Questions & Answers: 1. How is it evident that the planning reflects the pre-operational child’s needs? •Plan – it is important to have goals and objectives reflecting an understanding of child development. Planning involves the design of a DAILY SCHEDULE and routine (arrival, choice time, toileting, snacks, outside time, rest, departure); arranging the classroom space and providing materials that challenge, validate, promote learning & interaction. In this stage, in order to understand the pre-operational child’s needs planning the daily activities of a child is more applicable.
The development of a child is depending on what she/he observes in the environment. They are more particular what they see and what they heard from it. For example, a three-year-old child is told by his/her mother to go to school everyday. It automatically will store to the mind of a child and it leads him/her on what to do and not to do. 2. What is expected of the children that reflect an understanding of the pre-operational child? Children are egocentric. They think everyone perceives the world just as they do. They are often very self-centered.
They enjoy fantasy and imaginative play and often give human qualities to inanimate objects. They love to explore and experiment; however, they need guidance and direction. Their reasoning is often not logical Development of language and conceptual developments are rapidly improving. Children often have fears and “ negative transfer” such as not wanting to be around a classroom pet due to a previous negative experience with one. Children cannot conserve so they do not understand that quantity stays the same even though the shape may change.
For example: To a preoperational child, a cup of water in a tall, thin jar is definitely more than a cup of water in a short, squatty jar. Children can classify by one attribute. Children begin to use symbols to think of objects. 3. How does the environment support play and Learning for the preoperational child? A child learns through play (School Setting) Multiage teachers promote play in the learning environment because play allows children to take risks, generate new ideas, avoid the fear of failure, and to actively engage their bodies and minds (Wasserman, 1992). Play addresses the needs of the whole child.
Bibliography Jean Piaget. “Constructivist Learning Theory. ” (Piaget, 1976; Piaget & Inhelder, 1967) http://www. gradcenter. marlboro. edu/~lesliew/Capstone/construct1. html Domain I- Understanding Learners (33%) excet. tamu-commerce. edu/documents/Professional%20Development%20Pr… Learning Environment/DAP/Curriculum http://www. uwsp. edu/education/oogunnai/ece368notes. html