Category Archives: Age 3

Learning Social Emotional Skills in A Time Of Social Distancing

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The South Carolina Early Learning Standards are incorporated into the Sunflower classroom curriculum. 

Standards addressed in this post include:

  • Goal ESD-3: Children form relationships and interact positively with familiar adults who are consistent and responsive to their needs.
  • Goal ESD-4: Children form relationships and interact positively with other children.
  • Goal ESD-6: Children identify, manage, and express their feelings.
  • Goal ESD-7: Children recognize and respond to the needs and feelings of others

Early Childhood education has an essential focus on social-emotional development that helps children grow into emotionally intelligent and successful individuals. In the Sunflower classroom, the three-year-old class, we pay special attention to forming and sustaining peer to peer relationships and teacher to student relationships (ESD-3, ESD-4). To foster these relationships, we model and practice how to identify, manage, and express feelings and recognize and respond to others’ feelings (ESD-6, ESD-7)

Building Relationships Through the Computer

This year started with many changes, hurdles, and opportunities for growth as we tackled school during a time of social distancing. We began our school year virtually for the first three weeks. We soon learned that we had to adapt our typical in-person teaching style into a format where building relationships on an online platform was the priority. Young students learn through play rather than the direct instruction that online learning invites. We began doing small group “virtual playdates,” where a group of one or two students would engage in cooperative play and interact freely, trying to mimic a small group setting in a real classroom. Examples of this include playing with playdough or painting. Students began to increasingly interact and build relationships with the teachers and other students as the play continued over the first three weeks. 

To encourage the formation of relationships with their classmates, we thought that it was important for the children to get used to seeing each other’s faces and learning each other’s names (ESD-4). We created the book Sunflowers, Sunflowers, Who Do You See? To help the students become familiar with all of their classmates.

Emotional Expression While Mask-Wearing

As we returned to the classroom, the students were excited to see their peers and to continue building the relationships that they had made during the online instruction period. To begin the year in person, we began to discuss the different feelings that we have. This topic was introduced during circle time through picture books, games, and discussions. We read many stories, such as The Way I Feel, that showed images of different facial expressions and body language. One obstacle that we encountered was the difficulty of teaching children how to recognize others’ feelings when only their eyes are visible (ESD-7). We adapted to this new challenge by focusing on the eyes and what the rest of the body was saying. After practicing and discussing how we can identify others’ emotions while wearing masks, we asked the students how you can tell if someone is angry. Their answers included:

“Their eyebrows”

“Grumpy faces”

“When they stomp their feet”

“They are grumpy when they cross their arms.”

The class exploration of facial expressions and recognizing their peers’ feelings was extended into class centers and small group activities. Students used magnetic facial features to create different emotions and used shapes and glue to create facial features.


Creating Relationships on the Playground

At the start of the year, the children took their masks off for outdoor play. While relationships were slower to evolve in the classroom with masks, everyone was coming out of their shell outside. This observation showed us that young children benefit from seeing the entire facial expression of their peers. We continued to encourage the students to study their peers’ faces when there was conflict, and the students were mask-free. Without the added barrier of a mask, the students could identify how their friend was feeling more accurately (ESD-7). As cases began to rise and temperatures began to lower, we had the students wear masks outside as well. We were pleasantly surprised that since the strong relational bonds already had a foundation, the added mask-wearing did not impact the growing relationships. Students continued to collaborate in play with their peers and ask the teacher for assistance when needed (ESD-3).

A Fun-filled Semester

Although this year has brought many challenges with the addition of mask wearing, social distancing, and plexiglass, our students have continued to develop social emotional skills. We have collected notes throughout the semester on their interactions, and here are some examples:

“Would you like to play with me?”

“Let me go get you some help”

“I want to be alone right now”

“They are my best friends!”

“Come over here and let’s build this thing!”

In our class, the students have developed close bonds, positive relationships, and conflict resolution skills.

Keeping Children Moving in the Summer

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Gross motor skills are the abilities required to control the large muscles of our body for activities like walking, running, jumping, and skipping. Teaching children motor skills is directly related to their physical fitness and development. By introducing them to these skills at such a young age, it can help children develop and mature their movements as  they grow. Giving children the opportunity to move is the most important thing you can do. These movements can be small or big, and don’t need to be complex. Jumping, dancing, skipping, running, and walking all give children the opportunity to work on their gross motor development. Focusing on these skills will help children learn to enjoy movement and exercise and help them practice healthy habits for the future.

At ECDC children have plenty of time to move during free play in the classroom, run around during outside time on the playground, or build forts during the afternoon in the multipurpose room. As school ends and we’re still home during the pandemic, there are plenty of ways to keep children busy and active during the summer.

     

Honoring Outdoor Play

Giving children the opportunity to play outside helps them appreciate nature, move their bodies, and explore the world around them. Providing students with hands-on, outside learning stimulates their senses through what they hear, touch, see, and feel. Children can build with sticks, rake leaves, jump in mud puddles, and help plant gardens. Through outdoor play, children learn to enjoy the natural environment and learn to seek out exercise, fresh air, and activity. Outdoor play helps children appreciate the world around them, take part in physical activity, and learn to care for the environment.

At ECDC we give our students many opportunities explore outside. Our lessons connect classroom learning to the outside world, and we focus on practicing ways to take of our earth like recycling, not using too much water when washing our hands, and bringingreusable containers for lunch. Our outside areas enhance students motor skills because of all the running, climbing, and exploring they can do. Children can ride bikes, toss a ball, swing, and dig in the sandbox.

     

Having children home all day every day is much different than it was when parks and beaches were open but there are still plenty of ways to keep them busy with little to no materials. Keeping children moving and practicing their gross motor skills will benefit them when we can hopefully get back to school in the fall! Giving children the opportunity to practice these healthy habits will help them develop their physical fitness and help them learn to enjoy movement and exercise.

Gross Motor Practice 

Here are a few ideas that Ms. Allyce (Seashell Graduate Assistant) wanted to share that may be fun to explore in the summer months away from ECDC. While many families may have gone on numerous walks and bike rides, she wanted to provide some resources and ideas on ways to stay moving and active at home, both inside and outside.

 What’s your name? Workout

Below is a chart of exercises that you can work on with your children. The goal is for them to spell their name and then complete the exercise listed next to each letter of their name. This can be tied in with writing and reading practice, because they have to write their name and then read the exercise. Modeling this for your child will be a fun way to get them engaged and get the whole family moving!

Yoga for Kids

During our second week of Zoom meetings in the Seashell class, we focused on plants and flowers. To get students out of their seats, Ms. Jessica taught them a yoga pose at the end of each meeting! The seashells enjoyed this and by the end of the week were masters at the Flower pose. One fun way to do this is to go outside and try and find each thing before you practice the pose. You can do this while planting a garden, going on a walk, or exploring your neighborhood or backyard. Yoga focuses on both the body and the mind, and is a great exercise to use with children! There is also fun yoga channels that you can tune into to make it an interactive way to learn new poses with your children. Cosmic Kids focuses on both yoga and mindfulness that will keep your children calm and happy throughout the day!

https://m.youtube.com/user/CosmicKidsYoga?fbclid=IwAR1kws9yOxW_gRLlqExLW29-uGVhAMVNxi6OsxkyR_OdA07etiMcPtCTKCs

Tic-Tac-Toss

For some gross motor practice, you need three simple materials for tic-tac-toss. First you need to tape down a tic-tac-toe board on your floor, or you can draw it with chalk on your sidewalk. Next you need two different color bean bags or balls, that your children can work on throwing and tossing. Children will try their best to throw the bean bags in the square of their choice and once they get three in a row, they win! This helps children practice taking turns and work on their throwing!

These are only a few ideas to get children moving, but they all incorporate gross motor development, getting up and moving, and practicing healthy habits. The most important thing is that children are having fun and using these activities to stay active. A requirement for all is doing them with a smile and enjoying time together as a family!

The South Carolina Standards that this post is focused on are stated below:

Health and Physical Development (HPD)

Subdomain: Physical Health and Growth

  • Goal HPD-2: Children engage in and sustain various forms of physical play indoors and outdoors.

Subdomain: Motor Development

  • Goal HPD-4: Children develop the large muscle control and abilities needed to move through and explore their environment.
  • Goal HPD-5: Children develop small muscle control and hand-eye coordination to manipulate objects and work with tools.

 

Recognizing and Responding to the Needs of Others

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The South Carolina Early Learning Standards are incorporated into the Sunflower classroom curriculum. 

Standards addressed during the class exploration on giving include:

  • Goal ESD-7: Children recognize and respond to the needs and feelings of others.

  •  Goal ESD-4: Children form relationships and interact positively with other children.

  • Goal LDC-2: Children participate in conversations with peers and adults in one-on-one, small, and larger group interactions. 

Throughout the year, the Sunflower class has had a central focus on recognizing and responding to the needs and feelings of others through giving and kind actions. (Goal ESD-7) This year-long thread of giving began the first week of school when the children learned the expectations of the classroom, one being “kindness towards friends” (Goal ESD-4). Out of this discussion, the class brainstormed different ways that you could be kind to someone. Ideas were suggested, such as drawing a picture or giving hugs. When the children were asked “How can you be a good friend?” answers included:

“Help each other”

“Lift people up when they need help”

“Hugging someone when they are hurt”

“Sharing Toys”

Then an  idea came to bake something for another person to make them happy. From this child’s suggestion, our class began our exploration of what it means to give and how it makes others feel. (Goal ESD-7).

          

 

Learning Through Literature

 A substantial interest emerged around the topic of baking. The teachers followed the lead of the children’s engagement and chose the book The Little Red Hen as a bridge between their interest in baking and the overarching theme of giving. Literature is a way that children can learn about the concepts of giving and empathy. After reading the children’s book, The Little Red Hen, a student had the idea that the class could make bread to share. At circle time, the class discussed who they could make the bread for. The decision was made that the Sunflower’s would make bread for the Butterflies because they often do nice things for them. (Goal LDC-2) By extending their giving outside of the classroom, students began to learn the importance of being kind and generous to children around them and how that helps build new relationships. (Goal ESD-4) After sharing the bread with the Butterflies, there was a notable increase in play and interaction between the two classes during outdoor time.

           

 

Giving in the Local Community

As the holiday season began, the class thought of different people that they could make treats for. We decided to reach out to the local community and visit a nearby senior center to bring cookies and holiday cheer. During circle time, the children learned about how some people do not have people to visit them.  Each student worked hard to measure the ingredients, mix, and scoop the dough so that our class had a gift to give the adults in the center. 

At this point in the year, the class’s focus on giving extended into a lesson on empathy. Empathy, or the ability to understand and share the feelings of another, is a skill that must be taught to young children. It can be hard for children to understand because it is a multi-step process of decoding the emotions of another person and then thinking about how it would feel if to be in their shoes. The best way to teach empathy is through thought-provoking conversations and modeling empathetic behavior.

Having the children practice an act of giving at the senior center allowed many of them to have “ah-ha” moments about how doing nice things makes others feel. When asked what their favorite part of going to the senior center was, one student replied:

 “Giving them cookies and making them happy.”

 

Collaboration with a Local School

Another extension of giving in the community came out of ECDC’s long-standing relationship with Memminger Elementary School. During the week of Valentine’s day, the class got excited to celebrate love and friendship. We extended an invitation to the three-year-old class at Memminger for a playdate and to create a “Friendship Fruit Salad.” Both classes brought a bowl of fruit to the playground and mixed it to make one big Valentine’s Day snack! The children were able to recognize the happiness that sharing fruit gave the other class because they were feeling that emotion as well.

 

Giving to People in Need

As a summation of our focus on understanding the needs of others and responding to those needs, the class set up a toy drive. Before the children went home to look for toys they wanted to share, the class discussed how sometimes people do not have the things they need. At first, the children had a hard time understanding why they would give away their toys. The idea of being generous was introduced. Over two weeks, the students were encouraged to look through their toys at home and pick one to donate to a child who doesn’t have any. The more discussion our class had about giving and the children the toys were for, the more excited the children began to get. The class left a box near the front of the room for the toys to be dropped off in. Each day more and more children would bring their friends over to the box and show them with pride the toy they had donated. For the class to understand where the toys were going, one of the organization’s volunteers came by to pick up the donations and thank each child as they handed her their gift. The students were overjoyed to give their toys away when they understood that they were for another child who needed them! Through this year-long exploration of giving and empathy, the children’s ability to care for their classmates’ needs and think about their local community became evident through their conversations and dramatic play scenarios.

 

 

 

Language Development and Communication through Fairy Tales

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The South Carolina Early Learning Standards are incorporated into the Sunflower class curriculum.  This week’s focus is: Language Development and Communication (LDC). 

The Sunflowers spent the month of January reading fairy tales, focusing on Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Three Little Pigs, Jack and the Beanstalk, and The Three Billy Goats Gruff.  The students compared and contrasted the many different versions of each story and could identify the idiosyncrasies that made each one unique.  Our classroom reading center overflowed with books and offered the students motivation to read and recreate their favorite tales individually or as a group (Goal LDC-8).  

Using their familiarity with each tale, the Sunflowers expanded their vocabulary and continued to develop phonological awareness (LDC-11).  With magnetic words and pictures, the students were able to identify beginning letter sounds and recognize that some words shared a first letter.  Even though we read numerous versions of the same fairy tale, the Sunflowers showed preference for specific versions and could express what made a certain book their favorite over the others.  

Once the students were comfortable with the stories and their basic structure, we used the information to bring them to life using collaborative story writing (LDC-10).  In small groups, the Sunflowers chose a familiar story as inspiration, added and changed the characters (a unicorn was a welcome addition to the Three Little Pigs), and dictated a script to later be performed for the rest of the class. This expansion of their story comprehension offered a wonderful opportunity for the students to add their creative touch to beloved tales!

Creative Expression and Social Connections

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The South Carolina Early Learning Standards are incorporated into the Sunflower class curriculum.  This week’s focus is: Cognitive Development (CD).

‘Tis the season to celebrate all of the ways we can express ourselves during the holidays!  The Sunflowers are able to demonstrate self-expression and creativity in a variety of forms and contexts within the school (Goal CD-5).  Routinely changing out the materials in the room allows the students to explore endless possibilities in their play and visual arts. Role play has taken us out of the southeast and up to the North Pole, where the students pretend they are Santa Claus delivering presents or flying off on an adventure with the reindeer.  

We provide many opportunities for the students to show their appreciation for different kinds of artistic expression (Goal CD-4).  From dancing to holiday music to creating unique crafts, the students can participate in and inquire about a variety of art forms. The Sunflowers enjoyed making decorative gifts for their loved ones at home.  They made cards that were multi-faceted and included gluing, folding, glittering, signing names, and dictating a sweet message for the recipient.

We brought warmth to the cool winter air during our exploration in baking.  The students rolled out and decorated sugar cookies with a variety of cookie cutter shapes and sprinkles that allowed everyone to use their creativity.  The Sunflowers also baked fresh loaves of bread from scratched and shared their hard work with their school community. Activities such as this help the students recognize that they are members of different groups (Goal CD-7) and encourages helpful community habits.  The Sunflowers continue to add their creativity and cheer to the ECDC hallways!

Creativity, Imagination, and Inventiveness

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The South Carolina Early Learning Standards are incorporated into the Sunflower class curriculum.  This week’s focus is: Approaches to Play and Learning (APL).

The Sunflower class has been patiently waiting for some fall weather to hit Charleston and the cooler breeze finally came through!  The Halloween season has been a great time for the students to demonstrate their creativity, imagination, and inventiveness (Goal APL-4).  The students have decorated our classroom with finger-painted pumpkins and tissue-paper ghosts- a great way to practice fine motor skills. Our dollhouse was not looking quite spooky enough, so the students garnished it with black paper and Halloween-colored masking tape.  We even created tiny monsters out of molding clay to live in the newly renovated dollhouse!

In the classroom and on the playground, the children continue to engage in increasingly complex play (Goal APL-3).  Outside, the students run around together as ghostbusters, acting out entire sequences with defined characters and plots.  We are able to practice our problem solving skills (Goal APL-6) when the story isn’t quite working out as planned. Some students offer to be ghosts or other monsters to keep the game active and complex.  The kitchen has turned into a place for witches to make brew and the art center is filled with tricks and treats to make spooky creations. 

Imagination and inventiveness can span far beyond arts and crafts- the students have enjoyed expressing their creativity through cooperative storytelling.  As a large group, we told a ghostly story and each student was able to add some dialogue and twists to further the plot.  We continue to watch the Sunflowers work together and each student is increasingly willing to try new and challenging experiences (Goal APL-5).  Whether inside or on the playground, in a large group or individually, these students are expanding their creativity every day. 

Developing a sense of self and a sense of self with others

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The South Carolina Early Learning Standards are incorporated into the Sunflower class curriculum.  This week’s focus is: Emotional and Social Development (ESD).

The Sunflowers are now settled into the classroom routine and we are seeing each child demonstrate a positive sense of self-identity and self-awareness (Goal ESD-1) through individual, small, and large-group activities.  Children of this age place great importance in their name, especially the first letter. As a way to emphasize this display of self-identity, we incorporate many activities involving the spelling of their names, such as making letter cookies!

The students are able to identify the many things that make them unique, such as eye color, skin color, and food preferences.  In addition to self-identification, the children are able to express positive feelings about themselves and confidence in what they do (Goal ESD-2).  One morning at circle time, we passed around a mirror and the students were able to share their favorite thing about themselves! Our day is filled with little moments of problem-solving and confidence boosting.  We encourage our Sunflowers to try things on their own before a teacher comes to help- everyone is always happily surprised to see what they are capable of!

As their self-awareness grows, their sense of self with others develops, too.  The Sunflowers are nurturing friendships, learning to interact positively with other children, and showing the social and behavioral skills needed to successfully participate in groups (Goals ESD 4 & 5).  Some ways that we incorporate this in our classroom is through cooperative games and activities, which encourage sharing and collaborating.

two girls playing a game two girls painting handprints

Time on the playground presents lots of opportunities to work with others; the children push each other on the swings, maneuver bikes to accommodate their friends, and together, create imaginary worlds far beyond the playground equipment.