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?
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Margro Purple
Rockville MD
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