Building a Base [cont.]

Encouraging “huff and puff” at playtime, using all the big muscles and creative movement and dance all contribute to an optimum foundation of the physical nature. When we utilize our “loose parts” play area outdoors, children handle a variety of objects such as pvc pipe, computer keyboards, bells or buckets to explore and problem solve in large outdoor space, conducive to big motor development. Our nature walks open up our visual, auditory and olfactory senses to new things which we can later discuss and describe.

creativity and problem solving, nerve connections are established in the brain which leads to development of language. Children build language skills through imitation, listening to stories, telling stories, or singing songs. By being a responsive communicator and slowly and carefully pronouncing words face to face helps a child learn facial movements and hear the specific sounds needed to form words. Conversations help children to learn sentence formation and expand vocabulary. Singing songs and listening to stories build critical pre-reading skills, a necessary foundation for comprehension, reading and writing. Preschool and daycare helps young children become used to spending time in a social and educational environment, and conversing and problem solving with others. This type of social environment provides a myriad of learning and fosters the confidence needed to speak up in a respectful way. Positive reinforcement and encouragement in these areas, helping children learn the “words to say” in a variety of situations will help them build their confidence and belief within themselves. As teachers, our job is to assist the child’s learning with the words to describe more and more experiences. By giving students the ability to describe their world, communicate anything, to speak and be heard and understood, we give them the ultimate strength, a foundation.

The most important period of life is not the age of university studies, but the first one, the period from birth to the age of six.”

Montessori

Preschool Coordinator