CURRICULUM GUIDE FOR S.C. TEACHER CADET COURSE | EXPERIENCING EDUCATION, TENTH EDITION
Theme I: Experiencing Learning
Unit 3: Growth and Development
What to Look for in a Preschool
A preschool program has long-term effects on young children’s success in school and ultimately
in life. About 8 million American children are in preschools. The two key features of a preschool
(child care facility) are the teachers and the environment. Early social and emotional experiences are the seeds of human intelligence. A good preschool mirrors a child’s upbringing in a
good home.
Advice for Teachers or Caregivers
• Be responsive to each child’s abilities, needs, language differences, and overall
development. The most important characteristic of a preschool is a teacher’s
relationship with the children and the ability to be responsive to each child.
• Talk to the children frequently. Engage them in conversation one-on-one, in small
groups, and with the whole class.
• Make sure that children are exposed to words. A child’s vocabulary is one of the
best ways to predict how well he will read. The size of a child’s vocabulary
depends directly on how many words he has heard, beginning in infancy.
• Be knowledgeable about child development (e.g. how children learn the alphabet
and number concepts and how to enhance children’s social and emotional
development).
Advice for Creating an Effective Environment
• Plan indoor and outdoor activities.
• Enable them to participate in activities that will develop their language,
mathematics, and problem-solving skills.
• Give them opportunities to paint, color, sing, dance, jump, run, and climb.
• Provide many books and printed materials. Read to the children at least thirty
minutes every day. The thirty minutes will often be split into two or three different
reading sessions, depending on the age and attention span of the children. Let the
children sit near the teacher. Ask the children to predict what will happen in the
story, to find certain objects in a picture, to count illustrations, and to participate in
other activities that engage them in conversations about the story. Even if the
children are too young to talk, they should be read to every day.
• Decorate rooms with the children’s recent artwork. Display the alphabet and
number lines. Print the children’s names on their work. Label objects in the room
so that children will associate items with printed words.
• Use a curriculum that gives children opportunities to experience language, science,
mathematics, physical education, art, and music daily.
• Allow them to explore and experiment in a safe, loving environment.
• Follow specified guidelines for hygiene and safety.
• Limit class sizes (one adult per three to four infants; one adult to six toddlers; one
adult per twelve children, ages three to five).
Sources:
“What to Look for in a Preschool,” by Naomi Karp, National Institute on Early Childhood Development and Education, 2000”; “The New Preschool,” by Lyn Nell Hancock and Pat Wingert,
Newsweek special issue.
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