All they do is play...

In early childhood this is good. Play is work for the young child's brain. Years of research on 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 own activity. They engage in what is called "parallel play," perhaps using each others' toys or even talking, but not coordinating their play. They also play cooperatively, organizing roles and scenarios for group play. As they get older, children are capable of more cooperative, coordinated play. But all kinds of play are valuable.

As kids play with each other, they learn to see other children's points 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. Setting up areas where kids can play without fear of damaging furniture or injuring themselves is important. Give the child or group of children time to choose and to become engaged in their own play activities.

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

January's New Bible Song

As most of you know Mrs. Collins teaches us a new song based on scripture every month. January's song comes from John 10:27. The piggy back tune is from "Who is sleeping..." It is also an echo song which means you sing a line then your child repeats it.

My sheep listen
(echo)
to my voice;
(echo)
I know them and
(echo)
they follow me.
(echo)

See? It's so simple but the children love it. :) Enjoy!

Fun Indoor Activities for Rainy Days

As I am typing this entry it is pouring!! And is predicted to do so throughout the weekend. Here are a few fun, quick and easy ideas to do inside.

SNOWBALL FIGHT! With a couple of bags of cotton balls your living room (or where ever) can transform into a very fun (and pretty safe) snowball fight. This can last a while and it excellent exercise. Exercise is very important for young children.

ICE SKATING. Use wax paper for iceskates. This works best on carpet but it is a lot fun for the kids. This is great exercise for you and the children!

FOR THE VERY BRAVE... Today in the 2-day class I taped down a very large sheet of blue paper with a puddle of white paint. The children had the opportunity to paint with their bare feet with me holding their hands. We talked about how slippery the ice and snow is for the polar bears and compared it to the slipperyness (new word) of walking in the wet paint. It was fun!

These ideas are geared towards exercising the children's bodies while having a lot of fun. The benefits of exercise for young children include developing the large muscles (an important step towards building the smaller muscles of the fingers - for writing and cutting skills), increased oxygen to the brain cells and keeps the body healthy. Even in the rainy times there are ways to have big fun inside. Enjoy!! :)

Polar Bears!

Today in class we studied polar bears. Our art project had many learning elements in it even though the activity itself was fairly simple. We had precut polar bear foot prints that the children used to paint with their own foot. Some of your children may have a little white paint in between their toes. Such a fun and simple activity! But within this activity they were learning science and math in addition to the obviouse art element. As we were stamping our own foot print onto the polar bear's foot print we were counting and comparing (math). We also talked about where the bears live and how cold it was. Much like the ice, the white paint was slippery and cold. The water that the students washed their feet in afterwards was warm. We asked: "Would the polar bear enjoy this warm water?" Ellie answered: "No, because the seals don't like the warm weather." After further deduction it was determined that since the bears liked having seals for dinner they would want to live where the seals lived. Very smart students we have! We also determined that due to the fat and the thick coat the bears would be uncomfortable in warm weather. (All science) It was a fun day!

Developmentally Appropriate

You probably have noticed that our classroom has a lot of bustle and noise, that children are up doing things, talking, playing, and exploring. Such a classroom environment differs from the old grade-school images of a teacher doing a lot of talking at a black-board while children sit and listen quietly at their desks.

Research and experience tell us that to be effective with young children, teaching practices need to be "developmentally appropriate." What this means is simply that educators need to think first about what young children are like and then create an environment and experiences that are in tune with children's characteristics.

Early childhood, after all, is a time of life quite different from adulthood, and even from the later school years. Children 3 - 6 learn far better through direct interactive experiences than through just listening to someone talk. They learn extraordinary amounts through play and exploration. And the youger children are, the more what they learn needs to be relevant and interesting on the day they learn it, not just in the context of some future learnng.

Designing our teaching and parenting to how the young brain is wired to learn is a lot better that trying to redesign the children.

Welcome!

Welcome to Peace Lutheran Preschool's first blog! Thanks for all of your support and encouragement of the preschool program. Our wish is to use this as a tool for communication about our program, the what and why we do things and to keep you informed of upcoming events. In addition, I will be adding articles about early childhood development and education, suggested fun activities that you and your child can do together and anything funny that happened in the class. If I use names it will only be the first name. Check in at least once a week even though it is most likely that I will be posting more often. Please feel free to respond and add requests. I would love to hear from you.