WHAT ARE LEARNING CENTERS?
Learning centers are a purposeful way of dividing up your classroom into different learning areas/domains. The location of each learning center, placement of furnishings and equipment, and easily available materials should give a clear message to the child about the types of activities that will take place in each area. Centers should have well defined boundaries created by utilizing carpets, shelves, and/or furniture.
LEARNING THROUGH PLAY
Play-based learning promotes curiosity, creativity, and exploration. Learning through play provides children with the opportunity to practice important executive function and self-regulation skills like paying attention, remembering and updating information, and inhibiting their impulses. Through play-based learning, we embrace giving children time to explore and carry out their own ideas. Research shows us that play-based learning has a direct positive influence on literacy and mathematic skills as well as social competence and confidence.
The Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale (ECERS) is an observation tool designed to assess the quality of preschool classrooms. This is a great resource to utilize when setting up or re-arranging your classroom and learning centers.