Building the Foundations
Literacy and Numeracy
Morning meeting plays a major role in literacy and numeracy development.
Singing, chanting, reciting poems, and sharing news from home foster oral
language development and aural discrimination. The teacher's written morning
message provides an introduction to basic concepts of print (directionality,
spacing, punctuation) as well as letter identification and letter-sound
correspondence and extends problem-solving skills by requiring students
to decode a rebus or unfamiliar word in the message. Children develop the
ability to identify predictable text through daily exposure to the printed
calendar and schedule board and develop early numeracy awareness through
filling in the calendar and tracking attendance, weather trends, and the
number of days school has been in session. Interactive games involving
patterning and counting are also an important part of morning meeting.
Exploring Their World
Young children are natural scientists; they experiment freely with the world they
encounter,
note the results, and create new experiments, all the while developing theories
about the way things work. They are curious and often astute social anthropologists,
observing the people around them and absorbing the cultural values of school and the
wider world. The pre-k and k curricula provide a wealth of opportunities, both
structured and unstructured, for children to extend and enhance these skills.
Designated science and sensory centers allow children to observe,
manipulate, and create using familiar and unfamiliar media. Frequent interactions
with the natural and human worlds foster a sense of mission and discovery. We take
advantage of our woodland setting; a great deal of the science curriculum centers
on this environment, and we venture forth in all weather, warm or cold, wet or dry.
When we complete our wanderings, we always return to homebase in the classroom to
share our thoughts about the day.
|
