Our classrooms have a lot of bustle and noise; children are up and doing things, talking, playing, and exploring. Research and experience tell us that to be effective with young children, teaching practices need to be "developmentally appropriate." What this means is simply that teachers need to think first about what young children are like and then create an environment and experiences that are in tune with children's characteristics.

Children, 2-6 years old, learn far better through direct interactive experiences than through just listening to someone talk. Active learning takes advantage of children's natural desire to move and touch. Young children love to manipulate items and explore new ideas. They enjoy the opportunity to see how things work and to test their own theories. And the younger children are, the more what they learn needs to be relevant and interesting on the day they learn it, not just in the context of some future learning.

Children use all their senses to make discoveries: how heavy is it? does it smell? can I find another one that feels the same? what does it sound like when I drop it? how is it different from the other items? Using their hands, eyes, nose, ears, and mouth to explore an item, children gather more information and remember what they learn. As they interact directly with the environment, children not only gather sensory information, they also refine their senses and motor skills. For example, it takes very refined movement of the hands and fingers to produce the penmanship required for writing. Squeezing play dough and clay, picking up puzzle pieces, and lacing threads through beads are ways for young children to practice using hands and fingers.

Based on the knowledge about what children of this age are like, we design our program to fit them. We organize the classroom environment to promote active learning, and we do lots of things to encourage children to think and talk about their discoveries and creations. It works a lot better than trying to redesign children!

To make the program a good place for every child, we gear our classroom environment and activities to this community and the families involved. We're eager to learn as much as we can about each child's family, cultural background, past experience, and current circumstances. With this knowledge we work to create a program that fits the children and families we serve.