The Tour of the Early Childhood Classroom
Developmentally appropriate-tasks or skills that are suitable for children given his or her age and interests
Small/fine motor skills-use and control of the fine muscles of the wrists, fingers, and ankles.
The purpose of small motor activities in the classroom is to develop the small muscles in the fingers and hands and to improve eye-hand coordination.
The development of the small muscles contributes to the child’s ability to learn to read and write and improves attention span.
Small motor development requires practice and exercise during the pre-school years. Examples of classroom items that encourage the development of small motor skills are: play dough, puzzles, sewing, lacing, stringing, pegboards and cutting tools.
Large motor skills-use and control of the large muscles of the back, legs, shoulders, arms.
Movement activities can make children healthier, happier, can relieve stress, can serve as an outlet for energy and can help children concentrate and perform better. Large motor skills develop in children more rapidly than small motor skills. Some fundamental motor skills that children should achieve by the age of six include: walking forward and backwards, running, climbing stairs, marching, jumping, balancing on one foot, galloping, skipping, kicking a ball, swinging, throwing and catching a ball and riding a tricycle.
Cooking in the classroom-cooking is more than making something good to eat; it is an ideal way to learn because it involves all five senses. Children are enthusiastic about cooking and feel a real sense of accomplishment and independence from it. These are some skills that children can develop by cooking in the classroom:
Math-measuring, counting, fractions
Language-following oral directions, vocabulary
Reading-decoding symbols, reading a recipe
Science-chemical changes
Nutrition-four food groups
Social Studies-foods from other cultures
Math-Children should learn Math throughout the day in ways that are natural to them. Math is a continuous process and children need to move from concrete experiences to visual, symbolic and abstract activities. When teaching math children need stimulating activities, time to explore and materials to manipulate.
Children should be exposed to the following math concepts:
Time
Measurement
Size and position
Counting, one-to-one correspondence
Patterns
Sorting and sets
Number meaning and recognition
Shapes
Comparisons
Money
Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division
Art-it’s the process, not the product!
The child explores art materials and enjoys what happens.
The child does not copy an adult’s model or sample
The child learns about materials by doing.
Process art develops and encourages creativity.
The use of coloring books is controversial…they have little to do with art, but a great deal to do with fine motor skills.
Stages of Art skill development in a child:
Stage 1-random scribbling (about age 18 months)
Stage 2-controlled scribbling (about age 2) better use of wrist at this stage, shows greater variety in drawings
Stage 3- names the scribbling, drawings are symbols of objects or events in child’s life (about age 3 to 3 ½)
Stage 4- early presentation, drawings start to look like things that they represent (starts at age 4)
Stage 5- preschematic, shows adult grip, better size relationship (about age 4-7)