Quality Early Learning Environment
Quality early learning programs help to foster young children’s development in all areas. These developmental areas and potential activities include:
- Fine motor (e.g. – stringing beads, puzzles, shape sorters, Lego’s, etc.)
- Gross motor (e.g. – dancing, skipping, jumping, etc).
- Social/emotional (e.g. – reading books that discuss feelings, dolls, puppets, etc).
- Cognitive (e.g. – board games, matching/sorting games, science experiments, language and literacy activities, etc).
For infants and toddlers, arrange classrooms to provide for basic care needs such as: sleeping, eating, diapering/toileting and playing.
- Arrange cribs in a separate area that allows for supervision by staff. A separate sleep area allows infants to be on their own individual schedule.
- Infants will need highchairs with stable bases and safety straps for feeding.
- Locate changing tables in a visible area allowing for supervision of other children.
- Provide lots of space for children who are crawling and new to walking. A variety of indoor climbing equipment is helpful for this age group.
In addition, many centers serving infants and toddlers provide a space near the entrance where parents can take off their shoes to prevent dirt from getting on the floor.
Consider offering to nursing mothers, a comfortable, private area to breastfeed their children.
For preschool and school age children, classrooms would be arranged to create various learning centers such as:
- Block play
- Dramatic Play
- Music/movement
- Art
- Cooking
- Sand/water
- Woodworking
- Language and Literacy
- Discovery science
- Computers
- Table toys/manipulatives
- Indoor active play
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