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Kindergarten Centers. Learning through Play Presenter: Jennifer Trent Meadows Elementary Spring 2013. “Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children, play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.” Mr. Rogers.
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Kindergarten Centers Learning through Play Presenter: Jennifer Trent Meadows Elementary Spring 2013
“Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children, play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.” Mr. Rogers
Teacher-child conversations play an important role in shaping what children learn. It is through these conversations that the teacher scaffolds learning.
This session will focus on organizational strategies and tips for creating, setting up and maintaining a highly effective and motivational center room. Door Prize Trivia:How many minutes should your children spend in big centers daily?
45 minutes of uninterrupted play!
Where to start? District Expectations for Kindergarten Learning Centers Young children learn by doing. Teachers prepare the environment for children to learn through active exploration and interaction with adults, other children, and materials. Young children benefit from having a classroom with clearly defined, well equipped learning centers that are arranged to promote independence, foster decision making, and encourage involvement.
Aligning Centers with Curriculum Just as one activity can develop many different skills, the combination of experiences within centers, joined together, support children’s development and learning. As you begin planning for center set-up consider the units you will cover in your curriculum and try to align the two. Find as many ways as possible to incorporate the learning expectations from the curriculum with the developmental play that takes place in centers. This child-centered approach will help children construct their own understanding in meaningful contexts.
Aligning the Units Unit 1: Families – Home, Cooking, Picnic Unit 2: Friends – Birthday Party, Puppet Show, Movie Theater Unit 3: Transportation – Fire Station, Airport, Space Station, Mechanic Shop Unit 4: Food – Restaurant, Grocery Store, Pizza Parlor, Bakery, Ice-Cream Shop Unit 5: Animals – Zoo, Vet Clinic, Farm Unit 6: Neighborhood – Post Office, Dr.’s Office, Beauty Shop/Barber Unit 7: Weather – Weather/TV Station, Beach Unit 8: Plants – Flower Shop, Garden, Jungle Unit 9: Amazing Creatures – Vet Clinic, Zoo, Camping Unit 10: I Know a Lot! - School, Artist Studio, Scientific Laboratory
Literacy Center Visualize an area in your Centers Room that includes a Library, a Listening station, Letter Activities, Puzzles and Games, Book Making Supplies, and story board pieces.In the literacy Center your students may read or listen to books, create cards, letters or mini-books, and play games to reinforce literacy skills.
Math Center In this area of your Centers Room you will include items such as puzzles, Legos, unfix cubes, wooden blocks, wooden cars, trucks and planes, and math games.students will develop perceptual skills and explore spatial relationships through blocks, puzzles and games while exploring problem solving techniques as they experience a sense of achievement.
Art Center Your art center will be an area of the room stocked with a variety of art supplies such as paints and easels, colored paper, scissors, glue, modeling clay, markers, cotton balls, pipe cleaners, straws, glitter, tissue paper, wiggly eyes, pom-pom balls, coffee filters, and paper plates, as well as a host of other items that will be used for creative expression. A well planned art center will foster a child’s creative thinking, as well as develop eye-hand coordination, fine muscle control, and an appreciation for artistic expression. In the art center students should be able to choose from well designed appropriate activities with which they can express themselves.
Dramatic Play Your dramatic play center should be set up with a common theme in mind and then organized with props, costumes, furniture, tools, and equipment for the students to role play appropriately according to the theme. To get the most out of dramatic play, children need a variety of materials, equipment, and props to encourage creative expression and imagination. Children can play in an interesting environment with freedom to experiment with roles, conflicts, and problem solving.Dramatic play expands a child's awareness of self in relation to others and the environment.This provides a powerful opportunity for children to assert themselves which will increase vocabularyand communication skills.
Science/Discovery Table In Kindergarten, Children love to touch, manipulate, study and “discover” materials such as clay, play dough, beans, rice, pasta, sand, water, shaving cream, etc. it is at the discovery table that students apply the scientific method through investigation and exploration of the world around them.
A well-planned centers room supports children's play. The teacher’s major role is to plan and create the environment for play, and to interact with students as they learn. Children learn through active exploration of a warm, stimulating environment. They grow and develop as they resolve conflicts, solve problems, and even make mistakes!
Additional Information Can Be Found at the Following Website: http://www.nicurriculum.org.uk/docs/foundation_stage/learning_through_play_ey.pdf
