Classroom Plan A Classhood Plan For A Preschool Classroom

There are many different theories of development that help us to understand children’s behaviour, reactions and ways of learning. All equally important as they influence practice. To begin with there is Piaget’s constructivist theories which look at the way in which children seem to be able to make sense of their world as a result of their experiences and how they are active learners. He also suggested that as children develop so does their thinking. Piaget’s work has influenced early years settings into providing more hands on and relevant tasks for children and young people. In other words the children are ‘learning through play’. Teachers are working out the needs of children and plan activities accordingly.

It is important that teachers, who use Piaget’s theory to teach, design a classroom in which these theories can be focused on. In the layout below you will see a design of a classroom that aligns with Piaget’s theory and we will discuss some activities that can be used in the classroom to help children develop in their learning.

Piaget developed a workable theory that has had considerable implications for education, most notably for child-centred learning methods in nursery and infant schools. Piaget argued that young children think quite differently from adults so therefore the teacher should adapt the teaching methods to suit the child. For example, nursery school classrooms can provide children with play materials that encourage their learning. Using sets of toys that encourage the practice of sorting, grading and counting. Play areas, where children can develop role-taking skills through imaginative play. Materials like water, sand, bricks and crayons that help children make their own constructions and create symbolic representations of objects and people in their lives. A teacher’s role is to create the conditions in which learning may best take place.

This essay will state Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development. Cognitive development is the construction of thought processes, including remembering, problem solving, and decision-making, from childhood through adolescence to adulthood. Piaget’s hypothesis is that the four stages of cognitive development are; the sensorimotor stage, which ranges from birth to two years old. This essay will discuss aspects of this stage including; Object permanence, Schemas and equilibration and assimilation. The preoperational stage which ranges from two to seven years old. This essay will evaluate Piaget’s hypothesis on conservation and the three mountains and counters task. The concrete

The preschool is concerned with the child at different developmental stages (Berger, 2009). Teacher must ask herself two questions about the child at those stages. Firstly, how does the child think about and view his world? Secondly, what learning tasks should the child be given at this point in his development? To answer the questions, the teacher must orient herself to Piagetian developmental theory and sharpen her observational skills.

The developmental theories can not be more evident than during the out of class assignment at the daycare facility. During this independent assignment, I was able to observe and interact with pre-school children in an environment that is both encouraging and facilitating to a child’s developmental growth. So, just as Piaget in his developmental theory believed that children takes an active role in the learning process, acting much like little scientists as they perform experiments, make observations, and learn about the world; the pre-school teachers allowed them to do just that. Indeed, the teachers at the day care provided room for the child to learn and explore while at the same time adhering to a structure that set boundaries and limitations. Thus, the pre-school children, begrudgingly, learns to follow a meticulous schedule of activities and rest.

One must look at classroom management as a plan for what procedures students will follow throughout the day. Teachers must understand their role in making sure students have a successful experience each day. Wong H. & Wong R., state “Effective teachers teach how to responsibly follow procedures” (2009, p. 165). To have a smooth-running classroom with minimal behaviors, students must be taught classroom procedures from the very first day. In my classroom we have procedures for many things we do each day. Some of these are arrival of children, snack time, lining up and walking down the hallway, and cleaning up centers. I have been teaching these procedures for many years with much success.

Piaget has had a profound impact upon child psychology. As a result of his studies and findings, many different theories and studies have ascended to verify or contradict his ideas. His theories are still apparent today, throughout this essay I shall be focusing upon current practices of his re-search and findings within early childhood environments and the limitations of his theories within current practice. Piaget is significantly important within teaching and developing educational policy. Based upon Piaget’s stage theory an evaluation of primary education was conducted by the United Kingdom government in the year of 1966.

In early childhood settings, theorist play a critical role in the developing and implementing the programs’ philosophy. Our program integrates theories of development on how children learn by designing the environment and makes it meaningful to the child. Our approach to learning derives from early childhood theorist that include, Piaget, Dewey, and Erikson. These theorists allow us to develop an understanding on the importance of providing learning opportunities for children, where children can processes learning with rich experiences in their environment.

According to (Quinn and Hugh 2007), “Piaget’s work focuses on the intellectual development of individuals and their adaptation to the environment”. Cognitive development takes place through four stages:

The age group I use to design my encouraging classroom is 4 to 5 years old in a preschool classroom in a five star center. The group size for this classroom is 12. The theme for my classroom this month is Spring.

About Piaget´s Stages are all stages that a person must develop while grow up, so, when the person is from 0 to 2 its relation and learning with the world or environment is only visual, it´s called Sensorimotor Stage then, by the permanence of the object the person learn or differenciate one thing of other by this permanence of the object, this is the Preoperational Stage because the person by its curiosity and activity by movements learn the importance and meaning of things, and create a relation with the things by exploring,after come the concrete operation in where the person begins with logical thinking, that´s by the abtraction of concepts and fit categories of things, finally when the person grows up,, it is adult, it is capacity to abstract

I feel that Piaget’s Theory of child development is a most important idea because it’s still one of the most well-known theories of today. Piaget believed that children contributed to their development through their mental and physical activity. Without his findings, regarding cognitive development, our knowledge of children’s thinking would be very limited. Piaget split cognitive development into four distinct stages; the sensorimotor stage, preoperational stage, concrete operational stage, and the formal operational stage. In each of these stages, children display new abilities that allow them to better understand the world around them.

During my masters classes I studied research methods and acquired knowledge of current research which deepened my knowledge of research in various curriculum areas. One area I became very interested in was the current literacy research using technology in early childhood classrooms. This led me to conduct a formal action

For my classroom plan, I chose to discuss a preschool room. I will talk about what I think Piaget’s stage theory is in my words. I will also identify and describe the development characteristics of preschool children. I will create a layout of a preschool classroom, and I will create an activity that goes with each development.