Many times when parents observe or visit preschools/child care centers, they think that children are "just playing". Robert Fulghum states, "Learning is taking place at all times in all circumstances for every person." Maria Montessori used the word work instead of the word play. She said that "work" has a higher respect than "play". Montessori taught that what looks like play to an adult, is truly work for a child. She taught that work is any activity, which involves the whole child, and that work has as its unconscious aim the construction of the personality. As children are going around the room, playing/working with the different centers/materials, they may acquire some of the skills that are fostered by exploring the different learning areas. Language Arts Center promotes:
- Vocabulary growth
- Listening skills
- Reading readiness skills
- Oral language skills
- Interest in and respect for books
- Appreciation of good literature
- Imagination
- Increased attention span
Outdoor Play Area:
- Develops large muscle coordination
- Increases social development and communication skills
- Provides opportunities for sharing
- Provides opportunities for roll playing
- Fosters safety awareness
Math Centers help a child:
- Recognize numbers, counting items
- Understand the relationship between a numeral and a set of objects
- Learn that counting is both meaningful and fun
- Understand such terms as big/little, more/less, etc
- Recognize and name basic geometric shapes
- Become aware of and begin to appreciate the practical uses of numbers seen around him/her every day, e.g. clocks, calendars, money, etc. Practical Life Areas:
- Encourage the children to do tasks on their own
- Promote eye hand coordination, patience, waiting turns, etc.
- Give opportunities for hand washing, practicing proper meal manners, grace and courtesy lessons
- Help children explore zipping, snapping, buckling, scooping and pouring, sorting, wiping tables, using materials properly
- Provide opportunities for pouring milk, juice, cereal; setting tables, preparing food, taste and smell comparisons, sharing
Art Centers:
- Provide opportunities for creativity and imagination
- Develop small and large muscle skills
- Develop color concepts
- Provide a release for positive and negative feelings
- Develop reading readiness skills
- Develop prewriting skills
- Encourage an appreciation for the arts
Manipulative/Sensorial Activities:
- Develop small muscle coordination
- Increase social development and communication skills
- Foster imagination
- Teach mathematical concepts (shapes, size, counting)
- Provide opportunities for problem solving
Dramatic Play Areas:
- Provide an opportunity to role play home/life experiences
- Increase social development and communication skills
- Develop small and large muscle coordination
- Develop self awareness
- Develop visual discrimination skills
Block Play:
- Provides practice with social skills
- Develops gross and fine motor skills
- Teaches mathematical concepts (shape, size, balance, counting)
- Increases creativity and decision making skills
- Develops visual discrimination skills
- Provides an opportunity for role play
- Increases communication skills and oral vocabulary
Reading Readiness Centers:
- Develop and improve listening skills
- Provide opportunities for following directions
- Teach the letters of the alphabet and their sounds, as children become interested
- Help a child notice likeness and differences
- Develop the skill of sequencing
- Develop the skill of matching
- Provide quiet areas and the opportunity for a child to:
Learn to relax
Learn to appreciate and enjoy good books
Learn to enjoy being alone
Science Centers
- Develop an awareness of and respect for the natural environment
- Develop observation and discrimination skills
- Encourage a child's curiosity
- Encourage sorting and classifying skills on the basis of size, shape and texture
- Develop an awareness of their bodies
Music and Movement
- Develops listening skills
- Encourages children to learn musical tunes which they can sing and words which they can repeat
- Helps a child learn to control motor impulses
- Promotes enjoyment and appreciation for music
- Expresses freedom of movement and awareness of the body and space
- Provides exploration and familiarity with different musical instruments
