Child-Centred Design Characteristics

Finally, I work hard to create an indoor and outdoor environment that enriches, challenges, and encourages children to develop interests, connect with each other, have alone time, and learn through play. I accomplish this goal by continually assessing my play materials, adding new things, gauging my children’s interests and needs, and adjusting my environment accordingly.

If we try our best to ensure that the child has a happy time at our setting, it helps their confidence and self-esteem. They will want to take part and socialise. They enjoy what they are doing when they come to us and want to take part in what we offer for them. As they grow up they will want to go to school and have a good education and then go on to get a good job and have a good quality of life.

The physical environment promotes literacy because it organized allowing the children to go explore and everything is in the out and open. The children can go to the book center and pick up a book or the children can go to the tables and explore things there. Each of the classes has a unique way they have everything set up. The preschool rooms have many things to promote literacy by pre(reading) and pre(writing) but the rooms are very tight and jam packed. This room here shows a lot more room and free space.

The soft furnishing in the cozy area must allow a child to completely escape the hardness of the typical early childhood classroom. A cozy area should be away from active play equipment and have protection from active children through its placement in the room. If active play is present, staff must redirect the active play to another area.

There are many components that must be taken into consideration when designing a curriculum for a preschool. The primary focus is to create an appropriate early learning environment; followed by implementing a curriculum designed to meet the children’s individual needs. According to the Florida standards for the VPK program (4-5 year olds), designing the right environment will help children enhance their personal, and academic development. It is crucial to design a developmentally appropriate environment, in order to help enhance a student’s cognitive, social, and language skills. The environment should consist of: ample spaces, props for dramatic play, development of a schedule that assures a balance of activities and choices,

“An enabling environment plays a key role in supporting children's learning and development. It is well recognised that children learn and develop best in caring, supportive environments which respond to their individual needs, allowing them to play and explore.” (Anon,2018) To provide an enabling environment settings could have labels on each area, so that children can read what they are and can go to them. Settings have mark making areas, which help children with their writing, speaking etc. mark making areas provide enabling environments as the children will have all the equipment they need to help them with their literacy skills.

It is important that the environment within the setting is something that the practitioners are passionate about. This is so that the practitioners can help to inspire the children and can share their knowledge on a certain area, which will in turn enhance the enabling environment and can then have the opportunity to offer children with even more in-depth learning and development

These two articles are talking about the importance of creative play and organized activities for children. According to the sencond article, the expert Janet Collines believes that organized activities can help children develop healthy attitudes toward themselves now and when they grow up; I believe that children would benefit a lot from organized activities such as helping them grow into responsible adults, and developing a strong sense of identity and pride.

The article "The Benefits of Organized Activities" perspective indicates the importants of children activities to help them become adults, more than the article "Helping Children Play Creatively". Both articles had many great reasons for their beliefs in children play and activities helping children. However I believe "The Benefits of Organized Activities" identifies the importants of children becoming adults because children need organized activities to help them learn responsibility and their identity.

In Takaharu Tezuka’s TED Talk “The Best Kindergarten You’ve Ever Seen” the viewer learns about a new and innovative way to design a kindergarten. To begin, Tezuka explains that the circular layout of this childhood sanctuary allows the children to interact in a better and more natural way than typical schools. Unlike traditional classrooms, in which adolescents find themselves trapped in for hours at a time, these open borderless spaces allow these young minds to discover the world around them. In addition, one may recognize the real-life skills pupils in such learning environments gain. For example, the condensed annex building students spend time playing in can be hazardous. Consequently, the kindergartners are forced to help one another and guide their miniature frames around this contraption.

The opinion that lingers in my thoughts of children being more social with organized activities is alot healthier for them than that of them having more free time. In my opinion, children learn to be more outgoing and not as shy with organized activities. Organized activitities help children not only expand their horizons, but also make new friends in the process.

A well-defined setting has a positive overall impact on the development process of children by facilitating positive actions and activities. These spaces have least amount of competition levels as social interactions are encouraged. The characteristics of well-defined settings has been discussed in the previous chapter.

In the first passage, the author had a opinion on creative play. Children having more freedom to be more expressive on their own, not having organized activcities gives them more hands on play time, using their imagination while also developing other skills such as, critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Qualitative design also gives the ability to interpret and make sense of what is critical for understanding any social phenomenon (Leedy & Ormrod, 2001). I want to explore a social phenomenon with children with learning disabilities and evoke the feelings of the participants as they share their lived experiences. Creswell (2013) recommended that qualitative designs allow researchers to understand the experience of a particular group. Hence, this design allow researchers to gather information about the participants’ experiences by observing their behaviour and conducting in-depth interviews that will allow the participants to share their lived experiences. Fraenkel and Wallen (2005) placed great emphasis on the fact that how people make

The interaction between the place and person influences the person’s sense of well being (In Hussenkus Kearns, 1993). Unlike space, the place also provides security and comfort. The space is transformed into a place when the person experiences and attaches value to it. (Tuan). Typical children, who have more control over their built environment, find a different way to personalize their space and create a place for them. However, Julia’ has very little control over the built environment around her. As a result, Julia’s has no opportunities to create a place for her in the school environment. Currently, Julia sits at a large table along with other children. Her space at the table lacks any personalization or signs of connection. Her relationship to her classroom space is directed by the teacher and occupational demands. A personal connection to her space at the table will give Julia a sense of place, security, and connectedness. Therefore, to provide the sense of place, Julia’s chair will be labeled using a name tag. Also, the back of the chair will be decorated with Disney stickers. Her space at the table will also label using a name tag and a sticker of her choice.