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Every so often a new buzzword starts to be heard in the early childhood community. STEM, STEAM, Differentiated Learning, Standards Based Education, messy learning, hands-on, process oriented and many others. Every time I hear a new buzzword and learn what it means, I'm puzzled because it is often something that we have been doing at UCDC for a long time but just never called it that actual word. Play-based learning is becoming all the rage again. We have known for my 25 years of being at UCDC that young children learn best in a play-based, well thought out and organized environment. We've always used a variety of hands-on materials that were opened ended allowing children to freely experiment with them. That approach is now embraced as "making and tinkering."
We have always embraced the key components of "making and tinkering," which include experiences that can be set up to allow for free exploration with no goal in mind, providing materials that can be used in a variety of ways, structuring activities so that all children's developmental levels and preferred way to learn are addressed. Time to explore is also something that we consider.
In a recent article that I read, another beneficial outcome of "making" caught my attention. The article highlighted the importance of using "making" and hands-on, open-ended activities for dual language learners (DLL). Like all children, preschoolers who are dual language learners have a wealth of knowledge and experience. But because their learning has been in their home language, they may not be able to express their knowledge in English. "Making and tinkering" (or hands-on, open-ended learning at UCDC) gives children a chance to practice their ingenuity and skill, showing teachers and friends how much they actually know and can do. With open-ended learning and materials, all children, and in particular DLLs, can become immersed and explore how objects work, how they go together, how they can be grouped and sorted, and best of all, how they can be used to represent or express just about anything. Words aren't always necessary but can be used and added to create a multi-faceted experience. Children can feel successful, supported and included in the daily activities and learning opportunities in the classroom. When children are using materials creatively, the opportunities are endless and there is no judgement about whether they are doing it right.
As we seek out new ways to support all children at UCDC, this is a valuable confirmation that we are meeting all varying levels of development, strengths and needs. Providing opportunities to engage in "making" and experimentation with open-ended activities at home is a great way to support your child's learning and create home-to-school connections. Ask your child's teacher about things you can try at home and have fun!
Warmly,
Mary Beth
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Curriculum in the Classroom
Infant One
The children of Infant One have opportunities in making decisions about classroom plans and activities on a daily basis. Our philosophy includes a play based curriculum which explains why our materials are at the children's levels allowing them to choose what they want to play with. The children may choose to play on the climber, going up and down the stairs or walking up the ramp, developing their physical side. Another place the children may choose to play in the dramatic play area, with the kitchen and dress up clothes, developing their social and creative sides. Additional areas that children may decide to play may include the cozy reading area, with the soft pillows, couches and baby dolls to look at books.
On one wintery day, the children were showing interest in the sensory table by crawling and walking over to it, pulling up on it, banging on the lid, and trying to remove the lid. This was a signal to the teachers that the children wanted to play with the sensory table. At this moment, the table was empty. The children also had the opportunity to choose what material we would put in the table. We showed them the container of clay, paint and a pitcher of water. One of the children spoke up and said water. The decision was made. Today the children wanted water in the sensory table. We added scoopers, of different sizes and sea creatures. The children scooped and poured the water in and out of the table. There were a lot of smiles, splashing, laughter and many changes of clothes when they were done learning about the properties of water.
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Curriculum in the Classroom
Toddler Two
Toddlers can learn so much by folding paper. We have origami decorations in our classroom and the children love to practice folding origami. They have learned vocabulary, shapes and colors as well as how to be more precise in movement and how to change a two-dimensional object turning into a three-dimensional one. Origami is an art form that can turn into a lifelong hobby.
During lunchtime, the children regularly ask for their napkin to be folded for them or they fold their own napkins into rectangles or triangles. Because we have been folding napkins for a few years in our classroom, it has become part of our classroom culture. The children new to our room learn about rectangles and triangles rapidly through observation of their classmates.
The simple origami shapes that the children have learned to fold include pinwheels and houses. In learning to fold, the children have learned a lot of vocabulary (fold, squash, valley and unfold) in addition to shapes and colors. We are working with the children on precision of movement and observation of what they are doing (how the edges of the paper meet). Folding origami is a good opportunity to follow multi-step directions with a positive outcome. Even the youngest children in our room come and practice folding the brightly colored paper in half and happily put their papers in their bins.
Origami illustrates mathematical/geometric concepts for our children when they do not yet have the words to express what they see and feel from the shapes and forms. NASA is using origami to design new solar panels for space stations. Perhaps one of these children will learn something from folding which will allow them to make a major discovery or improvement later in life.
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Curriculum in the Classroom
Preschool One
Preschool One's dramatic play area has been in full bloom lately. The dramatic play area always seems to stay busy throughout the day. This area is always first on everyone's list to pick, to explore, and to engage with the materials provided. It is such an important and valuable area to have in every classroom.
Dramatic play gives children the opportunity to test social roles that they see in their everyday lives. For example, pretending to be a mother or father and taking care of their babies, or a doctor and healing the children that are sick. Dramatic play also gives children a safe place to act out situations or scenarios that have made them feel uncomfortable or unhappy and help them make sense of it. This helps them find ways to understand what they do not understand in a safe area that they have control over.
In Preschool One, the children are
quite content playing with the traditional materials that are found in this area, such as dress up articles of clothing, food, doctor props and baby items. The children LOVE to pretend to be doctors, and they are quite skilled in the art of flu shots. As teachers of young children, it so important for us to continue to provide them opportunities to tap into that creative side, and help them learn and explore their creativity and imagination. Some of the ways that we do this is by transforming or reinventing our dramatic play area into new spaces that excite children. This allows children the opportunities to test out dramatic play in new and different ways. It allows opportunities for children to test out and explore the area who might not ever have an interest in going there. Some of the areas that we have recently explored have been a bakery, a restaurant, pizza shop and most recently a flower shop. We provide materials that allow children to think creatively and act out different roles that they experience in real life situations. We have had so much fun along the way!
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The International Association of Laboratory Schools (AILS) Conference
May 2nd through May 4th, 2018
This month, our city was the host of the annual
IALS Conference. Our teachers had a chance to meet people from all over the world and discuss philosophies, compare experiences, and ultimately learn from each other. Many connections were made over the short time and the experience was beneficial to all!
"The International Association of Laboratory Schools (IALS) is an international association of laboratory and university affiliated schools engaged in practices of teacher training, curriculum development, research, professional development, and educational experimentation for the purpose of supporting member's schools and as a voice speaking for the improvement of learning for all children."
As members of the organization, UCDC played a huge part in the Conference planning. There were opportunities for the visiting members to job shadow, tour and many opportunities to network. The conference culminated on Friday with a full day or workshops and meetings.
Again, this opportunity to meet and interact with so many different people was priceless. We were really excited to be the host city and are grateful for all of the new connections created! Take a minute to check out this
link to the conference brochure to see all of the learning that occurred!
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Welcome to UCDC - Megan Skarns
We are excited to welcome the newest teacher to our program, Megan Skarns. Megan is a substitute teacher in our program working every day from 8:00 am - 1:00 pm. Therefore, she will have the chance to work with all of the children in the program and be lucky enough to get to know all of the families as well. Please introduce yourself when you see her! Here's a little about Megan:
"Hello, My name is Megan Skarns and I am super excited to be joining the UCDC community as a morning substitute teacher! I have worked with children of various ages for six years and am currently attending school for my Associates degree in Human Growth and Development. When I'm not at work I enjoy spending time with my four pets (3 cats and 1 dog), my family, and my boyfriend. I also love taking nature walks and dancing. I look forward to getting to know all of the children in the center!"
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UCDC Annual Plant Sale
Our annual plant sale was a success! Thanks so much to those that helped in the morning to unload as well as the volunteers that helped to sort and fill orders. It was a busy day but quite a success! Due to the support of family and friends, our sales this year were exceptional and the profit from the sale exceeded $2,000! We plan to use this to provide activities for the children and purchase new materials for this summer while we anticipate the new playground. In addition, we will use some of the new profit to purchase educational materials for the classrooms and future new outdoor space.
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Teacher Appreciation Week
Teacher Appreciation Week was a huge success! Thank you for everything that you did to honor and recognize the outstanding work of the teachers and staff of UCDC.
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Alcosan Classroom Visit
Allegheny County's Sanitary Authority, Alcosan, has a Scholastic Outreach and Education Department that offers free STEM activity programs in order to teach students about wastewater treatment as a renewable resource and explain the connection to the natural environment. This program is available for children from prekindergarten through fifth grade.
This past month, the older preschool classrooms enjoyed a visit from Alcosan and learned about the connection between clean water and increasing fish populations. They certainly learned a lot and enjoyed this visit!
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Playground Construction
We are finally in the construction stage of our playground project which has been in the planning stages for almost two years now. We are very excited to watch the progress and imagine the new possibilities of our new space.
In the interim, we are utilizing our indoor spaces in new and unique ways. Our preschool teachers are working on ways to share the indoor gross motor space as well as come up with new and unique activities for the gym on a weekly basis. We are also exploring the idea of swapping classrooms in order to experience new and different environments this summer. Finally, we love our classroom walks and have been enjoying witnessing the changes of spring in our neighborhood. During these excursions, we play "I Spy," sing songs, go on nature hunts and play other engaging games that help us to enjoy the outdoors and connect with nature.
We are looking forward to enjoying our new playground and the children have been enjoying watching the process - especially the construction trucks!
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Preschool Wisdoms
This month, we asked the preschoolers in Preschool Two about heroes. They believe a hero is someone who is strong, brave and helpful. They also noted that they fight off bad guys and know how to save the day! Read on to learn who qualifies as a hero to each of them.
- "My sister, Maddie." - Sophie
- "Daddy, because he rescues me with silly things. When I had a bad boo boo, he fixes it." - Aurora
- "Evan, because when I cry, he hugs me. My hero is also Sydney." - Anna
- "My dad." - Youhang
- "Sometimes when I lose things, my mom finds them." - Quinn
- "Dad, because when my toys break, Dad and me fix them using Duct tape." - Owen S.
- "Owen D. because he plays with me a lot." - Simon
- "Dahlia because she plays with me." - Zach
- "Sometimes mommy or daddy because sometimes when I get hurt they give me a Band-Aid." - Holden
- "My dad because he says silly things." - Austin
- "My mommy (there's actually no reason)." - Lexy
- "Simon because he plays with me a lot." - Owen D.
- "Mommy because she helps me." - Grace
- "My mom because she loves me." - Wolf
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End of the Day at UCDC
Thank you so much for remembering that UCDC closes at 6:00 pm. Arriving by 5:50 pm allows the families to be able to discuss their child's day with the teachers as well as giving the teachers the time to sanitize their classroom and prepare for the next day. It also allows the teachers to be able to leave the building by 6:00 pm in order to start their evening with their families.
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Our Philosophy
UCDC utilizes a child centered, extended family approach that is fostered by supporting the developmental needs of all children. We foster children's self esteem, creative abilities, sense of belonging and success by implementing a developmentally appropriate curriculum based on NAEYC and Keystone STARS standards, through a play-based approach to learning. We support families and partner with them to provide an environment that welcomes their collaboration and supports both cultural and family preferences.
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