hildrenareeagerlearners.

They devote @ Finemotordevelopment # A skth em t o build t c, , , 'er ': '

portionsof theirseemingly
substantial endless hasprogressed to enablethis w i th one hand f ir st a. i ir e- , , ,
energyto learningall aspects
of the culture agechildto pickup small other,tom ake sm allba . : f : , s
theyareborninto:they learnits language, objectsmoreeasily. ln writing or dough ,t o cut sqL': , : ' : =: =
stories,
music,and literature;
they investigate witha crayon,the adultgrasp thei r han ds,t o st r ing, ': . . - : . .
withalltheirsenses andemerging skillswhat is simulatedbut movements beads,etc.Theseact\': =5 ,'. :
peoplemean,whenthingsareappropriate and arestllawkward: sometimes the teachert o int r oducer =, ",
when they are not, where things come from, what they are for,how theywill pickup the crayon vocabular yas t hey t ell t he : - : '
they are made,and how adults and peersrespondto them.Theytry withthe nondominant hand "Takeone big block","Pu:c-::^t.
to make senseof common objects by prying into them, taking them andthentransferit to the block","Cuta big squareo! sc::.
a p a rt,a n d m anipulat in gth e m i n a v a ri e tyo f w a y s .In s u m,they are dominanthand. "Makea small/big ball","P-: c -: :
a l l th e ti m e t r y ing t o c om e i n to te rm s w i th th e w o rl d a roundthem, beadand one small beod". t ,,:.
but it must be taken into accountthat there are limits as to what w i th crayonsor pencils,it s ^: :
teacherscan expect of them as a responseto learning;activities necessa r yt opush kidst oo - - c^
d e si g n edt o help t hem i n c o rp o ra ten e w k n o w l e d g emust be i n w ri ti ng l et t er sof t he alphaor : . =
accordanceto their developmentalpotentialities. they sti l lhavet o developt he r i.
Listedbelow are some of the actualcapacitiesof children between 3 moveme nt sa bit m or e. Whet : - =
and 5 years old (What can be expectedof them) and some examples abl eto d o,and enjoy doing .
of activitiesthat might be of help to foster children'spotentialities. col ouri n glar gesilhouet t eses: =
of ani mals.
Fnee-yenn o/.D c///DRE/
& Playnow goes on with & Encouragethem to work ,",:-
What can be expectedof other chi l dren.W hereas at tw o mate,for exam ple,in gluing : =: =
Activities
they were involvedin parallel a sheetof paper to make fl ,,,=
them & Establish somesimplerulesand
6 Threeis an ageof play,they now begin to play cut out parts of the body fron-,
routinesand rewardchildrenwith a
smoothness and increased cooperatively. Playis often magazi n est o m akea com ple: =:
smileor a praise whentheycomply
structuredby the chi l dren' s (humanor anim al) .
self.control
and integration. with them.
Thereis an awareness of what i magi nati on.
e.g."Juan,put thepencilsin the box,
peoplelikeand do not like. please"."Well done!"/"Great!" @ Teacht hem songs; t heya. = . '
& Languagehasexpanded
Thetypicalthree-year olds Introduce themto healthyhabits medium to incorporatethe sc ^
and the three-yearolds now -
wantto pleaseandarehighly suchaswashing theirhandsafter and rhhm of a f or eignlang- , :
havethe ability to havefun
susceptibleto praise;
theyare working;the activitycanbe even w hen t hey m ay not gr as: : '
w i th l anguagei n thei r mother
emotionally unstableandthey accompanied by a songsuchas meani ng.
tongue.Theyl i keto make up
havefitsof angeror sadness 'Thisis the way we washour
new words and enjoy silly
they haveto learnhowto hands..." rhymi ng.Theyl i ke guessi ng
control. To helpthem express theirfeelings games.
and emotions, prepare"faces" of
differentemotions(sad,tired,angry, & The concept of spaceand & Prepare
role-plays
in r,,,hcf' :-
happy)for themto pointat;if it is the understandi ngof pl ace haveto perform everyda'3'
obviousthat they havea problem, words have developedso that suchas sor t ingand or der '; :
approachthem in privateandask. the three-yearold can respond aftergoi n g shopping; p. ep'- =: :
to di recti onsw hi ch i ncl ude ful l of " fo od"( car t ons,
b ', : ' :
{& Motorbehaviour # Includeactivities suchas "'
is now prepositions,such as "put the vegetables, et c) and g', '. : - =-
sure.They enjoygrossmotor carryingand liftinglargeobjects milk in the fridge". di recti on slike:"Please: : . = . - = *
activities
andactivities
usinq likeblocks, ballsor cushions,or that cartonan d put it on r e : : :
largeobjects. involvethem in largemotor
activities.
Remember to & Threeand one-hal fi s an {WCutlargelettersr. :- - -
demonstrate the actionfor themto age of transition for them t o sor t out ac: : ": - :
imitate;e.g. devel opmental land
y vi sual l y. Obser"" :-: ,
colouror size.
"Walkslowly/quicklyaroundthe Childrenare more sensitive, probl emsin ident if yln: : : : , ':
block" nonconformi ng, and anxi ousi n they get t oo ner vous, ,-,i- : - :
"Putthecushionon yourhead.Walk their behaviour.Stuttering,eye cannotd o what was'i: - "=:
forwards/backwords" blinking,faulty eye
"Push/pullthe big ball" coordi nati on,
and trembl i ng
"Jumpin place" handsare manifestationsof
"Walkon heelsor tptoes" motor difficulties.
"Skipto a rhythm"

'lil7'04EiE
W&!eU\Lk
 taun-YeAR aD clflt DREr f rye'ysen ato !/raa/

C At the ageof four,children
beginto testandfeeltheir
powerandenergy.They need
climbingapparatus,ladders,
boards,and buildingblocksto
releaseenergyaswell aslearn.
Theyenjoydramaticplay,
excursionsaroundthe
neighbourhood, booksand
stories,
andtalking.
O Time senseis increasinq.
O Theycanidentifywith a
largersocialgroup.
O Theyareself-sufficient in
manyof theirpersonalneeds, on/off differentitems of clothing,as
but they stillrequireacceptance th e y a re l e a rn i n gto d ressand
of feelingsand helpwith limits, u n d re s sa l o n e .E n c o u ragethem to
just astheydid at agethree,but say"CanI go to the toilet?",if you
alwayswith due recognition of know that they are readyto go
theirincreased growth,
& Takeadvantage oftheir energy
anddevisegamesthat includea lot
activity(inthe
of physical
kindergartenplayground, if
possible).
Forexample, in groups,
theytaketurnsto climbthe slide
whiletheycountup to ten.
& They havethe idea that the clock
ma rk sth e p a s s i n go f the hours;make
a c l o c kfa c ea n d p l a c ethe handsto
ma rk th e b e g i n n i n go f the E ngl i sh
classwhile you say:"lt'sfour;time for
En g l i s h "o,r s o me th i n gof the sort,
a n d th e s a m ea t th e e n d ofthe
period.
& As they are better preparedto
shareand work cooperatively, the
ma k i n go f a c o l l a g ec a n eventual l y
becomea project work to be
displayedat the end of the year.The
activity must be carefullyorganised
b y th e te a c h e r;o n ep o ssi bi l i tyi s to
h a v ek i d sw o rk i n s m a llgroupsand
th e n p l a c ea l l th e p ro d ucti ons
to g e th e r(a si n a q u i l t)on a bi gger
sheet.Theycan prepare,for example,
a ra i n b o wa n d e a c hg ro up hasto
fi n d c u t-o u tso f th e s a m ecol our
fro m m a g a z i n e sto g l u e on a stri pe
th a t w i l l b e c o meo n e o f the bandsof
th e ra i n b o w O . b s e rv ethem as they
w o rk i n c a s ep ro b l e m sa ri se;i f so,
ta k e a d v a n ta g eo fth e opportuni ty
to ta l k a b o u t th e i mo o rtanceof
l e a rn i n gto w o rk to g e ther(i n thei r
mother tongue).
& Preparegamesfor them to put
a ro n e .
# Theyaredependable and & C o nt inueest ablishingr L-: .
obedientwith a certaincapacity for the classr oomand see: - =
for friendship. they com ply wit h t hem .
* Fiveto six-year old children & Ma ket hem m easur eo: =: '
think in concreteterms, i n the classr oomt o f ind : ^E
therefore,they needconcrete l onge stone or t o com pr : : , "
experiences in the learning of them. Givethem a carc ,,,,:'
environment. Theyarereadyfor a num ber or let t erand asi: -
logicalthinkingactivities. to fi nd t he ident icalone i- :
box fu ll of let t er sor num b: '.
Useboxesfor them to sortc
of "biglsmall"
pictures thi^:s
@ Theyhavea specialneedto s&Workwiththemto mai.
experiment anddiscover things "magicalasses" of cardbo':
that canbe relatedto theirown paperandcellophane to :,:.
exoeriences andthe world for,for example, patternsc -
aroundthem. leaves in the playground o.
square/round thingsin tl"e
room.
# Expression through @ Cutsquares, circles,
tr a- :
movement andmusicis of differentsizesand spr--:
necessary for growth.Dramatic them out on the floor.Ha,,=
and rhythmicactivitiesare eachchilddrawout from :
especiallyappropriatefor the 5 a cardboard shape(ider^r :'
to 6 yearold. someof the oneson the i : :
pl ay m usicand let t he ch: : - ='
move ( not r un) ar oundt ht
room to f ind a m at chincs- . :
Tel lth em t hey will haveic
': :
w hen you st op t he m - s :
* fhis agechildis interested
in 6 B y now, t he childr enia'"=
creativeexpressionthrough real i sedt hat t her e ar e
languageby the introductionof di ffere nces in t he souncs : '
sounds, lettersandwords.They thei r m ot her t ongue anc
enjoylearninggamesthat give E ngl i sh.Readshor t st or : : : :
them opportunities to tell them and askt hem t o r e3i: :
stories,
readbooksthrough short ohr asesor t o m at c
memory. phras ewit h a pict ur e.
The acti vi ti esproposedhereare by no me ansexhaust ive: t l': ., '=
j ust some of a myri adof possi bi l i ti es to w o r k wit h kinder gar : : ^
chi l dren.Themost i mportantthi ng to rem em beris t hat iea'^ - ;
w i l l take pl aceas l ong as i t i s presentedi n t he f or m of p a, , .

O Thefourto fiveyearold & Org a n i s el e a rn i n gc e nters

Next issue: Theimportanceof play in the kindergarten
seeksto satisfycuriosity (" c o rn e rs "a)n d l e t th e m mani pul ate
througha discovery process.A freelywhat they find in them. They
Lic.Patricia Carnicina
schoollearning environment can blend olasticineof two different merida@vtec.com.qr
arrangedwith centresallows coloursto form a new one,in the
the freedomand materials to Arts corner;encouragethem to
providefor individualand n a meth e c o l o u rth e y fo rmed.H avea
grouplearning. Eachchild ma g n i fy i n gg l a s sto l o o k for i nsects
shouldbe providedwith i n th e p l a y g ro u n d(u n d er
opportunities explore, supervision,of course).Let them feel
to create,
discover,
andexperiment soft texturesand rough ones in the
throughtheirown experiences.Sciencecorner. ,

f,*-;',=I