education

Prop Box Themes and Materials Theme Materials Travel/Recreation Themes Beach or pool Towels, blanket, folding lawn/beach chairs, sunglasses, hats, umbrella, flip-flops, radio, water wings, inflatable raft, small cooler, beach ball, Frisbee, empty sunscreen bottle, buckets/shovels and sand molds, snorkel, lifeguard hat or T-shirt, whistle, first aid kit, bathing suits Fishing, camping, hiking Tent, camp stools, […]

Props, Accessories, and Themes To properly facilitate and encourage rich and complex dramatic play, teachers provide materials and accessories or props that children use, just like actors in a play or film, to lend credibility and realism to their language and actions. Artificial props and dress-up clothing for dramatic play may be purchased, but as

The Dramatic Play Area Like construction play, dramatic play at its best is directed by children, open-ended, and closely tied to ideas children have that come from experiences they have had and imagining those they might have or wish they could have. A key to facilitating effective pretend play is to provide many real-world props

Developmental Stages of Block Building Block-building skills and concepts develop over time in a predictable sequence that requires time, space, and an adequate number and variety of blocks and accessories. Block Center There are many different kinds of building blocks and construction materials; the most familiar to early childhood educators are unit (kindergarten) blocks, created

Developmental Stages of Block Building Block-building skills and concepts develop over time in a predictable sequence that requires time, space, and an adequate number and variety of blocks and accessories. Place Your Order Here!

Common Materials Suitable for Light Table Play Materials Applications X-ray films; colored or black/white slides; microfiche film; shells; small clear plastic boxes for holding specimens children might collect, such as butterfly wings or leaves Close observation with magnifying glasses to examine images and/or embedded details that are enhanced when lighted from below Salt, flour, gelatin

Examples of Prompts/Activities for Water, Sand, and Other Materials Digging: bury items in sand to be uncovered (perhaps relating to a current theme) such as plastic dinosaurs, insects, worms, coins, plastic “jewels,” small mirrors or laminated photos of the children Washing: wash baby dolls, small cars, dishes, toys Molding: provide molds of different kinds for

Would he have found out what results could be achieved by mixing colors in different proportions? Early childhood educators keep the important elements of ATL standards in mind as they plan the environment and opportunities for open-ended play and exploration. In the remainder of this section, we consider three major interest areas/centers in the early

Key Elements of Executive Functioning Executive functioning is the process by which the brain organizes, processes, and applies information to active problem solving. ATL early learning standards stress the importance of mental processes that represent, “learning how to learn” (Kagan, Moore, & Bredekamp, 1995). They further suggest that the mere acquisition of knowledge, skills, and

Approaches to Learning Standards and Interest Areas for Exploratory Play Academic Standards While the early learning standards clearly reflect the developmental focus from which they are written, it can be more difficult to discern those developmental goals in K-2 standards. For instance, the South Carolina Good Start, Grow Smart early learning standards explicitly state one