Fingerplay and Activity Songs

Singing is a big part of our classroom. To help the children make the transition from one activity to another, fingerplays and action songs are used. They are also used in large group settings. These simple little songs help foster language.

Here is a short column on fingerplays and action songs:Rhymes and movements for the hands and fingers, some of which date back almost 2,000 years, are still used in early childhood classrooms, as well as the more modern action songs that involve the whole body. As children learn fingerplays and action songs, they learn the names of the body parts, numbers, and shapes. They also learn other concepts and skills, including:

• manual dexterity and muscle control
• sense of rhythm of speech and music
• new vocabulary;
• grasp of order and sequence
• increased attention spans
• listening skills

Dispositions as Educational Goals

A disposition is a tendency to exhibit frequently, consciously, and voluntarily a pattern of behavior that is directed to a broad goal. However, not all dispositions are desirable. Therefore, teaching practices must strive to strengthen the desirable ones and weaken undesirable ones.
Dispositions should be included among educational goals for many reasons:

First, the acquisition of knowledge and skills does not guarantee that they will be used and applied. For example, most children have listening skills, but they may not have the disposition to be listeners. Consequently, teaching practices should strive to strengthen dispositions associated with skills.
Second, dispositional considerations are important because the instructional processes by which some knowledge and skills are acquired may themselves damage or undermine the disposition to use them. For example, the amount of drill and practice required for successful reading of the English language at an early age may undermine the children’s dispositions to be readers.
Third, dispositions relevant to education, such as the disposition to investigate, may be considered inborn. Though knowledge and skills not acquired early in life might be acquired later, dispositions are less.
Fourth, the curriculum should include considerations of how desirable dispositions can be strengthened and undesirable dispositions weakened. For example, if the disposition to accept peers of diverse backgrounds is to be strengthened, then that opportunity must be provided.
Fifth, an optimum amount of positive feedback for young children may cause them to become preoccupied with their performance and the judgments of others rather than involved in the task. The cost of such an achievement would be their disposition to learn.
Sixth, dispositions are less likely to be acquired through didactic processes than to be modeled by young children as they are around people who exhibit them. If teachers desire their children to have robust dispositions to investigate, hypothesize, experiment, etc., they should consider making their intellectual dispositions more visible to the children.
For the moment, one of the most important dispositions to be listed in educational goals is the disposition to go on learning. Any educational approach that undermines that disposition is miseducation.

(Adapted from Dispositions: Definitions and Implications for Early Childhood Practices, by Lilian G. Katz.)

Discipline Problems

Here is some valuable information from a class called "Strategies for Managing the Difficult Child in the Classroom-Prevention and Intervention." It is helpful information for both teachers and parents.

The instructor taught that all children want five things:
First, to be heard.
Second, to be involved in making the rules.
Third, to be free to make meaningful choices.
Forth, an opportunity to do his or her own thing, and
Fifth, to be accepted.

How well are we doing these five things in our families and here at the preschool? Our teachers think about each child and how to find ways to meet the needs expressed in these five areas. It must be noted that the developmentally appropriate practice philosophy that we believe in here at the preschool supports very well these ideas.

Here are some guidelines for the prevention of discipline problems:

• Care about and respect the child.
• Be consistent and follow through in each situation.
• Be patient, give children time to resolve their problems.
• Help children feel it is okay to make mistakes and have an environment that supports this.
  Acknowledge their strengths and successes.
• If possible redirect the negative activity to something positive.
• Ask the question, "Are my expectations appropriate for the child’s age?"

Here are some guidelines for intervention that help us with our discipline problems:

• Praise the action we want, so there is positive reinforcement.
• Model the behavior we expect in the children.
• Check the environment- does it encourage good behavior? Is it well organized?
• Are we flexible or rigid?
• Can I ignore some of the negative behavior so that I don’t reinforce it?
• Plan for those transition times of moving a child or children from one activity to the next (for example, from outside play to snack or dinner to bedtime, etc.)
• If we are honest and analyze these points there is plenty to consider in trying to teach young children how to behave.

Coping With Transitions

The summer is just about over. No more going to bed late, sleeping in every morning, or playing outside until dark. Now the routine has to change.

Beginning kindergarten, going back to primary school, or a childcare program usually means two things to a young child:

1. a stricter schedule; and
2. adapting to a different caregiver, classroom, teacher, school, friends, or academic challenges.

These new experiences can bring on stress or cause children to resist necessary adjustments. Even as adults, we sometimes feel uncomfortable or anxious when facing a new situation. Think about how overwhelming it must be for young children who have far less experience in dealing with the unknown! Smooth transitions can be accomplished if the adults who care for children try to view the situation from the child's perspective. Here are some tips on what you can do to make going back to school a pleasurable experience.

Prepare in advance

• Young children always feel more comfortable if they know what to expect. Before the new school year begins, family members can explain to children how their daily routines will change.
• Precisely describe what the morning routines will be in age-appropriate terms. Some children may enjoy creating a pictorial chart to include each step of the morning schedule.
• Try getting up earlier a couple of days before the new school year begins and explain why you're doing it. This may prevent your child from being confused, groggy, cranky, or refusing to get out of bed on the first day of the new program.
• Discuss how the school or childcare environment will be different from the previous year. Many schools and childcare professionals invite families to visit the classroom and new teacher before the school year begins. If possible, take advantage of these opportunities to allow the child to meet the teacher or caregiver, find his classroom, the bathroom, and the playground. These one-hour visits can be valuable to children because they'll be exposed to their new surroundings and still find comfort in going home with a familiar adult or loved one. Make the visit extra special by going out for ice cream or to the park afterward.
• Reading books with children is a great way to introduce any experience. They can see how other children beginning school or a new program have the same feelings of uncertainty and how they overcome them.
• Involve children in preparing for school. For example, they can lay out their clothes, pack a backpack, or select a favorite toy or photo to take with them to the program.

Talk about feelings

• Encourage children to describe how they feel about the "new year" and try to ease any fears they may have.
• Parents may also feel sad or fearful about their children going off to kindergarten or being transferred to a learning environment for older children. If your emotions are too obvious, you may spoil your child's enthusiasm for the first day. Exude confidence and good feelings when saying good-bye.
• Avoid yelling if your child resists getting up from bed, brushing his teeth, or getting dressed, and expect an occasional meltdown. Beginning something new can be stressful and adjustment takes a lot of concentration and effort. Childcare professionals, teachers, and families should expect--and be prepared to handle--a few tears and other emotional displays from young children.

Be there

• If possible, arrive at the new school or program early on the first few days to help the child settle in. The teacher or caregiver may also be available to talk one-on-one with your child before the day's learning begins.
• It is also important to arrange for predictable pick-up schedules. Children need to feel confident from the beginning that they can count on a loved one to come back and to come when they said they would. Use the commute to ease the transition between school and home.
• How adults handle transitional situations can set the stage for how well a child adjusts to other challenges in life. Those who love and care for children can help them adapt by making preparations in advance, clearly explaining the changes about to take place, and listening if doubts or fears develop.

Coping With Death

The following information is taken from an article entitled "Helping Your Child Cope with Death" by Fredric C. Hartman, Ph.D.

Seeing death as a change is important for all of us. For children who are constantly changing, they cope in remarkable ways. "Although children do not conceive of death an express their feelings about it in the same way as we adults might, they most definitely are equipped with a highly sophisticated capacity to mourn a death when it does occur." (Hartman) It is the profound change that brings on the mourning process. Poignant feelings of loss can follow the actual death of a pet, friend, or relative but it can also follow a move, a new sibling, or even the turn over of our teachers here at preschool. Some of the feelings of a young child may be anxiety, fear confusion, insecurity, helplessness, frustration, anger, and sorrow.

What we must do is allow our young children to express their feelings to us without feeling that we must make them feel better. We need to listen, acknowledge their feelings, and talk to them about death or change as much as we can. We need to believe in our child’s ability to come to terms with whatever situation he or she is struggling to accept. If we can be attentive and try to understand their expressions of mourning (this can be a challenge when we are also mourning), then a child’s pain can transform into strength and self-confidence that will aid them their whole lives.

Computers and Young Children

In this age of technology, we recognize the value of introducing computers to young children. Computers in an early childhood classroom are another tool for children to explore, to investigate, and to master.

We believe that computers are a valuable asset to our program, but only because our approach to computer use is geared to the way young children learn and develop. For example:

• We know that young children are developing social skills during these years, so we place the computer where children can interact as they work with it. At least two chairs are at the computer at all times. This arrangement allows for collaborative problem solving and sharing of ideas.
• Children need to have opportunities to work independently of adults. The computer software that we use allows independent use. We choose software with verbal instructions or picture menus that allow children to work with little adult intervention.
• Children learn by doing. The software that we choose allows the child to explore concepts, determine the pace and the direction of the experience, and use their creativity.
• Developmentally appropriate software is open-ended and calls for thinking and active problem-solving.

Just like paints, computers are a beneficial tool in an early childhood classroom. Children have the freedom to explore this tool in a supportive environment that encourages active exploration.

Birth of a New Sibling

No matter how welcome babies are, newborns cause stress in households. Parents are usually very tired. Routines change. Older children may have trouble adjusting to the new role in their expanding family.

Parents can affect the relationship between children by what they do before and after the birth. In the last several months of pregnancy, talk with your child about the impending birth and how everybody will need to help out with the baby. Answer questions about birth, show the child pictures of himself or herself just after birth, and read books about the arrival of a sibling.

Children can accompany mother to the doctor’s office for prenatal checkups and visit the hospital
where the birth will take place.

Prepare grandparents and other family and friends, too. When people are always asking, "How’s the baby?" the older child feels left out. The special adults in a child’s life could be encouraged to pay special attention to the older child, inquiring about her activities and interests.

After the birth, arrange a hospital visit so the preschooler can see Mother and baby. Photograph or videotape the meeting. Consider giving the child a gift to celebrate the new role as big sister/brother - as well as a picture of the baby to take to school.

Minimize changes in the child’s life by keeping up with school attendance, maintaining bathtime and bedtime routines, and trying to initiate as many conversations and playtimes as before the birth of the baby. Enlist children’s help in caring for the new baby.

Changes will occur. But careful attention to family routines and observation of how children are responding can help smooth this time of transition.