The primary signs of a great preschool Essay Example for Free

The primary signs of a great preschool Essay The use of Learning Center Approaches (LCA) in early education has for long been the subject of ardent debate. Teachers still lack unanimous agreement as for the relevance and usefulness of LCA’s in classroom. LCA’s have a number of advantages and are also characterized by a set of serious pitfalls; however, these types of learning activities can be rationally used to enhance the overall quality of the learning process at school, offering children a unique opportunity to integrate their personal experiences with the curriculum-based objectives. Statistical research suggests that â€Å"in 1965, just 5% of 3-year-olds attended preschool or nursery school. Today, 41% of 3-year-olds regularly attend a center-based program† (NAEYC, 1995). As a result, the process of developing more effective curriculum strategies becomes more responsible and requires teachers to satisfy individual needs of children. When dozens of children are divided into several learning groups, it is always difficult to organize the learning process in a way to account their individual peculiarities and needs; that is why teachers have come to realizing the importance of LCA’s as the effective tools of individual preschool and school learning. One of the primary signs of a great preschool is when children spend most of their time playing and interacting with other peers (NAEYC, 1995); furthermore, for a kindergarten and preschool to be an effective tool of learning, children need to have â€Å"access to various activities throughout the day such as block building, pretend play, picture books, paints and other art materials, and table toys such as legos, pegboards, and puzzles† (NAEYC, 1996). In these difficult learning contexts, the LCA’s may supply teachers with an opportunity to develop an unlimited number of individual tasks and activities that will engage children into active learning. In general terms, â€Å"learning center refers to a place (usually a small area) within the classroom where children interact with materials and other children to develop learnings and skills† (Bickart Jablon, 1999). Thus, LCA’s facilitate the process of achieving the two basic goals of effective education: delivering knowledge to children and satisfying their individual learning needs. LCA’s allow teachers to organize the classroom space in a way that makes children interested in what they are doing, and integrates their personal experiences and talents with the need to achieve the basic curriculum objectives. An LCA classroom looks like a space divided into small areas defined by shelves and tables; materials are attractively displayed so that children are able to make a reasonable choice. Self-directing charts help children find the area of interest and decide where children would like to work. In these classrooms, children are usually divided into small groups, with each group focused on a particular activity and moving on to the next center as soon as the activity is finished. The use of LCA’s is advantageous in several ways: 1. LCA’s promote the sense of autonomy among children. Piaget states that autonomy is the ultimate goal of education (Bickart Jablon, 1999). â€Å"Autonomy is developed because children are active; they learn at their own pace; they make choices; they are self-directed rather than teacher-directed† (NAEYC, 1995). 2. In LCA’s, children learn by interacting with real objects; regardless whether the child participates in a table game, or chooses to be an actor in a dramatic play, all these activities move children closer to the real world, providing them with objective and truthful knowledge about reality. 3. In LCA’s, children are required to verbalize their oral experiences, to speak, to communicate, and to express their needs and concerns to teachers and other children. As a result, LCA’s become indispensable elements of effective reading, writing, and literacy education. The use of LCA’s is particularly important to enhance children’s reading and writing skills. NAYEC (1998b) suggest that â€Å"with the increasing variation among young children in our programs and schools, teaching today has become more challenging. [†¦] Classes include both children with identified disabilities and children with exceptional abilities†, and all groups of children should have equal access to the learning opportunities in class. LCA’s provide children and teachers with a chance to minimize literacy-related disparities in learning, and to guarantee that all children regardless the specific level of their reading and writing proficiency are able to achieve standard curriculum objectives. The use of LCA’s helps align the standard requirements to early childhood education programs with the benefits of the individualized learning process: LCA’s combine developmentally appropriate curriculum and instruction with responsiveness to cultural diversity and strong professional development opportunities (NAEYC, 1998a). Ultimately, LCA’s are extremely flexible in addressing the changing requirements to instruction and maintaining stable organizational relationships between teachers, families, and children. The problem is in that LCA’s may not always be easy to organize; teachers and education professionals require extensive knowledge and skills to guarantee that LCA’s address specific educational needs of children in class, and help them develop reliable communication linkages with teachers and other children. LCA’s represent a kind of education philosophy, with commitment to individualization and loyalty to constructed knowledge in its center. However, to turn this philosophy into a relevant tool of child’s education, teachers should be prepared to working with room arrangement and room organization, to monitoring center choices and governing children in the process of their interaction with LCA materials. While teacher roles in LCA’s are limited to those of facilitators, that does not mean that teachers are no longer responsible for the learning outcomes. On the contrary, assessment, planning, set-up, interaction, and arbitration turn into the five central teacher responsibilities while children are making their choices and are trying to integrate their personal experiences with the learning needs in class. LCA’s can promote effective learning through the variety of educational strategies, including art, blocks, discovery, dramatic play, library, muscle, music, and table games. Art centers help children express themselves; art centers teach children to evaluate their art skills and the art skills others. Art centers successfully combine cognitive skills with aesthetics and language, helping child develop several cognitive skills simultaneously. Blocks provide children with the constructive vision of reality; in blocks LCA’s, children are offered a chance to explore their experiences and perceptions about reality.. Discovery LCA’s are integrally linked to science: children make scientific solutions and have almost unlimited opportunities for exploring the major scientific discoveries. Dramatic play learning centers are the relevant tools teaching children to socialize and interact on the scene. In other words, dramatic play is an art of pretending. Pretending is the link between the abstract and real that further leads children to realizing the difference between their realities and their fantasies. Literacy LCA’s are the central elements of effective education. Literacy is the key to the child’s success in all major disciplines, and literacy LCA’s provide children with immediate access to reading, writing, communication, and discussion. Library centers are integrally linked to literacy circles: â€Å"many children are not exposed to literature in their homes, severely limiting their print knowledge. The library center provides these children with regular and active interactions with print† (Bickart Jablon, 1999). Muscle center helps children balance their physical and mental activities. Music centers organize children into small listening groups, where young learners are actively engaged into various types of group activities (e. g. , singing). Finally, table games teach children to follow the already established rules. Table games form a new vision of discipline and help children realize the importance of discipline in other subjects and centers. Table games are used to develop logical thinking and teach children to use their analytical skills. Objectively, LCA’s may become less effective due to the fact that teachers are not always able to evaluate their roles and potential in various group activities. While teachers are expected to facilitate the process of learning, children may not adequately react to independence and autonomy they have in LCA’s. The boundaries of autonomy may often be blurred, turning independence into chaos. Games should be reasonably combined with discipline; teachers should be able to monitor all learning centers at once; ultimately, the structure of LCA’s should be changed at least once in several weeks, to guarantee that children are able to reveal their full learning potential. Despite these difficulties, LCA’s remain an effective tool of learning, promoting autonomy of the child’s decision-making, and providing children with unlimited opportunities for applying their skills and knowledge in practice. LCA’s reflect the need for giving children sufficient freedom of choice, with this freedom being closely tied to and reasonably limited by a set of predetermined curriculum objectives. Conclusion The use of learning center environments is justified by the need to provide children with more autonomy during the class, and to help children use their talents in studies. The design and construction of LCA’s may be time consuming, and teachers require extensive knowledge and skills to promote continuous learning. Although public school teachers frequently lack sufficient space and are not always able to develop structured LCA’s, learning center approaches foster creativity and encourage the child to explore the hidden facets of knowledge in class. LCA’s promote unlimited opportunities for communication, socialization, and interaction between children; as a result, children become better prepared to applying new knowledge in various real-life contexts. References Bickart, T. Jablon, J. (1999). Building the primary classroom: a complete guide to teaching and learning. Teaching Strategies, Inc. NAEYC. (1995). 10 signs of a great preschool. Retrieved November 15, 2008 from http://www. naeyc. org/ece/1996/01. pdf NAEYC. (1996). Top 10 signs of a good kindergarten classroom. Retrieved November 15, 2008 from http://www. naeyc. org/ece/1996/12. pdf NAEYC. (1998a). Guidelines for developmentally appropriate practices. Retrieved November 15, 2008 from http://www. naeyc. org/ece/1998/05. pdf NAEYC. (1998b). Learning to read and write: developmentally appropriate practices for young children. Retrieved November 15, 2008 from http://www. naeyc. org/about/positions/pdf/PSREAD98. PDF