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Emergent Reading
Emergent literacy begins at birth and continues through the preschool years. Children see and interact with print (books, magazines, grocery lists) in everyday situations (home and preschool) well before they start elementary school.
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Emergent Writing
Children go through developmental stages in learning to write. Preschoolers and kindergarteners often have great variation in their writing experiences prior to coming to school. Some may be quite comfortable using markers and crayons and others may have had very few opportunities to use writing utensils. Read more…
Fine Motor
Fine motor skills are developed when a child uses small muscle groups to complete a task. Activities such as writing, cutting, and drawing utilize the use of the fine motor muscles in the hands and fingers while verbal expression utilizes the fine motor muscles of the face, lips and tongue. Read more…
Gross Motor
Gross motor skills are developed when large muscle groups are used in coordination to complete a task. Such activities include tossing and catching a ball, jumping, and hopping. Read more…
Numbers
Preschoolers love to count everything from their fingers to the number of jelly beans they’re eating. This natural inclination makes it easier for early childhood educators and parents to teach numbers than to teach other academic subjects such as letter recognition.
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Shapes
Teaching preschoolers about shapes can be a humdrum exercise—or a ton of fun. On the humdrum side, simply hold up shapes made of construction paper, and have the children repeat the shape names. To add excitement, sing songs about shapes and dance, play games like “I Spy” to help recognize shapes; prepare and eat foods of different shapes and sizes. Read more…
Patterns
Preschoolers are naturally curious about their surroundings and often notice patterns on their own. Teachers and parents can create opportunities and activities for them that reinforce their observations. Read more…
Logic
Classification is a basic process that children can use to develop logical and mathematical reasoning abilities. The ability to reason logically is constructed by the learner as he acts on his environment and tries to make sense of his world. Read more…
Visual Art
There are a large number of benefits that come as a result of early childhood educators teaching the arts to preschoolers. Children are able to learn how to think and act creatively while developing an aesthetic perception and awareness. Read more…
Music
Would you believe that preschoolers inherently know what is good for them? Maybe that’s not always true, but in the case of loving music, they are right. Although it may be to varying degrees, almost all preschool children love music. Read more…
Dramatic Play
Dramatic play is believed to be an important part of early childhood development. It involves young children pretending to be adults and exploring different conflicts and problem-solving techniques. Read more…
Global Citizenship
Our world is changing so quickly and children need to learn early that they can have a positive or negative impact on the world around them. Global citizenship teaches children to learn about other cultures and people. Read more…
Learning Approach
The interactive learning approach has grown as an educational strategy that allows learners to engage fully in the learning process. Early childhood educators provide learners with an environment that contains tools, resources for the application of concepts that enhances learning. Read more…
Social Skills
By the time children are preschoolers, they often can work cooperatively with others and make closer friends. They learn to play cooperatively, socially, and even dramatically. They learn that some games require that they take turns and show good sportsmanship.
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Life Science
There is so much to learn about the life (biological) sciences in early childhood education. Because preschoolers are naturally curious, there are many ways to teach these concepts from a hands-on approach using every day observable activities. Read more…
Environmental Science
The rationale for environmental education during the early childhood years is based on two major premises. First, children must develop a sense of respect and caring for the natural environment during their first few years of life or be at risk for never developing such attitudes. Read more…
Physical Science
Physical science encompasses a variety of subcategories of science. The topics relate to the nonliving aspects of the physical world, unlike biological sciences, which deal with living things. Topics such as magnetism, gravity, physical and chemical changes, rocks, erosion and electricity fit into the physical science category.
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Health & Safety
Teaching health and safety to preschoolers requires balancing information that is important against information a preschooler can understand. Taught properly, preschoolers can understand and apply a surprising amount of information. Read more…
Listening
Listening is the first of four parts of early language development in children. Beginning at birth (or even before), children learn about the world around them by attending to sound. As they progress listening enables them to learn about spoken language and interpersonal skills including emotions.
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Speaking
The greatest period of growth in speech and language development occurs in preschool children between the ages of 2 to 5. As they grow and develop, their speech and language skills become increasingly more complex.
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Language Development
Language development is of key importance during the preschool years. It lays the foundation for the further development of children’s cognitive skills and social and emotional maturity. Read more…
Physical Development
The development of motor skills in preschoolers is divided into two main categories of muscle development, gross and fine. Typically children develop large muscle coordination (gross motor skills) cooperatively with small muscle coordination (fine motor skills) because many common activities involve both gross and fine motor muscles. Read more…
Mathematics
Teaching early mathematics concepts to young children can truly benefit them as lifelong learners. In the developmental continuum the early childhood years (birth through six) are an essential time period for acquiring a foundation for many educational concepts. Read more…
Cognitive Development
Young children make rapid intellectual advancements during the preschool years. They now engage in a new form of thinking that allows them to solve problems using some internal reflection. They can now think about objects or people that are not present, and can reflect upon things they cannot see, hear, touch, or act upon. Read more…
Socio-Emotional Development
Social and emotional milestones are often harder to pinpoint than signs of physical development. This area emphasizes many skills that increase self-awareness and self-regulation. Read more…
Science
Young children are naturally curious and constantly exploring the world around them and science provides the opportunity for children to extend this natural curiosity and building of theories. From classroom experiences, children can develop a greater appreciation and understanding of the natural world.
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