(Keys for Kids)

(Creative Corner, Gooey Gluey Centre, Imagination Station, Let's Create Centre)

(Detective Shop, Explorers' Corner, The Lab)

Listening Centre

(Composer's Den, Listening Lane, Music Land)

This is an area where children can listen to music or experiment with making sounds with various traditional, home-made and found instruments. Music and rhythmic activities are often shared with others. Although not ideal, it may be necessary to combine this area with the quiet-time relaxation centre in order to share equipment that both centres use (e.g., the listening post and audiocassette player-recorder).

Physical Activity Centre

In some Kindergarten classrooms there is sufficient space to set up a climbing frame and lay out mats for jumping or tumbling. If there is no space in the room, there may be an empty room nearby or suitable hall or lunchroom space that could be used provided that adequate supervision is available. Inside space for physical activity in or quite near the classroom enables children to choose to be physically active at times other than recess and gym time. Outdoor play space for Kindergarten should be identified and developed. Such matters as shade, drainage, trees and ground cover should be considered. Children should go outdoors every day, weather permitting.

(The Book Nook, Relax Inn, Library Centre)

This is a quiet area where children can look at books, view filmstrips, listen to a variety of taped resources and write (emergent type) stories of their own. Books and stories are often shared with classmates. This area should be carpeted, attractive and near a window. Although not ideal, it may be necessary to combine this centre with the listening area in order to share equipment that both areas utilize (e.g., listening post, audiocassette player-recorder).

(Save Our Earth Centre)

This centre could be permanent or could be set up for a short-term class project. Kindergarten students should learn to develop habits that are environmentally sound.

(The Sift and Pour Centre)

The sand and water centre needs to be located near the water supply and should be in a tiled rather than carpeted area. Preferably, there should be space for both a water table and a sand table, storage shelves for various things to be used in sand and water play, and a place for a broom, a dustpan and a mop. Commercially constructed tables with plastic liners (metal rusts quickly) are desirable, although other kinds of containers such as children's wading pools or baby baths set on low tables work reasonably well. Commercial tables with built-in shelves under the trays save space. For variety, wheat, beans, etc. may be substituted for sand, but teachers must be aware of and consider students' allergies.

(Games Galore Centre, Puzzle Park, Tabletop Activities)

In order for children to use small-sized manipulative materials such as puzzles, interlocking bricks, and small figures productively, there needs to be a defined area for their use, away from traffic. There should be shelving at the child's level on which single items can be placed. There should also be small tables, benches or floor mats on which children can work individually or in small groups.

Many varied and interesting materials can be assembled for use in this area. Any material which invites children to construct, fit things together or develop patterns would be suitable. The materials may be home-made rather than commercial; however, they should be sturdy enough to stand up to constant use. As the year progresses, different materials should be added to the area.

(Favourite Things Centre, Sharing Table)

A bulletin board and display area should be designated where items related to a theme can be arranged. Many of these can be brought from home by the children. The resources in this area should be changed frequently and should reflect the interests and experiences of the children.

(The Carpentry Centre, The Workbench)

The woodworking centre is intended to provide a safe place for children to engage in the simple, satisfying activities of hammering, sawing, gluing and clamping. The area for this activity should be well defined and contained, with space for two or three children to work. The area needs to be visible from all parts of the room so that the teacher can give steady supervision. Carpeting under the workbench helps to reduce noise.

A workbench and a peg-board on which to store tools constitute the basic equipment for the woodworking area. It is a good idea to trace the shapes of the tools onto the peg-board with a permanent marker so that students know where to store them. Shelves are also needed for labelled containers of nails, screws, etc. Tools should be real. Smaller-sized adult tools can be handled effectively by children.

Care should be taken to select appropriate wood scraps. Hardwood presents too great a challenge to young children just learning to handle tools. Wood should be sanded down so that it is sliver-free. Treated wood should not be used since the chemicals in certain treatments could cause illness if ingested. A variety of materials such as foamed plastic and cardboard may be added to the workbench area, but these materials do not provide the same satisfaction as working with a good piece of wood.

Locating the woodworking centre near the creative problem-solving centre enables children to have access to paint if they want to make a product look more finished. However, painting wood requires thicker paint than normally used for painting on paper.

Writing can be a part of every centre in some way, but here it is the focus. Materials should range from concrete to abstract to suit all levels. The writing centre should be located in a quiet area of the Kindergarten classroom.

What, then, can teachers do to help children who seem to float aimlessly from centre to centre or who visit the same centre day after day and whose play seems to be stagnant?

Firstly, teachers can provide varied, subject-integrated activities that are changed frequently at every centre. This way, if a child has a favourite centre, she/he can spend a lot of time there and still experience many different learning opportunities. Also, a new addition to a centre may suddenly spark the interest of the child who wanders.

Secondly, teachers can limit the number of children who can utilize a centre at one time. Children will feel attracted to and be more comfortable in areas where they have room to manoeuvre.

Thirdly, during group assembly, teachers can make children aware of new materials that have been added to centres, thus stimulating their interest.

Fourthly, teachers can organize a system that helps children to plan their own learning (e.g., personal charts).

Fifthly, and most importantly, teachers need to observe children carefully and document their activities in order to determine the best way to enable and extend the play experiences of each individual child. Sometimes students may have physical or emotional challenges that need to be dealt with and sometimes they merely require a gentle word of encouragement. If teachers feel that, after much effort, they are not seeing progress, they should confer with the principal and the parents/caregivers. In some situations, the assistance of other professionals such as doctors or child psychologists may be required.

Following are some suggested ways in which teachers can keep track of children's visits to activity centres.

• The site should be visited by the teacher prior to the excursion.
• The purpose of the visit should be defined, through pertinent activities such as discussion, stories, audio-visual resources, etc.
• Local regulations and required permission should be checked.
• Safety precautions should be checked.
• Parents'/caregivers' permission and support should be requested.
• The most suitable time for a visit should be considered.
• The best means of transportation should be arranged. Parents/caregivers are often willing to help on these occasions.
• The clothing necessary for the visit should be considered.
• Sufficient time for purposes to be achieved should be allowed.
• Standards of behaviour expected during the excursion should be communicated.
• A follow-up time in school and a suitable range of materials should be provided so children can express the impressions and ideas stimulated by the excursion--a time for knowledge to be expanded and questions to be clarified.

Increasing Interest in the Wider World

Children spend much of each day in the home and they will bring to school many questions that they want answered: "Why does the water come out of the tap?", "Why does the light come on when we turn on the switch?" These queries and countless others can be answered in the classroom by the provision of books and equipment such as lenses, pulleys, magnets, microscopes, scales, weights, thermometers, rubber tubing, funnels, sieves and measuring tools.

Discovery about the wider world of far-off places and things is often not possible by direct, personal contact. A variety of audio-visual materials can be made available. Children can compare and contrast what they see and hear with places and things in their environment. Objects from far-away places can be introduced for children to handle in the classroom.

Appropriate material can give more precise and specific information, focus the children's attention on particular aspects, and stimulate children to ask questions and embark on further investigation. The use of various equipment and materials enables children to use more than one sense to learn and helps them to remember and understand.

Some of the resources teachers can use are: flannel board, television, listening posts, pictures, films, videotapes, audiocassettes, slides, filmstrips, compact discs, records and visitors to the classroom.

Planning and Scheduling

Factors which influence planning and scheduling vary from one school to another. Planning refers to both daily and long range decisions with respect to selection of materials, activities and topics. Scheduling refers to the blocks of time set aside for particular kinds of activities. Some Kindergarten classes meet every day for half a day, some meet all day every other day, and some classes are taught by a teacher responsible for other grades as well as Kindergarten children.

Whatever the situation, two principles apply. Daily and long range planning, to be effective, need to be based upon observations of the particular children in a class group. Schedules need to provide sufficient time for children to develop task orientation.

Once the physical space of the classroom has been organized into activity centres and materials have been assembled, it is necessary to develop long range and daily plans related to specific learning objectives. While routines are being established and children begin to make use of learning materials, the teacher follows a systematic plan for observing children, noting their interests, skills, language ability and level of conceptual development. This information provides the basis for planning. Long range plans need to include strategies for continually assessing children's progress in developing knowledge, skills, attitudes, processes and values. Program plans are adjusted in the light of these observations. Day-to-day plans are developed within the context of weekly, monthly and yearly plans.

Children benefit from participating in short-term planning once the teacher has identified individual program objectives. They can also become responsible for a degree of self-assessment.

Children who are not yet able to write can keep track of their activities by means of pictures or symbols, and can show their achievement by making oral reports, creating a model, dramatizing a story, or demonstrating a process. These can be done as individuals or in groups.

A schedule which provides sufficient time for children to develop task orientation (that is, carrying out plans to their conclusion) is characterized by large blocks of time. It is an observable fact that young children have difficulty attending to adult talk for long periods of time. However, they are capable of extended periods of absorption in activities matched to their interest and ability level. The imposition of too much structure (that is, a shortening of time periods during the session) will hamper rather than help the development of task orientation. As the year progresses, children become able to handle and benefit from longer periods of teacher-directed group activity. The teacher plans for an appropriate balance of active and quiet times, individual and group work, routine and free-choice activities, and self-initiated and teacher-directed activities. The balance will shift according to the nature of the children involved and the time of year. The following diagram shows the difference between a flexible schedule, which allows sufficient time for children to become engaged in their activities, and a schedule which divides the day into short segments.

Flexible Schedule		Less Flexible Schedule
Time
9:00	Free play	Opening
9:15	"	Free play
9:30	"	Gym
9:45	"	Free play
10:00	"	Snack time
10:15	Clean up	Free play
10:30	Outdoor play	Outdoor play
10:45	Library	Listening game
11:00	"	Story time
11:15	Gym		Musical games
11:30	"	Library
11:45	End of session	End of session

The following sample timetables suggest alternatives that may be considered.

1. Sample 1: Half-day--Morning

2. Sample 2: Full Day

3. Sample 3: Full Day

Multi-grade Classrooms

It is sometimes necessary for Kindergarten and Grade 1, Kindergarten to Grade 2 or other combinations of children to be taught by the same teacher. More time is required for preparing and organizing, but it is possible to offer an activity-centred program with suitable learning activities for all children.

In a multi-grade classroom, cooperation is essential. Older children become tutors of their younger peers. This reinforces their knowledge, and skills and bolsters their self-confidence.

Small, multi-aged cooperative groups, with each child having a role, are commonplace. The children soon become independent, responsible learners, thus allowing the teacher to circulate and meet with small groups and individuals. In collaboration, children can write, illustrate and read stories. They can record and graph observations, produce plays, and create poems and songs.

It is often effective for teachers to introduce a concept to the entire class with a discussion that includes asking differentiated questions of the different grades. Then, following the discussion a special learning centre related to the concept and including appropriate activities for the varying grade levels could be available.

Teachers have found that clearly defined rules and routines are necessary and that subject-integrated, open-ended activities work best in multi-grade situations.

Desks are not needed, but tables, chairs and adequate space for personal belongings should be available, along with quiet areas for reading and writing. Activity centres must be equipped with a wide variety of materials, from simple to complex, in order to engage all the children meaningfully.

Teaching in a multi-grade classroom is indeed a challenge, but teachers often come to appreciate the family atmosphere and the opportunity to watch children grow over an extended period of time. As in all classrooms, it is most important that the teacher remembers to trust students and expect them to learn.

A sample of a full-day Kindergarten/Grade 1 day plan follows.

"My Friend and I Are Sharing Popcorn" by Peter

Full Day Kindergarten/Grade 1--May

9:00 a.m.		Greeting Time
9:05 a.m.		Meeting Time "O Canada" Weather Song/Good Morning Song Attendance--answer with a word that rhymes with name Measure plant class has been nurturing. Record height on graph.
9:15 a.m.		Gym Centres--scoops, balls, scooters
9:45 a.m.		Story Time Read Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey(to follow-up field trip to park yesterday). Ask questions such as, "Do you think ducks really name their ducklings?", "Do most cars look like this today", "Do you think it's safe to feed ducks peanuts?", "How can we find out?"
10:00 a.m.		Response to Literature Fingerpaint on tables using various colours of pudding. Encourage emergent writing and drawing about the story.
10:20 a.m.		Clean up (Children are responsible.)
10:30 a.m.		Recess
10:45 a.m.		Floating/Sinking Project Discuss floating/sinking in large group Grade 1s are paired with Kindergarten students to xperiment with a variety of articles in a bucket filled with water. They reord results on a chart they create. Encourage students to consider why some objects sink and others float. Have measuring devices available (e.g., scales, rulers).
11:35 a.m.		Clean Up (Children are responsible)
11:45 a.m.		Lunch
12:45 p.m.		Centres Add: to small-sized manipulative centre--duck puzzle to exploration centre--matching birds to environment cards to creative problem solving centre--feathers, rocks, seeds, etc. collected on field trip to quiet-time relaxation centre--stories about birds
1:45 p.m.		Clean Up (Children are responsible)
1:55 p.m.		Reading Buddies Students are paired with a class of Grade 4s, who read them short stories. While still inpairs, students respond to the experience in their own journals.
2:20 p.m.		Clean Up (Children are Responsible)
2:30 p.m.		Recess
2:45 p.m.	Music/Movement "Six Little Ducks". Vary by starting with tn and working down to two little ducks. Have flannel cut-outs to illustrate. Children can move like ducks and take turns leading others around room. For gender equity, vary "she/he" in the song. Read words from experience chart. "Rubber Ducky". Discuss favourrite water toys and write names of them on cards. Read sog from experience chart and substitute chidren's favurites for "ducky".
3:15 p.m.		Sharing Time Share with group neat experiences, questions, etc.
3:25 p.m.		Goodbye Song Check mailboxes
3:30 p.m.		Home

"I Like to Pretend I'm a Bunny" by Kimberly