Learning centers are an integral part of high quality programs for young children. Child development research supports the understanding that young children learn best through direct interaction with their environment and with other children. The teachers and parents at POE Co are mutually committed in providing a secure and nurturing early childhood education program offering age appropriate skills that encourage each child’s independence and curiosity. The daily program consists of the following centers:

Through block play a child:

• has the opportunity to use large muscles (lifting, carrying, and stacking)
• small muscle development
• self expression
• basic math concepts: spatial relationships, balance, classifying, estimating, counting
• actively uses thought processes
• may enjoy conversation with another child or teacher
• learns to make decisions
• experiments in working with others
• begins to recognize the rights of others
• learns to put materials away

Through dramatic play/home living a child:

• plays out home experiences
• role-plays characters from books, stories and film
• develops muscular coordination (rocking, dressing dolls, “cooking” setting table)
• has opportunity to play alone
• has opportunity to “help” (cook, set table, serve food, wash and dry dishes, feed and rock the baby dress up)
• socializes with other classmates (reveals thoughts and attitudes through conversations)
• may begin to learn to cooperate with others
• practices language skills

Through puzzles and manipulatives:

• enjoys a sense of achievement and success
• learns to think and reason
• learns to solve problems
• learns to work independently or cooperatively with others
• has opportunity to make choices
• may enjoy conversation
• develops fine motor skills
• refines visual discrimination
• classify and sequence objects in logical ways

Through creative art activities such as paint, play dough, finger painting, crayons and various other art activities and medium:

• enjoys sensory experiences (seeing, feeling, smelling, sometimes tasting)
• has the opportunity to think and plan
• has an outlet for emotional tensions and frustration
• enjoys manipulation (squeezing, pounding, rolling, pushing, pulling)
• enjoys the success of having made his own creation
• enjoys colors and experimenting with them
• discovers many interesting ways to use materials
• has opportunities for social experiences
• develops small muscle skills

Through science and the sensory table a child:

• improves observation skills
• learns basic science concepts: sink, float pouring, measuring, solutions, flow
• basic math skills: measuring, volume, more than, less than
• can relax and relieve tension
• learns about cause and effect
• formulates hypotheses
• sequences events in order of their occurrence
• sorts objects according to one for more characteristics
• develops an appreciation of nature and an understanding of the world around us
• enjoys sensory experiences (seeing, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting)
• becomes aware of his surroundings
• learns to care for plants, animals and the environment
• may develop tenderness and love through association with classroom pets
• learns to respond more easily to new situations

Through music a child:

• may become sensitive to the beauty and harmony of music
• may create own music
• becomes more aware of self-through mood and movement expression
• enjoys relaxation and rhythmic responses
• develops coordination through musical instruments and body movements
• explores musical concepts
• develops social relationships through singing and enjoying music with others

Through gross motor skills/outdoor play activities a child:

• has opportunities to develop large muscles and coordination (running, skipping, riding bikes and climbing
• opportunity to take risks with a teacher nearby to guide their play
• has the opportunity for group play
• explores make-believe play
• learns the enjoyment of physical activity
• engage the senses through textures, light sounds, color and smells
• has experience with nature and acquires an environmental awareness

Through books and storytelling a child:

• may enjoy handling and looking at books
• may get new ideas and develop interests in various subjects
• learns to listen to stories
• may add to his previous experiences
• increases attention span
• increases vocabulary
• develops an appreciation for the printed word and its relationship to the spoken language
• enjoys the social; experiences with an adult when reading together
• learns to take responsibility for the care of books
• interprets illustrations using picture to predict what happens in a story

Through the writing center a child:

• discovers how writing and language relate
• understands ways in which print is organized on a page
• experiments with stamps, stickers and various writing materials
• small muscle development
• explores scribbling and exploration of line and shape
• indentifies words and copies words of interest
• writes the alphabet
• learns purpose of how writing is used
• uses self-expression
• communicates with others-one on one and in small groups