• How ready is their brain to do certain tasks?
• Practice, training, pushing will not get the desired result unless their brains are ready.

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Thinking about Child Development

Things that impact development

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• Genetics
• Environment
• Hormones
• Nutrition
• Gender
• Exercise–gross motor skills–running, skipping, catching throwing
• Exposure-Do they get to play in the dirt and sand and water? Are they exposed to sensory experiences?

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Meet Your Class

Adapting: How long is your lesson?

Attention Span

• 2 minutes for each year of age. So a 3 year old should have a 6 minute attention span.

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• Then factor in: Is class at the end of the day? Are they hungry? Are they tired? What is the dynamic of the class? Do you have help? Have they had recess? Is it raining outside? Is it the week before break? Is there a full moon?

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• 5 minutes is a good round number.

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• Limit your lesson to two steps or less.

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Adapting: Is your classroom accessible?

• I teach K-8. My room is set up for big kids.

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• I have stools all over the room.

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• Soap and paper towels are near the edge of the counter

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• Separate easy to clean up bins for table centers

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• Separate shelf for all PK-K supplies

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• Kids can stand at the table or sit on the floor

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• Drying rack down low

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Basic Tenets of my Early Childhood Program

• Get my kids ready for TAB–make choices, be independent, come up with their own ideas
• Developmentally appropriate
• Process over product
• Play based
• Have to be able to move and stand
• No time limits or minimums
• Roam with a purpose
• Meet their basic needs

What does my 40 minute class look like?

• Gather on the rug
• 5 minute mini lesson

• Students choose first center. Some will stay at one center the entire time. Others will hit three or four.
• Space is determined by chairs at a table, or known spots at floor centers. (3 at felt board, 6 at blocks)
• For a class of 21, I will have approx. 36 spots, so there is always more than one choice.

We work, play, explore and make art for 25-30 minutes

Seven to ten minutes for clean up and gathering on the rug for songs and rhymes.

The Mini Lesson

• 5 minutes or less
• 2 steps or points to remember

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Collage Studio Mini Lessons

• Open and close a bottle of glue and just a dot not a lot.
• Draw a shape, cut it out, use your helper hand
• Tearing paper
• Cutting squares, triangles and rectangles
• Tape!
• Using magazines and glue sticks
• Using hole punches
• Using staplers

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The Centers

What we start with:

• Blocks
• Lacing beads
• Table blocks (math manipulatives)
• Drawing
• Collage
• Felt board

The Centers

The messy ones we add one week at a time

• Playdoh
• Paint daubers
• Paint sticks
• Tempera cakes
• Cardboard collage
• Easel Painting
• Liquid tempera in cups

What does authentic early childhood artwork look like?

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What is the difference between an adult aesthetic and a child aesthetic?

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