3. Importance of infancy and early childhood
First few years of life influence later period
Adult behavior and ways of thinking is traced to early childhood
experiences
Rate of development in all areas is most rapid during these years
Unfavorable experiences can hinder development
Favorable experience foster development which influence attitude of a
person towards life
5. Needs of Preschoolers
3-4yrs old children require opportunity to
Play with other children so they can learn
to listen, take turns and share
Develop more physical coordination
Develop their growing language abilities
through books, games, songs, science,
math’s and art activity
Develop more self-reliance skills-for
example, learning to dress and undress
them selves
Count and measure
Participate actively with adults in reading-
aloud activities
Explore the alphabet and print and
Attempt to write messages
4-5 years old children need opportunities to
Experiment and discover, within limits
Develop their growing interest in school
subjects
Enjoy activities that involve exploring and
investigating
Group items those are similar (by size,
colour or shape)
Use their imaginations and curiosity
Develop their language skills b speaking
and listening
See how reading and writing are both
enjoyable and useful (by listening to stories
and poems, seeing adults use books to find
information and dictating stories to adults)
6. What to expect from preschoolers?
3-4 years
Start to play with other children, instead
of next to them
Are more likely to take turns and share
and begin to understand that other
people have feelings and rights
Are increasingly self-reliant and
probably can dress with little help
May develop fears (‘mom, there’s a
monster under my bed’) and have
imaginary companions
Have greater large-muscle control and
love to run, skip, jump with both feet,
catch a ball, climb downstairs and dance
to music
Have greater small-muscle control than
toddlers, which is reflected in their
drawing and scribbles
Match and sort things that are alike and
unalike
Recognize numerical
Like silly humor
Understand and follow spoken
directions
Use new words and longer sentences
Are aware of rhyming sounds in words
May attempt to read, calling attention to
themselves and showing pride in their
accomplishment
Recognize print around them on signs
or in logos
Know that each alphabet letter had a
name and identify at least 10 alphabet
letters, especially those in their own
names
Write or scribble messages
7. 4-5years
Are active and has lots of energy and may
be aggressive in their play
Enjoy more group activities because they
have longer attention spans
Like making faces and being silly
May form cliques with friends and may
change friendships quickly
Have better muscle control in running,
jumping and hopping
Recognize and write the numerals
Recognize shapes such as circles, squares,
rectangles, and triangles
Love to make rhymes, say nonsense words
and tell jokes
Know and use words that are important to
school work, such as the names for colors,
shapes and numbers, know and use words
that are important to daily life, such as
street names and address
Know how books are held and read and
follow print from left to right and from top
to bottom of a page when listening to
stories read aloud
Recognize the shapes and names of all
letters of the alphabet and know the sounds
of some letters Write some letters,
particularly those in his own name
8. Play way method
It is essentially child-centered and caters to
individual needs, interests and abilities
9. Why play way method?
Play is second nature to a child
It serves as a natural way for children t express ideas and abilities well to
explore and understand the world around them
Supports all round development of children
Provide learning experience to the child in a concrete from through play
situations so that the child becomes an active participant
Provides a balance, process oriented programme which fulfills all
development objectives
It nurtures development of learning process like observation,
experimentation, problem solving and creativity in children
Facilitates individual attention and continuous evaluation of each child
Group and individual activities provide immediate feedback to the teacher on
every child
Makes learning enjoyable for children
Develops a sustained motivation for school and schooling
10. What is play?
Play is fun
Play is enjoyable for its own sake; it is its own reward
Play is that activity in which participation is spontaneous
and of the child’s own will
Play is also been seen as an activity for relaxation
Through play children prepare for adult role
Children learn through play and that play fosters
development
11. Main characteristics of play
A natural expression of child’s life
A spontaneous expression of child’s life
A voluntary activity
A strong motivating force
Without any deliberate purpose
Provides learning without tears
Touches all aspects of life
Helps children develop emotionally, physically and socially
A means of learning to live and not merely passing of time
12. Where does the child play?
-In and with his environment
-With living-pet animals
- With non living objects-dolls
-With other children
Essential requisites of play
-Space for play: space must be large enough
-Knowledge of how to play: through trial and error, through imitation and through
13. Activities that constitute play way method
Informal conversation
Rhymes
Story telling, puppetry
Out door and indoor play
Creative activity
Dramatization
Music and movement
Water and sand play
Field trips/Outings
14. Curriculum planning
Curriculum will give focus, a direction and purpose to the activities planned
Five stages in curriculum planning
1. Stating the long term goals depending on the areas of development
2. Breaking down each long term goal into short term goals
3. Identifying the play activities related to the short term goals
4. Formulating daily and weekly schedules
5. Evaluating play activities and children’s progress
15. Example of long term goal made short term goal
Long term goal:
developing conversational skills
Short term goals:
Giving children opportunity to
talk with each other
Involving children in discussion
on a regular basis
Asking children questions related
to the activity they are doing
Helping them, know that they
must listen attentively to others
16. The ECE classroom
Must have space for both large and small group activities
Should have a large covered floor area for children to sit
Must have small low tables and chairs
The displayed items must be at eye level of children
If space fund permit, the classroom should be set up with different corners as per the
age group
A section for creative arts
A cupboard for teacher to keep the teaching and learning material
Specific space for keeping children’s lunch packs
A black board for nursery and LKG and a white board for UKG
17. Most important considerations for material selection
Safety
Age appropriate
In terms of Children’s interest
Learning abilities
Quality and durability
Flexibility of use/multipurpose
18. Equipment and Material
Out door equipment:
Slides, swing, tricycle, climbing equipment, seesaw, balls-big and small, sand pit and
related kit, swimming pool or big tub etc.
Indoor equipment:
Blocks, bricks, picture cards, flash cards, dominos, flannel cards, puppets, puzzles-
according to age, weighing scales, clock, charts and pictures for conversation,
improvised material for science experiments, magician’s kit, molding clay, collection
of rhymes and stories, Television, VCD, Computer etc.
Accessories/Raw Material:
Papers, paints, colors, crayons – jumbo and small, brushes-all sizes, gums/glue,
scissors-child friendly, clot pieces and scraps, new papers and magazines etc