In this section...
Optional full-day child care
Lunch program
Flexible scheduling
and pick-up times
Support and involved
family and parental community
Free Play
- Children have activities available to them. This gives them the freedom to choose.
- Teachers should be at their level interacting with them.
- Children learn respect for learning and play materials.
- Importance of learning to clean up after oneself and each other/working as a team to accomplish a task.
Circle Time
- Age appropriate
- Children should be involved in the activities verbally or through hands-on
- Relate activities to the theme
- Use visuals so that children can see, touch, smell, and remember.
- Children should sit no longer than 15 minutes at a time.
- Plan some movement activities during this time.
- Share information about the weather, calendar, days of the week, theme and activities that will follow.
- Total time should be about 20 min.
Large Motor
- Children should be encouraged to participate in large motor activities
- Hopping, jumping, running, skipping, balancing, use of balls and bean bags should be incorporated into daily activities.
- Take walks outdoors
- Circle games and games to relax the body
Snack time
- Eat and talk to friends in a calm manner
- Discuss the food children are eating (How does it smell, taste, feel?)
- Discuss foods the children like or dislike.
- Teach children how to clean up after themselves and how to use good manners.
Small Motor
Activities during this time should:
- Develop small motor skills such as holding a pencil or crayon, cutting practice
- Eye and hand coordination such as lacing cards, beads and string, painting
- Sorting into shapes, sizes, or colors
- Recognizing letters in name, introducing new letters, or numbers
- Sensory activities such as the use of water table, puzzles and memory matching games
Language Activities
- This is time to reinforce what the children have learned (theme related, shapes, numbers, etc.)
- Movement activities should be used at this time such as songs, finger play or stories
- Teacher may tell a story using felt boards, large picture books or story tapes
- This is a time for closure or review