Wednesday, June 16, 2010

The role of early childhood teacher

"The early childhood teacher works with the young child first by creating a warm, beautiful and loving home-like environment, which is protective and secure and where things happen in a predictable, regular manner. Here, she responds to the developing child in two basic ways.

Firstly, the teacher engages in domestic, practical, and artistic activities that the children can readily imitate (for example, baking, painting, gardening, and handicrafts), adapting the work to the changing seasons and festivals of the year.

Secondly, the teacher nurtures the children's power of imagination particular to the age. She does so by telling carefully selected stories and by encouraging free play. This free or fantasy play, in which children act out scenarios of their own creation, helps them to experience many aspects of life more deeply. Pine cones, wood, cotton, silk, shells, stones, and other objects from nature that the children themselves have collected are used in play and to beautify the room.

Sequencing, sensory integration, eye-hand coordination tracking, appreciating the beauty of language and other basic skills necessary for the foundation of academic excellence are fostered in the preschool and Kindergarten. In this truly natural, loving, and creative environment, the children are given a range of activities and the structure that help them prepare for the next phase of school life."

whywaldorfworks.org

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