and challenges, we can more effectively (and happily) guide them to accomplish more as learners.
This idea of individualizing and supporting the learning process for children is not limited to just “academic” learning. It is equally important when we are helping students to exhibit positive growth in social, emotional, behavioral, creative and physical areas of learning as well.
When I look around the preschool classroom, I can see children that are busily engaged in activities that are constructed to promote the acquisition of a variety of new skills in the many areas of our early education curriculum. At the same time I can observe students that are continuously becoming more confident and secure in their own ability to productively engage in the learning process with their teachers and peers at school. And that is exactly what I would hope to be seeing with any group of young learners!
Meeting Learning Standards Through Preschool Activities
The Vermont Early Learning Standards (VELS) contains standards for preschool children’s learning in seven different domains: Approaches to Learning; Social and Emotional Development; Language, Literacy, and Communication; Mathematics; Science; Social Studies; Creative Expression; and Physical Health and Development. Each domain is further divided into specific learning goals for pre-kindergarten children. Our preschool activities are designed to support children’s achievement in each of these areas of development.
Play-based activities (such as choice time activities, centers activities, and outdoor/gym play) are an essential component of the preschool curriculum. During these activities, children (with support and facilitation by staff) use carefully selected equipment, educational toys, and materials to enhance their knowledge and skills in the various domains of learning. In addition to acquiring knowledge and skills in areas such as literacy, math, science, social studies, physical development, and creative expression, the children have extensive opportunities to develop emotional, social, behavioral, and communication skills during these times.
Whole group activities, such as class meetings and meal times, are another significant part of the preschool curriculum. These activities, like the play-based ones, offer many opportunities for learning in the “academic” domains as well as providing support for growth in the emotional, social, and behavioral areas. During group times, the children - in addition to being involved in activities that include reading, writing, singing, dancing, discussing, analyzing, counting, patterning, comparing, etc. – are learning social-behavioral skills such as sitting appropriately in one place, waiting turns, being a polite and attentive listener, and interacting appropriately with peers and teachers.
Opportunities for small group and individualized instruction present themselves throughout the preschool day. These can be planned events or they can occur more spontaneously whenever the children are involved in the play-based activities.
While there are specific skills and sets of knowledge that we ultimately want children to acquire by the time they leave preschool, how students learn in preschool is in many ways different than what might be seen with older children in the elementary grades. In preschool, structured play and exploration are primary vehicles of learning. Young children learn a great deal by inventing their own ways of interacting with instructional materials and situations. We refer to this type of learning as child centered and child directed.
Another important concept on the preschool level is that of an emergent curriculum. What this means is that while we often will determine (based on desired outcomes) specific content or activities that will be included in the curriculum; we also are constantly observing the children’s actions and preferences in order to incorporate their interests as well. This attention to what is of importance to the particular children in the group allows us to tailor the curriculum in a way that makes the children’s experiences in school more relevant and powerful - as we ultimately work towards the acquisition of knowledge and skills that will benefit all young children.
Learning Through Play
With young children, we put a great emphasis on children acquiring knowledge and skills through play activities. But what does it mean to “learn through play”? First of all, it is not just any kind of play that we are looking for. In the preschool we set up and facilitate structured play activities that will lead to growth in specific areas of learning. As I have mentioned previously, these areas of learning are detailed in documents such as the Vermont Early Learning Standards, the Creative Curriculum, Everyday Mathematics, and the Responsive Classroom.
By thoughtfully setting up the classroom environment, utilizing appropriate equipment and materials, and directly teaching and modeling how play activities can safely and productively be conducted, we can expect that the preschoolers will engage in types of play that are much more likely to lead to the kinds of positive learning outcomes that we are hoping to see.
Child-directed play means that children are the initiators, organizers, and overseers of their own play experiences. They get to choose who they want to play with (although they cannot exclude anyone from a group activity) and what specific direction (or directions) the play activity will take. Another term we use to describe this variety of play, where the children direct their own involvement in classroom activities, is emergent curriculum.
Open-ended play means that there is not a specified way of participating or a prescribed result of the activity. Instead, the children through creative engagement can guide the play in directions of their own choice - while learning to experiment, witness cause and effect, discover their own abilities and preferences, utilize materials in multiple and innovative ways, and creatively problem solve.
These types of play lead not only to the acquisition of specific knowledge and skills that we would like children to learn; they also foster our students’ ability to work cooperatively, meaningfully, and happily with other learners. They support children’s development as confident, creative, and supportive individuals that will be able to successfully meet future challenges in school and eventually as adult members of our society.
Oral Language
Oral language, which includes expressive language (talking) and receptive language (listening), is an extremely important area of learning for young children. Oral language skills allow children to be fully engaged as learners on the preschool level and they also are the primary foundation of literacy learning (and contribute greatly to other domains of learning) at these early ages and stages of development.
The abilities to be verbally expressive and to comprehend what others are saying allow preschoolers to improve their knowledge and skills in areas such as: usage and understanding of our language; interacting and socializing with others; attending to (and comprehending) stories and books; and mathematic and conceptual learning. Oral language achievement on the pre-kindergarten level (particularly in areas such as semantics, grammar, and phonological awareness) provides the basis for later learning in literacy. Having skills as listeners and speakers correlates with later success in the areas of reading and writing.
Therefore, in the preschool we provide many daily opportunities for children to be engaged in, and practice using, oral language. Virtually all of the areas of our curriculum, and all of our activities, include speaking and listening components. This promotes more qualitative engagement in the activities that the children are involved in, and it also lays the foundation for their success in the future as learners.
Activities to Promote Oral Language Learning
How do we enhance the children’s oral language skills in our program? In many different ways!
We begin with having lots of conversations and discussions with the preschoolers. This provides opportunities for them to improve their expressive and receptive language. We also facilitate conversations between the preschoolers themselves. Read aloud and storytelling activities also provide for a great deal of oral language practice. These activities are always done in an interactive manner (giving the children many opportunities to talk as well as to listen).
Having the children dictate their ideas for us to write down also allows them to use expressive language and to see it transformed into print. This can be done with individual students (often so they can talk about their artwork) or with the entire group for a “shared writing” piece.
Activities which include singing, rhyming, or poetry will enhance children’s abilities in the important oral language (and early literacy) skill area of “phonological awareness”. I will be talking more about this, and some of the other areas of oral language that also contribute to literacy learning, in future newsletters.
As I mentioned before, almost all of the preschool activities give us the opportunity to include oral language practice. Play/exploration times, class meetings, structured projects, meal times, and even outside periods provide us with constant opportunities to thoughtfully engage the preschoolers in language based interactions that will help them to become more proficient learners now and in the future!
Oral Language: Phonological Awareness
There are three major components of our oral language system that directly relate to the ability to be a successful reader and writer. These are semantics (the meaning of language), syntax (the structural rules or grammar of language), and the phonological system (language on the level of its smaller components such as individual sounds and syllables). Children, when they begin to learn how to read, can use their knowledge of both semantics and syntax to help them to read individual words and to fully comprehend what they are reading. Having phonological awareness helps children to understand the relationship between spoken words and written text (phonics).
Some examples of phonological awareness are: hearing what sound a word begins (or ends) with, knowing that different words begin with the same sound, knowing that words rhyme, and hearing the individual syllables in a multisyllabic word. As the preschoolers develop they begin to increase their awareness of how language works on this phonological level.
Much of this learning happens naturally as children mature, but there are also many things that we can do to help children to grow in this particular area of language learning. Singing songs, rhyming, clapping out the syllables in words, stressing and isolating the initial or final sounds in words, reading books that contain rhymes, poetry, or other phonological patterns, and just having fun and being silly with the components of speech (something the preschoolers love to do) are all things that we do in the preschool to enhance children’s phonological awareness - and help them to become successful readers and writers in the future!
Reading and Writing in the Preschool
Reading and writing are the core proficiencies which effect and support learning in virtually all other components of the academic curriculum. Therefore, it is of great importance that young learners get off to a strong start in these two crucial skill areas. Ordinarily, children do not actually begin to independently read or write during their preschool years. There are, however a large group of precursor behaviors, that we hope to see children acquire before they enter kindergarten, which will support their eventual success when they do receive actual reading and writing instruction.
Activities that promote early literacy achievement are integrated into all of the parts of our preschool schedule and curriculum. In the next few sections I will be discussing the goals that we have for preschoolers in the areas of reading and writing, and also the many different ways that we support the enhancement of children’s abilities in these crucial areas of learning.
Reading: Goals for Preschoolers
There are many learning goals that we have for children in the vital area of reading achievement before they head off to kindergarten. First and foremost, we want to have children view reading (and writing) as meaningful, valuable, and fun activities to be engaged in. We would like for all of the children to choose on their own to become involved in early literacy activities on a very regular basis.
It is important for children to be able to actively attend to reading activities for sustained amounts of time. It is also crucial for the preschoolers to comprehend the content of age-appropriate books and stories that are presented to them by adults.
The term “concepts about print” refers to knowledge about how printed material works, including the understandings that: book pages are read from left to right, we read the print (and not the pictures) in books, print is read from left to right and from top to bottom on a page, there are “letters” that represent sounds, and groups of letters form printed “words” which correlate on a one-to-one basis with spoken words. “Concepts about stories” includes the knowledge that oral and printed stories contain “characters”, “settings”, and a sequence of “events”. It is not so important that preschoolers can state the definitions for terms such as “letter”, “word”, “character”, or “setting”. What is important is that they have a functional understanding of what all of these concepts about print and stories are and how they work in printed as well as orally presented material.
Before going to kindergarten we would additionally like for the children to be able to identify (by name, sound, and/or association with a word) a majority of upper and lower case letters, read their own name (as well as the names of some classmates) in print, and possibly read some other simple words such as “mom’’ and “no”.
Reading: Activities for Preschoolers
Oral language based activities will support children’s later success as readers. These activities include: having rich conversations and discussions, talking about books and stories, storytelling, singing and rhyming, clapping out syllables, and identifying and matching sounds in words.
Some other core activities that will enable the preschoolers to become proficient readers are interactive read alouds, shared reading, reading response activities, and independent “reading”. Since knowledge of written language also leads to success in reading, activities such as dictated writing, shared writing, interactive writing, and independent “writing” are also very valuable in fostering later achievement for readers.
Preschoolers learn a great deal in all areas of the curriculum, including reading, through play. By incorporating literacy components into our play areas we offer yet more opportunities for the children to strengthen their early reading abilities.
Writing: Goals for Preschoolers
In the last newsletter I discussed learning goals and activities on the preschool level in the area of reading. In this newsletter I will be talking about what we would like the preschoolers to know, and how we teach and support children’s learning, in the area of writing.
It is important to have children view the act of writing as meaningful, valuable, and enjoyable. We would also like to see the preschoolers choose on their own to be involved in early writing activities on a regular basis.
Possessing oral language and early reading skills will support later success in written language. Oral language, as I have previously mentioned, provides the foundation for children to become readers and writers. Achievement in the oral language areas of semantics, syntax, phonological awareness, and articulation promotes learning about written language. Reading and writing are interdependent skills - success in one leads to success in the other.
Understanding “concepts about print”, knowing how to form specific letters, and making letter-sound connections will all support achievement in the area of writing. We also want to see the preschoolers “write” independently and integrate “writing” into their play. On the preschool level, “writing” (depending on the age and developmental stage of the child) can include: making squiggles and scribbles, writing strings of letters and letter-like forms, writing a few actual names or words, and writing the letters that correspond to the sounds in the words of a sentence.
Writing: Activities for Preschoolers
There are many different activities that are incorporated into the preschool curriculum that help children to achieve these goals. Oral language and reading activities support written language development because of the close relationships between language, reading, and writing. (Oral language is a precursor to written language while reading and writing have a reciprocal relationship.) In addition to those activities, there are various other preschool practices that will directly support children’s future growth as writers.
Dictated writing, shared writing, and interactive writing are all activities where adults assist children to express their ideas in written form. Children on the preschool level also are given many opportunities to do independent “writing” which can take the form of scribbles, random letters and letter-like forms, lists of words and names, or possibly contain some letter-sound connections – all depending on the developmental stage of the particular child.
We also consistently incorporate writing opportunities into play situations. This can be done in a variety of ways, such as children “writing” down what food is being ordered in the kitchen, an adult helping a child to write a sign for one of the centers areas, children writing their names on their work, or adults assisting children to write a story to accompany their artwork.
As adults in the preschool environment we also draw children’s attention to the fact that we are regularly using written language ourselves for a variety of authentic purposes. Preschoolers are very interested in what we write during the course of the day and they are always asking us to tell them what we have written down. This reinforces the idea that writing is a valuable and meaningful activity in peoples’ lives.
Mathematics
Sorting objects, comparing and measuring, arranging and ordering items, recognizing and extending patterns, showing awareness of time and sequence, understanding positional concepts and terms, using one-to-one correspondence, and using numbers and counting are all important early math skills. We support learning in the area of mathematics by: providing children with carefully selected learning materials and environmental spaces; introducing the children to new concepts, terms, and practices; modeling the use of mathematics strategies and terminology; and by observing/assessing children’s current levels of knowledge and supporting incremental growth.
As in all of the domains of our curriculum, play is a primary way for the preschoolers to gain mathematical knowledge and skills. So not only are the children learning to be young mathematicians, they are having a great time while doing so!
Science
Science is a great area of learning for preschoolers because young children really want to find out about physical elements and the world around them. Preschoolers are also natural investigators. They love to check things out.
In the preschool we give the children lots of opportunities to: pose questions, research scientific topics, examine and manipulate objects, use scientific tools while investigating, predict outcomes and state results, investigate and discuss cause and effect, discuss why something may have occurred, make connections and formulate general conclusions, and record findings.
All of this introduces the preschoolers to scientific methods of inquiry as well as providing desired information about the nature of things. It also lets the children know that science is fascinating, accessible, and fun!
Social Studies
According to the Vermont Early Learning Standards, social studies on the preschool level can enhance children’s social development by having children explore their “broadening relationship to community, environment, and world”. In the preschool, social studies provides exposure to such topics as: living spaces, geography, maps, spatial relationships, stages of time, the environment around us, features of the landscape, family members and roles, technology, money and economics, vocations, societal rules and customs, and people in the community.
The children learn about these subjects through a wide variety of preschool activities including: interactive read alouds, independent reading, shared writing, discussions, listening to music, and interacting with peers and family members in the classroom. As in all of the domains of learning in the preschool curriculum, much of the children’s growing knowledge in the area of social studies is acquired through various types of play and exploration during the course of the school day.
Creative Expression
Creative expression is fostered in a multitude of ways through our preschool curriculum. Every day, the preschoolers sing songs, dance, create works of art, design constructions, and engage in dramatic play. Although learning in areas such as literacy and mathematics is often interwoven into creative activities, enhancing creativity in its many forms is by itself an extremely important outcome of early education.
I am constantly amazed at the creative expressions of the preschoolers - which include beautiful and complex paintings and drawings, animated dances, elaborate and detailed dramatic role plays, and rousing renditions of songs that the children have learned either in school or at home … or made up on their own!
Physical Development
Another important area of growth for preschoolers is physical development. In addition to the direct benefits that children derive from enhanced physical skills; growth in this domain supports later success in many other important areas of knowledge (including literacy, mathematic, scientific, artistic, and social-emotional learning).
In the area of gross motor development, we are looking for children to become more proficient in demonstrating strength, control, balance, coordination, and spatial awareness during physical activities. With fine motor development the focus is on eye-hand coordination, using various tools (to draw, write, paint, etc.), increasing finger and hand strength, and manipulating objects. Sensory development includes having children utilize various senses to discriminate between different sights, sounds, smells, and textures; as well as using the senses to explore and learn about a variety of things.
In the preschool, there are continuous opportunities to learn and grow in each of these areas of development. It would be hard to think of an activity that we engage in that does not offer the preschoolers the chance to enhance their fine motor, gross motor, or sensory skills. The choice and center explore/play periods (which include opportunities to write, draw, paint, arrange, construct, manipulate, observe, sing, and dance), group activities (such as movement, yoga and dancing), gross motor times (outside and in the gym), and even meal times, are all occasions where the preschoolers can become more proficient in the various areas of physical development.
Parental & Family Involvement
When educators meet to talk about how to improve children’s educational experiences, it is very common for parental involvement to be one of the key components that are discussed. In the preschool, parent and family participation are a crucial part of our program. Parental involvement and input, along with the inclusion of other members of the family, are central to our beliefs and values as early childhood educators.
In my opinion, something that has really made our program successful is the strong presence and involvement of the parents and families of the preschoolers. Every time that a parent, grandparent, sibling, or other family member is with us (whether this is a daily occurrence or an occasional visit) it gives us a richer and more connected preschool community. In our program, what I see on a daily basis is a very strong partnership between parents and educators to support the growth and well-being of the children in our care. This collaboration is undoubtedly a major factor in what we have been able to achieve.
So, I’d like to thank all of our parents for playing such a crucial role in the preschool’s success. It gives me great satisfaction to know that we are able, with parents’ continued presence and support, to provide an exceptional place for children to grow and learn at these important (and very special) times of their lives.
