Practical No: 04

Aim : To Observe Different Aspects of Early Childhood Centers.

Introduction:

ECE Center

Early childhood period is the most important as it is a crucial period in the life of a

child. The goal of an early childhood center is to cater to the development of the

child as a whole. The programme of the ECE center should include all kinds of

activities and experiences to meet this goal.

Objectives of ECE Centers:

A) To develop good physique, adequate muscular coordination and basic motor

skills in the child: The ECE centre should provide activities for the development of

large muscles as well as fine muscle coordination. Suitable out- door equipment for

climbing, jumping, sliding, swinging, pedaling, etc should be provided. Through all

C) To develop desirable social attitudes and manners: To develop desirable social

attitudes and manners, ECE center should encourage healthy group participation by

making the child sensitive to the rights and privileges of being a member of a social
group and to encourage him to co-operate, share and take care of the property

belonging to him as well as others.

D) To develop emotional maturity and guide the child to express, understand,

accept his feelings and emotions: ECE center should help to develop emotional

maturity by guiding the child to express, understand, accept and control his feelings

and emotions. A child has very less emotional control when he comes to school. He

often has temper tantrums, he can hardly wait for his turn. He is often unable to

take a ‘No’. But by proper and careful handling by the teacher, he gains better

emotional control by the time he leaves the school.

E) To encourage aesthetic appreciation in the child: To encourage aesthetic

appreciation in the child. There may be many beautiful things around in the

environment but unless the child’s attention is drawn to these they do not notice

them. Children should be encouraged to appreciate beauty in the environment such

as pretty flowers, colourful butterflies or a beautiful view.

F) To stimulate intellectual curiosity in the child concerning his environment: The

child should understand the world in which he lives. A stimulating environment will
help him to foster new interests through opportunities to explore, investigate and

experiment. A young child is very curious and always asks questions. Unless his

questions are answered his curiosity is not satisfied. A child can take in many things

if they are properly explained to him. At the same time, the child should be

encouraged to investigate, experiment and draw his own conclusions rather than

remain satisfied with readymade answers.

G) To encourage creative self expression in the child: With the help of painting,

music, drama or puppetry a child is encouraged to express himself in the school. He

is helped to work on his own and create objects that are of his choice. The pent-up

emotions, stress and strain are expressed by the child through such activities.

these activities, children master the basic motor skills involving the large muscles.

Similarly, it should also provide a lot of activities like tearing, cutting, pasting,

drawing, painting, threading beads, etc. for the development of fine muscle coordination.

B) To develop good health habits and to build up basic skills necessary for personal

adjustment: The ECE center should aim to develop good health habits and to build

up basic skills necessary for personal adjustment such as dressing themselves,

toileting, eating etc. In an ECE center, the children are taken to toilet and for

washing hands at regular intervals. The children are encouraged to do their own

work and be self-reliant.

H) To develop the ability to express his thoughts and feelings in a fluent and clear

speech: ECE center should help the child to develop the ability to express his

thoughts and feelings in fluent, correct and clear speech. The language development

of a child depends to a great extent on the opportunities he gets to use language or

listen to correct speech. Through story- book reading, free conversation, puppet

play, etc., new words are introduced to the children and these new words are used

again and again till they become a part of their active vocabulary.

The child is encouraged to talk in a group, describe his experiences and join on-thespot story-making
activity. It leads not only to the development of vocabulary but

also develops correct and clear speech.

Different Aspects to be Observed:

1) INFRASTRUCTURE

a) Centre building –

Building of an ECE center should have

 2 halls with adequate storage space, a kitchen, sickroom, sufficient number of

bathrooms.

 Good lighting and ventilation

 Low hooks for bags, clothing accessories, child size toilets and wash basins.

 Flooring which should not be too smooth/rough, easy to clean.

 Colorful and attractive, away from crowd and noisy area

 Broad windows, low height -shelves to develop independence in children.

 Shady open play ground with fence for the safety of the children.

 Sand pit and an enclosure for water play.

 Provision for future expansion and gardening.

 Good teaching and learning materials.H) To develop the ability to express his thoughts and feelings in
a fluent and clear

speech: ECE center should help the child to develop the ability to express his

thoughts and feelings in fluent, correct and clear speech. The language development

of a child depends to a great extent on the opportunities he gets to use language or

listen to correct speech. Through story- book reading, free conversation, puppet
play, etc., new words are introduced to the children and these new words are used

again and again till they become a part of their active vocabulary.

The child is encouraged to talk in a group, describe his experiences and join on-thespot story-making
activity. It leads not only to the development of vocabulary but

also develops correct and clear speech.

Different Aspects to be Observed:

1) INFRASTRUCTURE

a) Centre building –

Building of an ECE center should have

 2 halls with adequate storage space, a kitchen, sickroom, sufficient number of

bathrooms.

 Good lighting and ventilation

 Low hooks for bags, clothing accessories, child size toilets and wash basins.

 Flooring which should not be too smooth/rough, easy to clean.

 Colorful and attractive, away from crowd and noisy area

 Broad windows, low height -shelves to develop independence in children.

 Shady open play ground with fence for the safety of the children.

 Sand pit and an enclosure for water play.

 Provision for future expansion and gardening.

 Good teaching and learning materials.

b)BoundaryECE centre boundary treatments whether including fencing, gates, walls, railings or

hedges are important elements of the school site. Boundary treatments contribute

to visitors‘ first impressions of the site and in security terms, they are also the first

line of protection for the school.

They serve a number of functions:

 They delineate the legal boundary between the school and neighbouring

properties or land

 They emphasise that the visitor is moving from a public space into a more

controlled space, that of the school site.

 In areas of risk, they may constitute a physical barrier which deters

unauthorised persons from gaining access to the site.

When considering the maintenance or enhancement of boundary treatments, it is

important to balance the need to keep out unauthorised persons with a

consideration of the fact that schools are facilities which serve the local community.

c) No of classroom

The basic unit of a school is classroom. The classroom, apart from satisfying the

minimum requirements of space, fittings and furniture, shall be designed to meet

the adequate functional and environmental requirements. The size of a classroom

shall depend on the following:

 Anthropometric dimensions of children and their space requirements.

 Dimensions, arrangements of furniture and equipment and their incidence.

 Number of students to be accommodated.

 Types of activities to be carried out.

 Diverse seating arrangements essential for these activities.

The number of classrooms in a school‘ and the number of sections per class should

depend upon the size and level of school and use efficiency of spaces.

d) Furniture and equipment

Equipment is most essential for running an ECE center effectively. The ECE teacher

needs variety of equipment to provide the children with challenging and interesting

learning experiences. Different types of equipments are necessary for development

of muscular coordination, language creativity, imagination, cognitive and social

skills.

Area Type of equipment

Physical strength and

motor coordination

Jungle gym, swings, balancing

boards, merry-go-round,

slides, climbers , large building

blocks, sand and water toys,

wheel toys etc.

Language

Books, pictures, flannel

graphs/cards, photos, tape

recorders

Dramatic play

Costumes, puppets, safety

mirrors, child sized furniture,

doll-accessories, cooking

utensils etc

Creativity

Easels, water colours, dough,

clay, crayons, plasticine, glue,

scissors, hole punchers,

paints, brushes, different

textured papers etc.

Musical activities

Musical instruments

like manjiras, drums,

flutes, mouth organs,

record players etc

Discovery and Science

Natural materials,

textured materials,

magnifying glasses,

magnets, weights,

measuring cans,

mirrors, scales and

small pets etc

Cognitive abilities

Construction toys like

beads, unit blocks,

building blocks,

puzzles, block

accessories-people,

animals, vehicles and

nesting toys etc.

e) Facilities

Physical facilities in an ECE centre include both outdoor as well as indoor facilities. In

this section, besides outdoor and indoor facilities, we shall also discuss the

importance of water and toilet facilities in an ECE centre.

Outdoor play is an integral part of the natural activity of children. The elements that

make the outdoor space an engaging learning environment are sufficient space,

opportunities to explore, use of imagination and creativity. Besides, it allows

children to take risks within a safe and secure environment. Therefore, utilizing the

available outdoor space to its maximum and maintaining it properly for safety and

security of children becomes very important. The outdoor facilities include

playground, sandpit, grass covered area, etc.

The indoor space, properly arranged plays a key role in supporting and developing

children‘s learning and development. It should provide children with stimulation and

challenge, and encourage their creativity and imagination. At the same time, it
should also encourage independence and help children to develop a positive

attitude towards learning.

2) MAINTENANCE

a)Water Supply

The problem of safe drinking water still exists in many centres which give rise to

many water borne infectious diseases among children. So, availability of safe

drinking water is a basic requirement in an ECCE centre/preschool.

b)Sewage waste management

Children can be taught about waste management by the following ways –

 Always have garbage bins available.

 Practise segregation at home.

 Purchase reusable products.

 Make recyclable art items from recyclable items.

 Put up a compost pit at home.

c) Hygienic consideration

To make sure ECE centres have good personal hygiene, teach them to wash their
hands before eating or preparing food, after going to the toilet, and after playing or

touching animals or dirty things. Use water and soap over hands and wrists. Dry

hands thoroughly. Your child will need to bathe or shower regularly.

Many parents do not send their girl child to school because the school does not have

separate toilet for girls. The centre should have separate toilets for boys and girls.

Children‘s toilets must be of suitable size and height for the age group catered for.

Wash basins and soaps/ handwash must be at a level which is easily accessible to

children. As toilet is also a important part of hygiene .

3) TEACHING AND LEARNING METHOD

a) Lesson plan

Steps to make a lesson plan for preschool

 Identify purpose. If a lesson or activity is going to be included, it needs to have

a specific purpose within the scope and sequence of skills.

 Keep activities simple.

 Plan around student interest.

 Choose an approach.

 Write it down.

b)Themes

Teachers can use thematic units to engage children in the learning process by

offering a variety of lessons and activities surrounding a common theme that is

integrated into all content areas.

As a structure for integrating content areas, learning around a theme makes sense

to children. It helps them make connections, to transfer knowledge and apply it. It

fosters comparison, categorizing and pattern finding – building blocks of the

scientific method.

Reasons for theme based learning:

1)It’s more fun to teach and learn using a theme.

Chris believes fun is a key ingredient in learning. "If children are happy, they are

confident, and so are teachers. This magic combination makes teaching and learning

so much more effective. Children become inspired and wider-thinking. Teachers

may still be exhausted, but now it's an exhaustion that makes them feel fulfilled and
valued",‖ she says.

2.It harnesses curiosity to motivate learning.

"To me it's the most natural way to learn",‖ says Chris. "A child or adult finds

something that intrigues them, maybe a foreign stamp or a stone. They want to

know more and so they start on a journey of collecting ideas and information. With

the stamp, the child finds out about its source, the geography of its people, the

music of their homeland, the art work within it. They investigate its richness, draw

its setting, sing its songs, write letters to find out more, investigate in books and on

the internet. The learning is never sluggish, but is vibrant and exciting."

3) Educators transition to being facilitators of learning.

"The teacher is no longer a provider of facts copied from the board and learned for

homework,"‖ Chris says. "Instead, because the boundaries of exploration are far

wider than the teacher can predict, he or she becomes a learning manager".‖ A

learning manager guides children while keeping open the opportunity for selfguided discovery.

4)It teaches children how to learn.

With theme-based learning, children are thinking for themselves, following the
thread of a topic to explore and discover more. Chris says, "It gives them a taste of

moving from one related area to another related area and one builds on another.

It's a way of learning throughout life".‖

5) It draws in the child’s family.

Parents more easily become partners in learning around a theme. "The family, with

its own interests and views, can more easily become involved, thus broadening the

spectrum of the whole experience",‖ Chris says. "When forced into the confines of a

secondary school timetable, I still used a thematic approach in a once-a-week

history lesson that grew from an old stone I found with the date 1694 on it. As a

class, we invented an English family living at the time. On Parent- Teacher Night, I

was told by one couple, 'We love Tuesday teatime because we find out what has

happened with the 1694 family, and when we are out and about we look for more

information and connections'.

c)Sequencing of activities

Sequencing refers to the identification of the components of a story — the

beginning, middle, and end — and also to the ability to retell the events within a
given text in the order in which they occurred.

The ability to sequence events in a text is a key comprehension strategy, especially

for narrative texts. Sequencing is a very important concept for preschool children to

develop since it allows children to recognize patterns that make the world more

understandable and predictable Helping children sequence can help them learn

routines and develop key academic skills like reading comprehension and scientific

inquiry. It could be as simple as a story that involves more than three events or

explaining a recipe or driving directions, for example. Include sequence words like

first, next, then, and so on. These boards are often seen in both a horizontal and

vertical format. The ability to sequence requires higher-order thinking skills, from

recognizing patterns to determining cause and effect and more. Sequencing helps

students understand and organize material they've learned as well as helps them