Early Childhood Education

     At birth, all five of our senses (touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing) are all functional, if somewhat limited.  Development of perception begins as the infant seeks and receives information through the senses. (Wittmer, p. 135)  It is believed that the sense of touch develops as early as the second month of gestation.  The infant’s skin is very sensitive to a variety of stimuli including heat, cold, tickling, and pain.  Touch is very important to an infant - even more so in those born prematurely.  Parents of preemies are encouraged to hold their infants in a skin-to-skin manner.        Although the newborn is able to see at birth, vision isn’t fully developed until later.  Regardless, vision plays an important part in the growing infant’s developing self-awareness.  Vision allows the infant to learn to recognize people, learn about the world around them, ...

Part A 8:00 Arrival –  Parents   sign the children in.    Children remove coats and shoes.    Parents can help the children when needed, but this is a great opportunity to us scaffolding to assist the students, by allowing them to complete whichever tasks they can on their own.    Children say good-bye to parents.    Children wash hands. 8:15 Free time   –  Children are free to explore various play areas while waiting for other students to arrive. 8:30 Breakfast –  Children wash hands.    Breakfast is served at a table (or tables), and care is taken to make sure that breakfast is conducted in as close a manner as possible to how it would be done at home.  9:00 Message Board –  Children are divided into small groups and individual teachers go over the plans for the day to include: introducing new items and materials in the classroom, new lessons to be learned, etc.    The board will ...

Briefly describe the math center.      The math center is located in a quiet area of the room, away from the hustle and bustle of play and noise generated by the children in the more active areas.  This allows those in the math center to concentrate on working with numbers and manipulatives.  Along one wall are wooden shelves with clear plastic boxes containing the materials to be used in the math-learning center.  Each box is clearly labeled using both pictures and words.  Placed at appropriate distances from each other are tables and chairs that allow the children enough space to work with the materials.  The wooden tables and chairs are stained to give them a natural look.  On each table are bins with pencils, erasers, sharpeners, and paper.  The floor is carpeted with a neutral color rug.  On the walls are posters, designed with the help of the children, that display examples of ...