| Developmental Stations |
Motor Madness Motor Madness gives students the opportunity to develop motor skills and engage in sensory activities. Emphasis: Directionality, Shapes and Sizes, Comparisons, Spatial Orientation, Balance Training, Concepts, Muscle Development, Exploration, Sensory Skills Sample Activities: Activity Ring Multi-Image Mirror Pentagon Climb and Slide Ball Pool Tunnels Stepping Stones Matching Mat "Movement, dance, and active play can support your baby's growing physical awareness and excitement about the world. Physical activity of all kinds stimulates young children's development" (On the Move, zerotothree.org) Fantastic Scholastics Fantastic Scholastics was designed to help children "get ready" for school. This center offers a more traditional style of educating students, but in a "playful" way. Emphasis: Vocabulary Development, Phonemic Awareness, Association, Classification, Visual Discrimination, Temporal Order, Rote Counting, Comparisons, Predictions, Fine Motor Skills, Sequencing, Hand-Eye Coordination Sample Activities: Salt & Shaving Cream Writing Circle Time Counting/Numbers Language Art Memory Games Puzzles "If you treat prereading activities as playful, language as play...it's much more likely you'll have a highly literate and early literate child" (Dr. Sara Willoughby-Herb, Using Children's Books in Preschool Settings) Book Nook The Book Nook is our library center. We also offer a Lending Library Service. Reading to children is something we believe is essential at Giggles & Wiggles Learning Center! Emphasis: Sound/Symbol Association, Vocabulary Building, Visual Discrimination, Predictions, Comparisons, Concepts of Print, Directionality Sample Activities: Picture Walks Pointing and Labeling Exposure to Vocabulary Learning Pre-Reading Strategies (print awareness, holding book, turning pages, etc.) "Literacy experts do not understand everything about how very young children's brains interact with books, but they do know that babies and toddlers respond to different elements of the reading experience" (Sarah Cooper, Read Your Children a Story--and Boost Their Brainpower) If "books are a part of [children's] everyday experiences in their homes--they're familiar like toys--[kids] really just delight in being read to." (Dr. Barbour, "A Place of Our Own", KCET, Los Angeles) "Reading books to toddlers promotes language development." (Dr. Susan Dunkley, Founder of New Horizon Child Care) Creativity Corner Creativity Corner fosters the creativity in children. We offer students the ability to express themselves. From creating a masterpiece on our chalk wall to playing musical instruments, there are endless creative possibilities! Emphasis: Fine Motor Skills, Hand-Eye Coordination, Creativity, Imagination, Pre-Writing Sample Activities: Chalk Wall Musical Instruments Easel Art Finger Painting "Music can be the spark that ignites all areas of development--intellectual, social and emotional, motor, language and overall literacy" (Getting In Tune, zerotothree.org) Imagination Station Imagination Station gives children the opportunity to enter the world of make believe and use their imagination! Emphasis: Imagination, Social Skills, Imitation, Adaptive Behavior, Exploration, Motor Skills, Sorting, Classification, Vocabulary Development Sample Activities: Market (with real grocery carts!) Lego Table Dress-Up Trunk Puppet Theatre School Bus Dressing Vests "[Children] ... go from imitating what they see in "real-life" to using their imagination. Whether in the sand box, in the bath, or on the kitchen floor, children use their bodies and minds to learn how this big, exciting, complicated, and wonderful world works. (The Power of Play, zerotothree.org) |
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