Day SixteenCreating a learning community is essential for our children. The school community is a foundation for success. It helps children feel connected and part of something. It contributes to children growing and developing in a safe secure learning community. Creating community is referring to the idea that every child has something amazing to offer and can make a differences in our classroom. Creating a community of learners through community art projects is a way to bring children, teachers and parents together as one.
Community art projects show children and their families that they belong and their ideas are valued and respected. Collaborative Art Projects for KidsChildren need to be allowed to create on their own and encouraged to create in collaboration with others. Art helps foster the ability to appreciate and understand the works of others. Task:
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Day FifteenLoose parts are a great way to invite learning into your classroom environment. So let’s talk about how we can add loose parts for inviting learning in your classroom environment. Simon Nicholson believed that we are all creative and that “loose parts” in an environment will empower our creativity. Loose parts will provide children with opportunities to…
Loose parts are materials that can be…
The beautiful thing about loose parts is that they can be turned into anything. A wood round can be a plate or a drum set, pine cone can be a tree or vegetables and match box can be turned into a dolls bed. The possibilities are endless. When environments are rich in loose parts children can manipulate their own environment, take risks which will lead to a decline in unwanted behaviors. When children interact with loose parts, they entered a world of “what if” that promotes the type of thinking that leads to problem solving. Task: Think about your learning centers and where you would like to use loose parts. Make a list of the loose parts that you would like to add to that area and pass out that list to co-workers and parents. ![]() Day TwelveEarly experiences with the natural world have been positively linked to the sense of wonder. This way of knowing, if recognized and honored, can serve as a life-long source of joy and enrichment, as well as an impetus or motivation, for further learning. Do you remember spending long hours outdoors as a child? When I think back I can still feel the breeze on my face as I hop on rocks down bishop creek looking for water skippers. I can hear the babbling of the water and the feel ice coldness of the water as I squat down to observe and touch the fascinating bugs. I would not trade how I grew up for anything. It is those reflections on my childhood and the memories that I have that drives me to provide my students with some of those same experiences. Over the last decade researchers have been studying and documenting the importance of introducing children to the natural world. It is shows that in some communities children lack access to nature and the freedom to explore what nature provides. When it comes to connecting children with nature, it is not just about adding natural elements in classroom to create a visually appealing space. It is about using nature and natural materials to connect children to the natural world. It is about spending unstructured time outdoors in an outdoor classroom, where children can have the opportunities to discover and experience nature. In nature children will begin to understand the beautiful world that they live in. Time outdoors will provide children with opportunities to...
We need to learn to view outside time as more than just “recess” time. Outside time needs to be viewed as an invaluable part of each day’s learning activities. We need to build outdoor classroom time into our daily activity schedule. Areas to consider for the outdoor classroom Gross Motor Area Climbing and BalanceGardening Messy PlayNature ArtDramatic PlayMusicNature BuildingSand and WaterTask: Sketch outdoor space and map out centers that you could add to your outdoor classroom. Download Map below ![]()
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Welcome!I'm Tami Sanders creator of Learning and Teaching with Preschoolers, a blog to help teachers create magical moments for the young. Follow MeArchives
May 2024
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