Magicalms.com ~ Magical Moments

Even though educator’s main responsibility is to the children, we also have the task of helping parents understand what are developmentally appropriate preschool standards and practices. If you agree with the premise that most parents want to do what is in their child’s best interest, then, you would also agree that those same parents would listen and learn from the well informed, conversant teacher.  For instance, it is up to us to explain why children must develop muscles in their hands, arms, and shoulders before learning to write.  It is up to us to explain how play helps children explore and build a solid foundation and a love for learning.  It is up to us to help parents understand that the process of creating is revered, rather than the finished product.  It is up to us to communicate that active, hands on learning is far superior to information obtained by passively interacting with a computer.  I believe that if we are knowledgeable, respectful, and passionate about our subject matter, parents will have confidence in our abilities to plan programs that are developmentally appropriate and in their children’s best interest.

Magical Educating!

Donna Mavrides
Magical Moments
www.magicalms.com

To me, socio-emotional goals override all others.    Our primary goal must be to motivate our children to be kind, considerate, caring, and respectful of others as they accept themselves as capable, wonderful little people.  Helping preschoolers delay gratification, problem solve, discuss feelings, and handle frustration are important first steps in creating healthy emotional children so that we can look forward to a more loving and peaceful future.

Teachers must be models for our children; we must talk respectfully, behave calmly, and listen affectively.  Body language is a powerful tool that adults must monitor when interacting with children and other adults in the program.  Since respect and kindness grow exponentially, teachers must be lovely role models if they expect their students to be well behaved, caring children.

Magical Educating!

Donna Mavrides
Magical Moments
www.magicalms.com

There are endless opportunities to teach and have children practice math skills each and every day.  Regardless of theme, educators must infuse opportunities for the boys and girls to count, compare, contrast, graph, sort, pattern, graph, weigh, and identify numbers and shapes each and every day. Our world is filled with math and so, the mini world of the preschool classroom must be filled with it as well.

Like math, the opportunities to attain language goals in the classroom are endless.  The teacher may start by having objects labeled with sentences instead of single words.  Before reading a book, the teacher may ask the children to look at its cover so that they can hypothesize about its content.   The teacher should introduce the book’s author and illustrator.  The teacher may ask boys and girls to reflect and remember details after the story is completed or the educator may ask the children how they would prefer the story to end.  The class may make connections between stories and between real life occurrences.  The teacher may use the story to create open ended games, art experiences, or block constructions.  You may want to discuss beginning/ending sounds of particular words or play rhyming/opposite games with story words. For older children, the teacher may ask the children to dictate their own stories whereas for younger boys and girls, the teacher may ask the children to point to or to verbalize story related objects.  Talking, listening, singing, tapping beats (syllables), and reading helps to foster language goals as they improve speech clarity, build vocabulary, help children to follow directions, recognize sounds, and ultimately learn to read.

Magical Educating!

Donna Mavrides
Magical Moments
www.magicalms.com

Most professionals in the world of early childhood education are devoted to helping young children, yet, many are too eager to interpret scientific findings in ways that are counterproductive to children’s development. In the last decade or so, scientists have been busy exploring the inner workings of the brain.  They have concluded that since young children’s brains are so pliable, potential for learning is greater than we ever believed possible.  Many educators interpret these findings as a way to advocate for high tech classrooms that are filled with every kind of computer and sound system.  While others seem to believe that a young child’s world should be filled with writing instruments, paper, and flashcards.  And then, there are those of us who understand that scientists are not advocating for either of the above, but rather, are suggesting that we should create safe, stimulating, open ended environments where children’s explorations lead to the creation of a firm and solid foundation for future learning, self confidence, and success. 

If each child was given opportunities to play,  to build, to create, to experiment, to mix, to explore, to make mistakes, to be read to and listened to, we would be using the scientists’ findings in ways that would foster child friendly educational environments. Children who learn about themselves and their world in secure, stimulating environments are more likely to become passionate life time learners than children who attend passive, product/goal oriented programs.  Before we can think about academic classrooms for little people, let’s agree that our children have the right to “play” and the right to be “valued” for who they are and not for what they can do.   I applaud the latest brain research about children’s learning potentials.  Now, let’s use this valuable information to create programs that are best suited to the developmental needs of our young children.

Magical Educating!

Donna Mavrides
Magical Moments
www.magicalms.com