Early child | Applied Sciences homework help

1. Be alert to traffic patterns. Clear pathways provide for a smooth and easy flow of traffic throughout the room. When centers are too close to one another or crowded around the outside of the room, children cannot freely move among them. To maintain freedom of movement that keeps children focused on their creative processes, paths should not be used for any other purpose. Unclear paths often distract children on their way to a space or lead children to intrude in others’ ongoing activities and concentration.

Room arrangement is a powerful environmental tool that affects children’s creativity. Figure 9.3 shows room arrangements for three age groups: toddlers, preschoolers/kindergartners, and children in grades 1 to 4. You can also download free PDF guides for room plans for children from birth through age 5 by going to the website for Environments and choosing planning guides. Figure 9.3 Room Arrangements This video describes seven principles of design for creating inspiring and inviting spaces for children. How does Principle 3, Furnishings Define Space, affect children’s creative thinking? What other principles capture your attention? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RD9XOow20E Arts-Based Centers Arts-based centers are inviting, self-contained spaces where children engage in creative activities. These activities can reinforce skills and concepts or spur new interests while promoting children’s critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity (Bullard, 2014; Copple & Bredekamp, 2009; Isbell & Exelby, 2001; Mayesky, 2015; NAEYC, 2015b; Partnership for 21st Century Skills (2012); Saracho, 2012). Good arts-based centers contain a variety of learning experiences, easily accessible arts-based books, materials, resources, and supplies that accomplish the following: · Promote active learning, planning, decision-making, problem-solving, and originality in all subject areas. · Increase social and verbal interaction and various forms of play among peers. · Offer choices to increase children’s creative thought and help them manage their time. · Reflect children’s interests, families, and cultural backgrounds to motivate learning. Arts-Based Centers for Different Age Levels Arts-based centers are appropriate for every child. Each requires a clear purpose, a range of materials and activities, and a means of assessment or evaluation. While centers must take into account individual needs, interests, and levels of learning, there are unique considerations for children at different ages. Toddlers need centers that contain a variety of sensory materials with different levels of complexity, as well as time for exploration. They must have low, open shelves to display and help the children find materials that reflect familiar people and places matched to their developmental level. Toddlers also need materials that encourage exploration and large motor development with climbing and push–pull toys, provide a private space to watch others play or to rest with a soft toy, and offer sensory and creative experiences with music, science, pretense, construction, manipulatives, and sand and water to encourage different types of play. Preschoolers and kindergartners need centers that meet all of the requirements for toddlers and contain a variety of interesting materials and experiences that can be used to role-play (such as hats and shoes) and to construct (such as wood, glue, and blocks). The materials must reflect the expanding world of their community, their culture, and their increasing interest in all subject areas; the activities must promote creative problem-solving, communication, and collaboration. First and second graders need centers that enhance their developing logical thinking and engage them in focused learning that supports critical thinking, collaboration, and communication. Centers help integrate subjects meaningfully across the curriculum, help children demonstrate competence in a particular area, and feel part of a peer group. Their active learning experiences should capitalize on their need to feel competent and successful. Third and fourth graders like resources in their centers that include literacy materials, challenge cards, hands-on learning, and ongoing projects. They need opportunities to conduct experiments, work on long-term projects, and use data to support their learning. Regardless of age, all children require centers to explore opportunities to connect their learning through art, drama, music, and play. This child is using modeling material to create. As you watch this video about preschool centers, notice how the teacher creates multiple areas for centers. What do you see as the purpose of her centers, and how do the learning activities promote creative problem-solving? Teachers need systems for managing centers. The following section provides suggestions for managing arts-based centers in your classroom. Managing Arts-Based Centers You will want to introduce centers slowly and teach children the basic skills and expectations needed to participate in a center activity. Arts-based centers should promote children’s self-expression through an art form such as art, music, drama, and play and contain all the materials needed to complete an activity, including instructions, checklists, progress sheets, and options for exploring the concepts and theme. The following strategies will help you manage an arts-based center (Bullard, 2014; NAEYC, 2015; Saracho, 2012; Starko, 2014).