Setting up an Active Learning Environment (Part 2)

In my post, Setting up an Active Learning Environment (Part 1), I detailed how I would plan and execute the outdoor activities for the children. This gets changed either on a daily or on a weekly basis, depending on the level of engagement of the children with the activities or equipment that are set up. Therefore, …

Setting up an Active Learning Environment (Part 1)

One of my minor responsibilities or tasks as a preschool teacher is to set up an active learning environment for the children, both indoors and outdoors. For the outdoor active environment, I utilise the available resources and equipment we have in our centre to make an obstacle course. These include stepping stones, a tunnel (which …

Caring for and Working with Children who may have ADD or ADHD

Image Source   There is a child in our preschool that we seem to have difficulty working with. This child does not seem to be able to focus on an activity for any length of time. Regardless of any activity, he just can't sit still or be engaged for even two minutes. He will start …

Bushwalk Fun and Adventure with the Children

It was a cold morning. I wanted to stay in bed for a little bit more. I snoozed my alarm about 10 times, I think, from 6:15 to 7:10 AM, and in between snoozes, I still managed to sleep. But of course, eventually, I had to get up and get ready for work. Luckily, I …

Making Story Stones

Our children at the Early Learning Centre will be reading "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See?" by Eric Carle this coming week, so I thought of preparing activities that are inspired by this book that would make children busy and at the same time work on their colours recognition and vocabulary development. One of the activities is …

Benefits of Physical Activity to Young Children

Children need exercise, lots of physical movements, music and more time outdoors. They should be given more opportunities to develop their physical skills, such as locomotor, stability or balance and manipulative, in order to achieve their maximum potential. Locomotor skills include running, walking, jogging, skipping, sprinting. Stability skills include balancing, jumping. Manipulative skills include throwing, …

How to Make Story Reading More Fun and Meaningful to Your Children

Image Source When I read stories to children, they often act out or participate in the actions of the book without even thinking that they're doing it. They just spontaneously move or make noises or sounds as they allow themselves to become part of the story. They also feel the characters' emotions such as happiness, …

Parents Alert: “What to do if your child is always competing for attention”

Children have an insatiable need for attention. It's probably due to the constant praises and recognition they received from the time they were born or the lack thereof. First time they utter a word, roll over, crawl, stand on their own, or communicate what they want, parents and other people in their lives are immediately …

How Young Children Communicate their Feelings and Thoughts through Writing

Image Source To the eyes of an adult, they are just wavy lines, or perhaps some swirly lines with sticks drawn at the bottom of that seemingly round shape, or, when somehow comprehensible, are just shapes that almost resemble letters or numbers. But for many children, those are their ways to communicate through their writing; …

How to Raise and Support your Child to be Multilingual

Having two or more languages spoken at home can be a challenge to most families. As we all know, children will have no difficulty learning any language. They will be able to pick up and be more fluent in more than one language, for as long as they are always immersed in those particular languages. …

Recipe for Playdough and Its Developmental Benefits for the Children

One of our weekly tasks as preschool teachers is to make play dough. Instead of buying it from the store, we make our own play dough from scratch. It is simple to make and inexpensive, too. The children also love to participate in making play dough. They enjoy the hands-on experience of making it even …

How to Read Creatively and Artfully: Making the Most of your Story Reading and Sharing Experiences

What do you think about each time you opened a book to read or share with your children? Do you ever think, "Will they or will they not enjoy the book?" You might have sometimes thought, "I think this book is too long and my child will just get bored." As a preschool teacher myself, I ask all these …

How do you Help your Children Build a Rich Vocabulary Day by Day?

The foundation of literacy learning, that is, the ability to read and write, is represented by language and vocabulary. If children do not develop strong verbal language or communication skills and vocabulary in their early years, they will find it difficult to keep pace with other children who are well advanced in terms of these …

Children are Precious in God’s Eyes

In my line of work, I have the privilege to minister to the lives of the children. I have every opportunity to make the children know about God and Jesus. Some families in our centre do not believe in the Bible or are not Christians. But because I work in a Christian school, where there …

Teaching Techniques: Learn the Art of Asking Questions

An article from Early Childhood Today, the Magazine for Early Childhood Professionals, entitled "The Art of Asking Questions" by Ellen Booth Church, has evoked my memories of myself as a student in the university. Some of my professors employed the Socratic way of questioning, and I can remember that because of their styles and methods …