Pre-K Play Time

As an early childhood educator, I like to also educate parents on what goes on in our classroom.  So throughout the school year, you may find fun picture postings about something fun that went on at snack time or interesting things we did at circle time.  Today I would like to give you a glimpse of what happens in Pre-K during play time.  Many think that play time is just a time for teachers to allow students to entertain themselves while the teachers do prep work.  Sometimes I even have people say to me, "Wow!  It must be hard to just sit and watch kids play all day." Many don't realize the incredible learning that happens through the play of children this age.

One of the main skills we focus on in Pre-Kindergarten is socialization.  We teach the children how to handle conflict, how to talk to their peers and how to interact with others.  Play time is a great way to give kids those opportunities.  Often times while the children are playing in our classroom, I find myself sitting on the floor next to them, giving them the proper words to use in many situations including things like, "Would you like to play with me?" all the way to, "Please stop that.  I don't like when you hit me."  These children learn not only socialization skills through play, but also submerge themselves in an academic environment where they must problem solve and use critical thinking skills to figure out what to do next.  Throughout the year, I like to take pictures of the kids as they play so that parents can see the amazing things that they create and what they accomplish on their own.  Below are just a few pictures that I have taken so far this year.  

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to teach your children.  I love to see the amazing transformation throughout the year, as they become more independent learners.  They never cease to amaze me!

Evan was using connecting pipes to form letters.  Here is the letter "Ss" that he made.

Here, Mykena strengthens her fine motor skills, as well as learns letters as she traces different letters in a dry erase book.

Ariella and Blake put to use what we've learned about "Mat Man" as they practice drawing people.

Sawyer works on fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination as he connects the dots in a dry erase book.