Lake Mary Childcare believe effective educators should provide the best possible learning opportunities for your children. First and foremost, our teachers need to keep up to date with child development theories and educational practices. This involves taking regular courses in different aspects of child development including keeping up to date with the State Early Learning Standards. Teachers must also attend at least 10hrs of in-service training every year.
We support any teacher that wants to progress their own academic education to gain the CDA (Child Development Associate), which is a very demanding credential, to gaining a Directors Credential.
What has this to do with Pre School Educational Standards? Well, it means our teachers are better qualified to effectively implement these standards.
What Are the Standards? The Standards are based four concepts of learning:
Play
Patterns
Cause and Effect
Communication
Play is a child’s work and is important for child development in that children learn Social and Motor skills as well as Cognitive Thinking. Gaining knowledge through play is far more effective than Rote Learning, a handout sheet or boring recitals.
Patterns exist everywhere and children can learn to make sense of the world by observing patterns and shapes as well as listening to music and trying to figure out the patterns in a song. Patterns also help children to understand Math by beginning to understanding numeracy with numbers, shapes and images that repeat themselves. They may also notice patterns in their environment and how they might classify them, helping in problem solving.
Children learn Cause and Effect at an early stage such as crying to get attention or if they drop something it breaks. By helping children to practice observations on Cause-and-Effect children can make a connection between actions and reactions. Building with blocks, mixing paint or experimenting with sinking and floating are all examples of the way we can teach the concept of Cause and Effect.
Children depend on language and teaching communication to make their wants and needs known. Asking questions to solve problems and play with others are important ways to support young children communication and language skills. We do this by setting up a Dramatic Play area in the classroom to engage in imaginative play where communication is practiced. Teachers can introduce vocabulary games, reading story books out loud and having a well-stocked children’s library in the classroom for children to pick out a book of their choice. There are many other ways to help children learn communication and use of language, but these are just examples.
So, by boiling down the actual Child Development Standards, which is a pretty thick book, into four main concepts, it helps teachers focus their lesson plans on Play, Patterns, Cause and Effect and Communication. We say a focused teacher results in a focused child who is learning to learn.
Have fun at home to, practicing these four concepts with your child.