Child Care Today ©2012

Chapter 19: Approaches to Teaching and Learning

Chapter Summary

Children learn differently than adults. Children learn best by doing and when using their senses, by trial and error, and when all areas of development are nurtured. They also learn through positive reinforcement and self-motivation, and develop new behaviors through imitation and role modeling. Learning is supported through the development of core learning skills, which include:

• focus and control
• perspective taking
• communication
• making connections
• critical thinking
• taking on challenges
• self-directed, engaged learning.

There is no single right way to learn. Children have many different styles of learning, including visual, auditory, tactile, kinesthetic, social, and independent. Plan activities that allow children to engage multiple intelligences. Children may be grouped by age or development. Remember age and development groupings when planning activities. Children learn through play. Teachers should facilitate play without controlling it. Effective teachers use teachable moments, open-ended materials, and close-ended materials to enhance learning.

Early childhood classrooms require a developmentally appropriate curriculum. Scaffolding builds new skills upon learned skills. Activities should be stimulating and varied, not repetitive and boring. A strong curriculum is balanced in all areas of development and diversity. Curriculum should meet all program goals. Activity objectives support these goals. Teachers in charge of classrooms do most of the curriculum planning. Larger programs may have a curriculum coordinator. In the project approach, children conduct projects to explore in developmentally appropriate ways. In the Reggio Emilia Approach, children are considered competent, motivated learners and collaborative learning is stressed. In the theme approach, teachers choose a theme and create activities related to the theme. Most teachers use a variety of curriculum approaches. Planned activities are incorporated into the daily schedule. Each activity must be developed into a lesson plan. Teachers must know how to adapt their teaching styles when necessary. Encourage creativity by showing that it is valued and by asking open-ended questions. Creativity can apply to all curriculum areas.