From the category archives:

Developmentally Appropriate Practices

Preschoolers can make their own lines in preschool

by Deborah J. Stewart July 18, 2010 Physical Development

Let your preschoolers make their own lines to color inside! Start by giving a child a piece of paper and some crayons…. Then invite the child to draw some lines…. And some shapes….. And then invite the child to color inside the shapes! How important are those lines anyway? The process of creating their own [...]

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Choosing scissors for your preschooler

by Deborah J. Stewart July 14, 2010 Physical Development

I observed some children cutting today and realized there was an odd assortment of scissors on the table. I noticed that some of the children were struggling with the ability to cut so I wandered about the quality of scissors. I decided to check them out myself. This pair was unusual in that it didn’t [...]

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Turn a box into toddler fun

by Deborah J. Stewart July 11, 2010 Boxes

My plan was to decorate this box and make it really cool like this one here. But as much as I liked the idea of making a cool oven Wy  had other plans. Wy was all about the play! In and Out went Wy And Open and Shut went the “doors” Since the doors were [...]

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A brief look at developmental domains in early childhood education

by Deborah J. Stewart July 10, 2010 Cognitive Development

The early childhood years are filled with staggering growth and development. There are four main areas of development that occur all at the same time: Physical development: In the first years of growth young children are physically developing at a rapid pace. There is both large motor (crawling, walking, running) and fine motor development (eye-hand [...]

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Time to create in preschool

by Deborah J. Stewart July 10, 2010 Creative Art

My teacher set the colored tape, black construction paper, scissors, and chalk on the table. All I needed was a little time and the chance to do something all by myself. I concentrated on my work. The tape was sticky and I had to use my hands and my mind to figure out how to [...]

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Large group activities in preschool

by Deborah J. Stewart July 7, 2010 Cognitive Development

Having all the children work together as a large group can prove to be a very positive experience. Together we communicate and create! Together we cooperate and collaborate!

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Parachute play in preschool

by Deborah J. Stewart May 23, 2010 Physical Development

Parachute play is a great way to promote teamwork and to get those large muscles moving. The children gather around the parachute and hold on to one of the parachute handles.  There are more children then there are handles on the parachute so the children who are not holding a handle become the ball fetchers. [...]

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Twos at the easel in preschool

by Deborah J. Stewart May 5, 2010 Creative Art

In this twos classroom, easel painting is part of the daily routine. The children know how to get their own paint smock, slip it over their head, and then they head over to an open easel where paint, brushes, and paper is ready and waiting for them. Some days they paint on short paper and [...]

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Centers in the preschool classroom

by Deborah J. Stewart April 30, 2010 Cognitive Development

When children enter this classroom, they will discover plenty of things to do and the freedom to explore because each center in this classroom was designed just for them.  At this table the children are creating paintings with the dot painters. At the block center, a couple of boys have decided to pull out the [...]

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T is for triangle colors and patterns

by Deborah J. Stewart April 27, 2010 Cognitive Development

The two year olds in this class are exploring triangles. Each child reaches into a bag and selects different colors of triangles they would like to glue to their paper. While the children work with the glue, the teacher converses with the child. “What color would you like to glue next?” “I see you are [...]

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Fine motor development in preschool with play dough and straws

by Deborah J. Stewart April 27, 2010 Physical Development

Play dough is such a wonderful resource for building fine motor skills. Wy and I sat down to play with some play dough recently. I cut the straws down so they were a little shorter then showed Wy how to make a ball of play dough and then stick the straws into the play dough. [...]

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Morning greeting and calendar and weather time in preschool

by Deborah J. Stewart April 20, 2010 Classroom Management

I always start my day in preschool off with a morning greeting time which includes exploring the calendar, weather, seasons, and a brief review of basic concepts. Let me show you some of the ideas that can be included in a simple morning greeting time. Sing the Hello Song! I love to sing the Hello [...]

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Pro-social sharing and negotiation skills in preschool

by Deborah J. Stewart April 19, 2010 Developmentally Appropriate Practices

I was asked by Noah of The People Garden to drum up some activities that promote pro-social sharing and negotiation skills for young children. I wanted to share this article so you could see the ideas as well. You will have to scroll down just a bit (past the very nice comments about me:) to [...]

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Preschoolers can serve their own snack

by Deborah J. Stewart April 15, 2010 Classroom Management

Building independent doers and thinkers is one of the goals of early childhood education. Snack time is a terrific time to let children learn to do things all by themselves. We always start off by washing our hands! Have the children get into the practice of washing hands first and while they are washing hands, [...]

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Can your preschooler say “a, a, a”?

by Deborah J. Stewart March 24, 2010 Cognitive Development

The mailbox brought me a little package several months ago and inside was the Amazing Alphabet Action CD and Book written by Esther Kehl.  Along with the book was a little note from Vanessa Kerr who asked me take a listen and see what I thought. Vanessa indicated in her little note that her child [...]

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