Happy New Year & Welcome Back! After winter break, all the children seemed to be at least an inch taller. They swung right back into the classroom routines without much assistance from us. As a teacher of child-directed, progressive learning school, observation of children is one of the first step to take in order to create the classroom environment where children experience joy of learning through play. Therefore, this week, I was paying close attention to what the children are interested in now, where they are developmentally, especially because I did not see them for more than two weeks.
Our curriculum development, however, does not derive from the children's interest only. It follows our school's curriculum design process, called backward design. We have goals and expectations that we would like our two- and three- years olds to achieve in the coming months. In other words, it is we responsibility to translate the children's interests, take into account their current developmental level and to combine them with the goals and expectations.
Our curriculum development, however, does not derive from the children's interest only. It follows our school's curriculum design process, called backward design. We have goals and expectations that we would like our two- and three- years olds to achieve in the coming months. In other words, it is we responsibility to translate the children's interests, take into account their current developmental level and to combine them with the goals and expectations.
This week, I noticed children are increasingly interested in dramatic play such as taking care of babies, playing at the doll house, and dressing up play. All these activities are very important for children throughout the early childhood period. Sharing simple stories about their play (language), enacting new roles (representational thinking) and problem solving are some of the areas that I would like to see in coming months.
The children continued to work on using scissors. We used straws for cutting activities on Thursday, to make the activity more successful for them. We tell them "Open, Close, Open, Close" as they practice cutting.
Our children have been always enjoying art activities. We will continue to spark their creativity and encourage them to express themselves by means of various materials.
I was fortunate to witness and be part of a child's first self portrait in our class! In the next couple of weeks (or as long as it takes), I am hoping to discover their 'sense of self/self identity' of the children.
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