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By
Catherine M. Pruissen
A
child's play is more than frolic. Through play children
learn to imitate animal noises, recognize alphabets
and numbers, understand about sharing and getting
along with their peers. They develop their large muscle
skills by running, walking, climbing or riding a bike;
their small muscles skills by colouring, cutting,
pasting and painting. And this just scratches the
surface.
A
quality child care program, whether at a daycare centre,
dayhome or at the child's home, gives a child the
opportunity to develop to his or her full potential.
It provides equipment with which to learn, an environment
that stimulates curiosity, and a nurturing caregiver
who bonds it all together.
Old
standbys like:
-
blocks
- stacking
things
- balls
- dolls
- crayons
- puzzles
- push
toys, and the likes are the equipment children will
return to again and again at various stages.
LEARNING
CENTRES
Theses
materials are the backbone to learning centres, a
small area of activity devoted to specific type of
play: art, math, reading, crafts, etc.
Learning
centres can be set up at home on trays, little tables,
or on a shelf as is the case with the reading centre.
Different centres allow caregivers to guide a child's
learning by providing suggestions or guidance on what
to do with the materials provided. Of course a child's
imagination should be allowed free reign within a
centre to encourage creativity.
Regardless
of what the child does with the toys and equipment,
he/she is learning something about the materials,
his/her ability to manipulate and work with the equipment
at hand. What's
more, two or more children working cooperatively to
build a block town or to cook dinner are learning
social skills.
The
learning centres available are endless. In the next
few weeks we will look at some different centres,
what materials they require, and what children learn
at these centres.
For
more information on setting up play centres in your
home or daycare centre, consult the wonderful book,
Start and Run a
Profitable Home Day Care.
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©
Catherine M. Pruissen
Catherine M. Pruissen is the CEO of About Child Care
Consumer Services and developer of child care online.
She has published numerous child care related literature,
including Start
and Run a Profitable Home Day Care, The
Daycare Alternative, How to Find Good Child Care,
Caregiver Aids: Business
Forms for Caregivers and Parents, Income
Tax & Record Keeping for Child Care Providers,
and a host of workshops and workbooks. She was the
editor and publisher of the bi-monthly newsletter,
Parent Care, Your Child Care News-line. Catherine
was also the coordinator and workshop facilitator
for The Child Care Information Centre in Calgary,
Alberta, and ran a successful dayhome for eight years.
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