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Throughout this newsletter we look at the creation of the learning environments and how it is conducive to the whole Kindergarten child including, intellectual, social, emotional, physical, environmental, linguistic, cultural, spiritual, and moral development.

"Foster learning environments which enhance growth and development and which are
sensitive to issues of inclusion"
- ELECT (2007, p. 160).

Our role as educators is to ensure that the learning environments in which children explore and discover within continue to promote and support child development. Therefore, we decided to reflect on each foundation of development, highlighting its importance to every child's development, and how educators can implement and support each component within their own learning environments.

Watch this Video Clip "The Learning Environment" (2014)

Take a look at this video as it exemplifies what the learning environment should look like in order to foster the whole Kindergarten child.

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Kindergarten Matters: Building Blocks for Learning

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Educators need to consider the minds of their students and how they make sense of the world, creating active and engaging learning experiences for students to explore and discover on their own. By doing so, students will have a chance to spend time on an activity that is meaningful to them, and extend their learning at an individual level. It then becomes the responsibility of the teachers to offer prompting and/or questioning in order to support how they can explain their thinking. Piaget's 4 Stages of Intellectual (or Cognitive) Development identifies how with time and experience, a child's memory, problem-solving skills, reasoning, and thinking skills are developed,  addressing the experiences they've already been exposed to. When looking at how the learning environment can promote and foster intellectual development, educators are encouraged to foster each growth stage and support independent learners through meaningful and personally relevant learning (Wood et al., 2001).

Teacher Tips!

Have a space dedicated to communication such as a dramatic play centre or discovery centre

Provide students opportunities to participate in community circles when sharing with peers in a small group or large group settings

""Discovery learning" provides opportunities for learners to
explore and experiment, thereby encouraging new understandings"
- Wood, Smith, & Grossniklaus (2001, p. 5).

Below is a visual representation of Piaget's 4 Stages of Cognitive Development.

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Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development

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Birth to 2 yearsInfants know the world mainly through their sensory impressions and motor activities.Developments: 2 to 6 or 7 yearsChildre...

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Educators can include large blocks of time to allow students to engage with learning centres in the classroom in order to collaborate and problem solve with peers. The classroom environment also needs to be comfortable and welcoming, allowing for the students to build relationships with classmates and teachers. Williford et al. (2013) emphasize the finding that children with more exposure to social and environmental interactions, will have a higher likelihood to develop self-regulation successfully during academic and social development. It then becomes clear that the child’s interactions and the learning environment are crucial throughout early childhood, especially in the classroom. When creating the learning environment, educators also need to consider a safe environment, providing students an opportunity to engage in self-regulation . For example, this can be accomplished by creating a space designated for children to work through their big feelings and to better understand them, such as a 'cozy corner'.

Classroom Makeover Ideas:

Incorporate a 'cozy corner' using everyday items such a pillows, blankets, subtle lighting, and drapery to separate the space from the rest of the classroom (the image below provides a visual of what this space may look like).

Refer to a section of the ELECT document as it explores social and emotional development among Preschool Kindergarten children (ELECT, 2007, p. 43-47): http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/childcare/oelf/continuum/continuum.pdf

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Physical development in the early years is understood by allowing opportunities for appropriate experiences for healthy brain development. Kindergarten is a great platform to reach every child in their progression through developing in all domains, by meeting the child where they are through open-ended activities with multiple entry points. The Kindergarten Program (2016) suggests that this developmental domain is comprised of, but not limited to, "physical activity, sleep patterns, changes that come with growth body image, and nutritional requirements" (p. 62). Within this development, educators must provide space within the classroom in order for students to engage in fine and gross motor activities. Educators need to ensure that students have freedom to move between centres, an opportunity to rest at the 'cozy corner' when a break is needed, and an open area for whole group learning or movement (i.e. Cosmic Kids Yoga).
What you can do:

Explore indoor and outdoor spaces

Provide space for provocations that require use of small items such as sorting 'loose parts' and writing tasks to promote fine motor sills

Provide space for large items such as building blocks and movement for dance, both inside and outside of the classroom to develop gross motor skills

Read The Measured Moms Blog (2018) for a list of ideas for simple indoor gross motor activities that you can implement in your own classroom!:

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Looking for simple gross motor activities you can do indoors? This is the mega list!

I know how the winter goes - whether you're experiencing it now, or you're in the southern hemisphere and looking forward to it in a few months. You need things for your learners to get those wiggles out, or you're going to go a little crazy!

Here's a list to keep on hand! These are perfect for both the home and the early childhood classroom.
1 - Toss bean bags into baskets
Provide laundry baskets. Then get your learners in several rows, and have them take turns tossing bean bags into the target.

2 - Move on paper plates

Buy some colored paper plates. Then get creative! Place them in a row (red, green, red, green) and have students step on just the red ones. Or have them get down on all fours and "skate" with a plate under each hand. Put the plates in a row to get your students moving around the classroom. Put the plates far apart for biiiig steps. Or put them close together for tiny steps.

3 - Learn with a ball toss

If your learners are able to catch a simple toss, put them in a circle. Then think of a way to incorporate learning with a ball toss. For example, you can throw a ball to a student and name a word. Then s/he names a rhyming word and tosses the ball back to you. Toss it to another student with a new word for him/her to rhyme.

4 - Play "f ind and tag it"

This is a versatile game that can be used to review many different skills. Just tell your learners to find something and tag it. For example, "Find and tag something blue." Or "Find and tag something that starts with /s/."

5 - Move like an animal

You'll need some open space, but this is a great way to get kids using new muscles. Here are some ideas:

Move like a bird (run with arms outstretched)

Move like a snake (wiggle on tummies on the floor)

Move like a bear (walk on all fours)

Move like a frog (get down on haunches and hop)

Move like a kangaroo (take big leaps with arms in front of chest)

Move like an elephant (with heavy stomping)

Move like a penguin (waddle with ankles close together and arms pinned to sides)

Need more ideas? Check out 15 animal walks for sensory input, from Lemon Lime Adventures

6 - Have f un with painter's tape

Painter's tape is one of the best inventions ever. It goes on (and comes off) easily - whether you've got a smooth floor or a carpeted one (but be sure to test it first just to be sure). And there's so much you can do with it! Put it on the floor like a ladder. Then have students see how many rungs they can jump. Can they jump farther with a running start?

See how many rungs they can stretch - or how far they can go on one foot. Need more ideas? Check out this post at Hands on As We Grow.

7 - Play indoor hopscotch

I really think painter's tape is the way to go on this one. Create a simple hopscotch board with numbers. Then have students toss a bean bag on a space and jump to get there. Another idea is to use cardboard squares that you can pull out at any time.

Tip: Change the skill that learners review with hopscotch; instead of putting numbers on the squares, consider letters, shapes, or sight words.

8 - Use balloons

Blow up enough balloons for each of your learners (plus extras, because you know you'll need them after the inevitable popping). Have them put a balloon between their knees and walk like a penguin. Or they can toss the balloon and catch it so that it never hits the floor.

Can they balance the balloon on a part of their body (like an outstretched arm) and walk a few steps - or across the room?

9 - Alphabet action cards

Print our free alphabet action cards - then get active while reviewing the alphabet one letter at a time.

10 - Copy me!

This is where you can get in your workout for the day. Simply do a series of exercises or silly actions, and have your students copy you. Jump like a kangaroo. Scratch like a monkey. Run in a place. (Whatever it takes to get that heart rate up!)

11 - Create a wiggle jar

Print action cards and place them in jar. When your students need a movement break, pull a few cards for everyone to do. Here are some ideas for a preschool wiggle jar:

Jog in place while you sing the alphabet.

Touch the sky and then your feet five times in a row.

Pretend you're playing the drums.

Fly around the room like a bird.

For wiggle jar ideas, visit Homeschool Share.

12 - Tape balance beam

This is ultra simple, but surprisingly fun! Grab several rolls of colorful painter's tape, and set it on the floor in different lines; make the lines zigzag, curvy, straight, or shaped like a circle, square, or other shape.Then challenge your learners to walk each colored line from beginning to end.

13 - Dance like this

If your learners like to dance, put on some music - but give them instructions to dance a particular way. They can dance slow, fast, in a circle, silly, etc.

14 - Roll and move

Grab a large soft die (like this one), and write a list of simple exercises on cards. Have one learner draw a card, and another roll the die. The die tells you how many times to do the exercise. Here are some ideas for the exercise cards:

Touch your toes

Do arm circles

Run across the room

Hop on one foot

Jump forward

Take big steps

Take tiny steps

15 - Be an athlete

Have your learners pretend to do one of these sports. Think of it as heart-pumping charades!

16 - Be the weather

Children can use their bodies to be different kinds of weather, such as:

17 - Learning scavenger hunt

Write things your students are learning on sticky notes - they may be letters, numbers, shapes, sight words, etc. Put the sticky notes in various places around the room (some hidden and some obvious), and see how many your learners can find and identify.

18 - Sing active songs

Sing one of these classic songs, and add some actions!

I'm a Little Teapot

If You're Happy and You Know It

The Hokey Pokey

Ring around the Rosie

Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, Turn Around

Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Bush

19 - Do alphabet yoga

If you have nap mats or towels, pull them out and challenge your learners to do a yoga pose for various letters of the alphabet.

A - Airplane (hold still and move arms to the side)
B - Bicycle (lie on your back and pedal your feet)
C - Cat pose (get on all fours; then round your back while tucking in your chin; release)

For a list of yoga poses from A-Z (and how to do them!) visit Pink Oatmeal.

And for even more gross motor ideas, check out 3 Dinosaurs' gross motor printable list.

We hope this list gets your learners moving and saves your sanity at the same time!

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Indoor gross motor activities for preschool and kindergarten - The Measured Mom

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It's hard to know what to do with active kids on a rainy day! Thankfully, this post has a huge variety of indoor gross motor activities for preschool and kindergarten. No more crazies! #grossmotor #preschool #kindergarten #rainyday #largemotor

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When considering environmental development in a Kindergarten classroom, the notion of a play-learning is key. The classroom layout below illustrates how the classroom is dependent on organization - the organization of time, space, and resources, all of which play an important role when identifying aspects of environmental development (ELECT, 2007). The use of space in an environment needs to provide students with areas for movement, areas to create, and areas to explore. The space needs to be organized by the nature of the centre, and be clearly defined for students to navigate easily and independently. The materials need to be accessible to all learners at the students level. Lastly, the use of time in an environment needs to allow for opportunities for whole group, small group, and individual learning, providing ample time for students to engage in play at all learning centres.
Take a look!
The Saskatchewan Ministry of Education emphasizes how the environment has a powerful influence on children's development:
https://www.edonline.sk.ca/bbcswebdav/library/Curriculum%20Website/Kindergarten/Resources/Core/Children%20First%20A%20Resource%20for%20Kindergarten.pdf

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Have you ever had that feeling with a student where they've reached that “Aha” moment? A moment of realization, awareness, and clarity? This kind of moment is considered a piece of spiritual development. Spirituality is “a means of connecting people to all things, to nature and the universe. Spirituality adds to my appreciation of the wonder and mystery in everyday life” (Bone, 2008, p344).
Vygotsky saw this connection with the world as a form of development that we encounter through all ages. Bone (2008) explains in her wonderful article how students and teachers encounter spiritual development every day, and that we as educators can ensure it happens through the environment we create. The space needs to have opportunity for student exploration, a chance to create wonders, and an opportunity to discover those wonders.
For example, you can create a wonder wall with your students and collaborate to help students find the answers to these wonders, such as; Why do the leaves change colour in the fall? Where do we get our vegetables and fruit? or, Why does snow melt inside? Then, within these wonders, create opportunities for interactions between you and each student to help build a relationship where the moment of aha is shared. Sometimes this can be achieved without saying anything at all, instead, it is just a sense of feeling.

Have a Look!

For more information view Creating Relational Spaces: Everyday spirituality in early childhood settings by Jane Bone (2008).

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Language is a large piece to the development of children in the early ages, as it is a stepping stone to the world of learning. Justicea, Jianga, and Strasser (2018) examined the linguistic development in the learning environment of classrooms and discovered three factors that help the growth of this development: teacher talk, system-level quality, and communication facilitation.
Teacher talk is the example of language the teacher provides for the students, modelling how to ask questions, make conclusions, and create conversation. System-level quality is the instructional support in the classroom setting, and how the learning centres or activities allow for students to build on their language (Justicea, Jianga & Strasser, 2018). Lastly, communication facilitation is the strategies presented by teachers to help guide students to conversations among the class and between peers. Altogether these help create a learning environment with linguistic development in many forms.

Check out these examples for your classroom:

Playing with Rhymes

Pretend Reading

Catching the Bus (dramatic play)

Story Retell

More examples such as these and other details can be found from the Queensland Kindergarten Learning Guideline Resource: https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/downloads/p_10/qklg_pd_resource_supporting_literacy.pdf

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Being moral is what we see as good or bad, it is the making of decisions, and how our actions can have an impact on others. As the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) (2007) group shares in their moral development handbook, “Moral development is related to the rules that people have for their interaction with others. It is concerned with the acceptance of morality which brings along certain forms of behaviour, attitudes and values in an individual” (p.6). Thus, it is more than bad or good, but the development of the characteristics of students, ultimately helping them shape their moral judgement. This growth can occur through the simple activities of structured and free play that the ICAC expand on in their handbook resource.

To learn more check out:

ICAC’s Promoting Moral Development through play during early childhood handbook:

https://www.acauthorities.org/sites/aca/files/countrydoc/Promoting%20Moral%20Development%20through%20play%20during%20early%20childhood_1.pdf

Other Resources!

Kelso’s Choice: Student’s learn how to resolve conflict through the idea of choice:

https://kelsoschoice.com/about/

Have you filled a bucket: Based on the children books, it is teaching students what our actions do to others:

http://www.easton.k12.ma.us/document_center/moreau/Have_You_Filled_a_Bucket_Today.pdf

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Belonging and Contribution is one of the four frames of the Kindergarten Program (2016), and part of this frame is the focus on culture and that students, “demonstrate an understanding of the diversity among individuals and families and within schools and the wider community” (p.132). This understanding of culture and diversity needs to be developed through the classroom culture and curriculum by teachers giving students opportunity to explore their own cultures and others.
Durden, Escalante, and Blitch (2015) completed research on culturally relevant pedagogy, which is a teacher’s deeper understanding of culture through equity, justice, and opportunity, and means more than a learning of cultures. As educators, there are many ways we can bring cultural development to our classroom through different learning centres, activities, and inquiry based learning to help our students find a sense of belonging in the classroom.

For more information check out: Start with us! Culturally Relevant Pedagogy in the Preschool Classroom by Durden, Escalante, and Blitch (2015).

Classroom Ideas:

Personal storytelling

Guest speakers

Cultural stories

Building self-identity

More can be found through Queensland’s guide: https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/downloads/p_10/qklg_pd_mod2_exa3_building_cultural.pdf

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As you can see from all the different aspects of development; intellectual, social, emotional, physical, environmental, linguistic, cultural, spiritual, and moral, that there is much more to what makes up a child and their education then academics. The learning environment must be designed to help these developments grow through learning centres, activities, conversations of dialogue, self-regulation, questions, and pure curiosity. In each of these developments we explained what the development is and how you as an educator can help create a learning environment that fosters the whole child. These examples however, are only the beginning of the research you can find on these topics and we strongly encourage you to take what we have given you and look to find more on these developments. We as educators should always be growing professionally in hopes to better our teaching, which in turn, enhances the education life of our students.