CHILD-CENTERED PRACTICE
"ACCESS adheres to the notion of child-centeredness's complexity and "focuses more on the importance of children's individual interests and their freedom to create their own learning through choosing from various classroom activities" (Tzou, 2007, p.33)".
Preschool teachers follow the children's lead to support development by being aware of their interests.
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The use of authentic materials are open-ended and can be used in different ways by children with a variety of strengths, needs and interests.
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Indoor and outdoor environments support development across all domains for children of all ages.
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ACCESS is based on a child-centered approach to curriculum that encourages teachers to provide opportunities for children to solve their own problems and be responsible for many of their own achievements. Based on a belief that child-centered practice follows the needs of children, ACCESS recognizes the importance of teacher support and direction as well as child-directed experiences.
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Like preschool practice, child-centered programming for children in kindergarten and the primary grades focuses on developmental skills and academic content.
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Child-centered instruction is complex and requires that the teacher is well informed about child development and is able to collect documentation about children's developmental skills and interests. This documentation is used to make decisions about how to stage environments, how to choose authentic materials and when to incorporate teacher directed instruction. Play is an important teaching strategy that is vital to learning for children ages birth through age eight. Supporting play is difficult as many teachers want to either take a hands-off approach or become too directive. ACCESS stresses the importance of the teacher's role in play by following the child's lead and then staging the environments to support the children's growth.
USE OF AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
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THE IMPORTANCE OF PLAY
Play is the work of childhood, and it provides fertile ground for development and learning. ACCESS provides children with an intellectually engaging curriculum and believes an important vehicle for learning and development is play. ACCESS recognizes that children learn best when engaged, and play is the medium that is most highly engaging. In its 2009 position statement, NAEYC states that: "Play is an important vehicle for children's social, emotional, and cognitive development, as well as reflection of their development".
Play is the foundation of a well-constructed early childhood curriculum, and it is vital that the teachers stage the environments to support children in their play. Intentional teachers have a good understanding of the types of play that each of the children in the class engage in. We recommend that this understanding be informed by documentation collected on children overtime. ACCESS has tools to help you do so.
Teachers may assume that they already know how children play in their classroom. We have found that intentionally collecting data about children's play provides consistent data and a more complete picture of opportunities for social and cognitive development. Teachers often overestimate their ablity to keep track of this information. Once teachers understand how their children engage in social and cognitive play, they can stage the environment differently or provide support that encourages children to grow.
Play is the foundation of a well-constructed early childhood curriculum, and it is vital that the teachers stage the environments to support children in their play. Intentional teachers have a good understanding of the types of play that each of the children in the class engage in. We recommend that this understanding be informed by documentation collected on children overtime. ACCESS has tools to help you do so.
Teachers may assume that they already know how children play in their classroom. We have found that intentionally collecting data about children's play provides consistent data and a more complete picture of opportunities for social and cognitive development. Teachers often overestimate their ablity to keep track of this information. Once teachers understand how their children engage in social and cognitive play, they can stage the environment differently or provide support that encourages children to grow.
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