Open Discussion Forum

Hello everyone,
After an interesting thread on whether singing" instructions rather than j" speaking/talking" was useful, & best practices for to singing instructions rather than speaking them, I find myself thinking about what the current state of [hopefully] "post-pandemic" early childhood curricula & classroom practice.  What do our families & children need? How do we allocate our class time & budgets to suit our current needs? What's our purpose- teaching? Caring? Encouraging growth or correcting habits? Fostering relationships & interactions or zeroing in on areas of content & trying to teach to the gaps?
There is valid reasons to approach early childhood education from many different angles, especially as we strive to meet different needs of families & children in such a wide array of environments.
 For me, the basic building block of development is INTERACTION, RELATIONSHIPS & EXPERIENCE. Although children & families have a wide range of needs & backgrounds, when early childhood educators focus on enriching environments, guided play & emergent curriculum, children naturally thrive. 

My greatest wish would be for early childhood educators to be trained in in these areas& to spend more time in guided play, & less time in instruction.
So what's your take? Can child centered preschool & open play time provide the basic competencies to bring success in kindergarten? Or is it just more chaos & confusion in the classroom that leaves preschoolers entering kindergarten without the basic skills to learn on par with their peers?

Hello everyone,
After an interesting thread on whether singing" instructions rather than j" speaking/talking" was useful, & best practices for to singing instructions rather than speaking them, I find myself thinking about what the current state of [hopefully] "post-pandemic" early childhood curricula & classroom practice.  What do our families & children need? How do we allocate our class time & budgets to suit our current needs? What's our purpose- teaching? Caring? Encouraging growth or correcting habits? Fostering relationships & interactions or zeroing in on areas of content & trying to teach to the gaps?
There is valid reasons to approach early childhood education from many different angles, especially as we strive to meet different needs of families & children in such a wide array of environments.
 For me, the basic building block of development is INTERACTION, RELATIONSHIPS & EXPERIENCE. Although children & families have a wide range of needs & backgrounds, when early childhood educators focus on enriching environments, guided play & emergent curriculum, children naturally thrive. 

My greatest wish would be for early childhood educators to be trained in in these areas& to spend more time in guided play, & less time in instruction.
So what's your take? Can child centered preschool & open play time provide the basic competencies to bring success in kindergarten? Or is it just more chaos & confusion in the classroom that leaves preschoolers entering kindergarten without the basic skills to learn on par with their peers?